Maybe the crops won’t be as bad as I feared. I was looking at the soybeans this past week and there are a fair number of pods higher up the plant. The plants are about knee high, and it looks like the weather will hold for a few weeks yet. We’re at 2845 growing degree units. 368 above normal for Rochester. Mind you, I’m not saying great crops, but not as bad as I thought. Ha, probably just be good enough not to trigger a payment from crop insurance, which is based on 70% of expected (average) yields. I did get a $700 credit on the premium for hail damage. So, I only owe $600 rather than $1300. Which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp cornstalk.
I did plant some rye on Monday and more on Thursday evening. The rain predicted for Friday morning isn’t going to a mounted to much. We wait and see. I spotted a couple sandhill cranes while out planting on both days. They must like this field. It was interesting: On Monday I had gone around the field once, turned around at the end of the field and was coming back when I saw them in the middle of the field. Were they there on the first round? I was maybe 150’ from them and they didn’t pay me too much attention. But then as I came around the corner and got closer, they flew off. Sorry kids, you didn’t get much of a rest here. Thursday was the same thing; didn’t see them on the first pass and then there they were. I adjusted how I planted that field so they could hang out longer. When the time came and I had to go their way, they had flown off.
I was working at the college one day and I dropped a cable down a ventilation shaft. Course it wasn’t a plain old power cord, it was a special 4 pin data cable. I can see it down there and maybe with a long stick and a hook on the end, I’m thinking I can retrieve it. Stay tuned.
I’ve been scraping gravel from the machine shed approach.
Over the years I’ve added a lot of gravel to the road. Now with the cement pad being the same level as the shed interior, the driveway is 8” too high. I’ve mentioned before the water running in the shed door. So, I’ve been scraping. Man, it’s packed hard. Some rain would help that too. I’m not real good at being an excavator operator. And using the tractor loader isn’t ideal either, but it works. I can’t quite tell yet if there’s just dirt under there or still gravel. Dad must have had rock there when he built this shed in 1981. I may have to go an extra 4” deep and put gravel back on top. I’m using this rock to fill in some holes and the extra will go on the other end of the cement where it is more dirt.
Daughter likes to do her chores: whether it’s hauling out garbage, doing her laundry (I know, right??) collecting eggs, and last night she even threw out corn for the chickens and chicks. Mother-Clucker is down to 12, lost one. The kids are getting pretty independent, and mom is giving them their freedom too. It’s not unusual to see them running 20’ away from mom. They’re between robin and pigeon sized.
Ever had a cement pond at your house? How was that?
(Are you aware Irene Ryan ((Granny)) was a Tony nominated actress and has an acting scholarship in her name?)
Some of you have expressed curiosity about my summer kitchen. When the weather gets too warm, I do everything I can here to stave off using the A/C. This summer, though, it’s been used more than usual.
There is a small stand on the patio, just outside the back door, and next to it a former potting table/cart (on wheels) that a neighbor left out on the boulevard when they moved.
You can see from the photos some of the appliances and their homes. The toaster oven, when I bring it out for baking, stays on the stand to the left. There’s a large ceramic tile on top of the potting cart surface.
I do most of my prep work in the kitchen, and then bring the food out to cook outside. The flaw in this system is that in “high summer”, the back patio is not in shade except in early morning, and late afternoon. In the sun on a hot day it’s just too hot to be out there at all – I need to rig up an awning of some kind. So this works best in early and late summer, like later this week when temps will be low 80s.
We tried several chilled soups this summer, one of them being this one:
Chilled Cantaloupe Mint Soup
1/2 Medium cantaloupe, cut into chunks and pureed in blender with several mint leaves
Add and mix well:
1-1/2 Tbsp honey (less if you used sweetened yogurt)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 – 8 oz container plain yogurt (or sweetened yogurt and reduce the honey)
1/4 cup buttermilk , or 1/4 cup fruity white wine
Cover and chill 1 -2 hours before serving.
Garnish with fresh mint leaves, and float some blueberries if you have them.
Serves 2
What experiences have you had with outdoor cooking?
Have any good non-heated recipes to share?
No rain to speak of around here yet. We had some mist a couple different days, and at least it’s cooler now and I like that.
I see some farmers chopping corn silage. I miss doing that; it was a fun job. It smelled good, it unloaded easy, and it was a very satisfying job. The loads were heavy and if it was muddy that made it harder with the small tractor I used to pull the wagons. For a lot of years, Dad ran the chopper and I pulled the wagons home to unload. There were a few years I did it myself because he was working or retired. Maybe that’s why I just feel like doing things myself so much these days. Yes, fall is coming; I have seen some corn crops really drying out and turning brown both because of reaching physical maturity or because they’re on lighter soils and it’s so dry, the crop is just done. (Especially noticeable in rocky ground; that dried out sooner).
Soybeans are starting to turn yellow and will soon be losing leaves. Not mine, but most or the better-looking crops. My weeds are flourishing in the bean fields. My sister made the comment that she was glad to see some weeds because that meant I wasn’t “drowning the fields with herbicides”. Hmm, Well. All those weeds will be going to seed and making that many more weeds next year. And if the beans dry out but the weeds haven’t frozen yet, that makes harvesting more difficult. Plus the nutrients they’re using that the crop should be using. We can be pro or con to herbicides and chemicals, but we have to be sure we’re looking at both sides of the situation. Crop rotation helps with weed control too, so these fields being corn next year will stop next year’s weed, but those seeds…you know they just hide out and wait.
A few weeks ago, I talked about planting winter rye as a cover crop. I haven’t planted yet because it won’t grow until it gets some moisture in the soil. It’s just hot, dry dirt right now. Chance of rain again Sunday, but that’s the only rain in the forecast. And if it gets too late in the season, is it worth planting? I don’t know yet.
The barn swallows have moved on. It sure is quiet with them gone. We miss them a lot.
Lots of acorns falling. And walnuts. We have one horse chestnut tree I planted from a seed that I picked up outside of our church when I was a kid. Mom says it’s a wonder it ever grew as I was always digging it up to see if it was growing yet. Well, boy, it has a lot of nuts on it now and it seems like 60% of them sprout in the spring. I’ve used the chestnuts for barnacles in plays. And I used to fill my Tonka dump truck with acorns. There are oak trees around the college theater and every morning as I walk in, I step on the acorns and have warm memories.
Mother-clucker still has her 13 chicks!
The John Deere Company stopped making moldboard plows this year. A moldboard plow is the traditional looking plow that you’d picture in your mind. The name ‘moldboard’ comes from the biggest metal curved piece that tips over the dirt. That fact it was metal is what made the man, John Deere, famous. From 1837 to 2023, the John Deere company made plows. It’s what started and made the company. It’s a big deal to let that go and there’s been some online debate over it. But that style of farming has changed. The benefit of the moldboard plow was how it could cut the plant roots and turn over that virgin soil. For a lot of years, that was the tool that was needed. These days, as we do more conservation tillage and have equipment that can plant into more plant residue, turning the soil over completely isn’t as critical. At the bottom of the moldboard was the ‘share’. The tip of that was the first piece to wear away from the soil contact. (Isaiah 2:4, “…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares…”)
Here’s a website with more about plows and plowing than you knew you needed to know:
I still have a 4 bottom plow at home. I used it when I took some Conservation Reserve ground out of the reserve program and put it back into cropland. Using a chisel plow on sod ground– (“sod” being alfalfa hay, grass, or pasture. Basically, any kind of grassland with the deep, tangled roots) — using a chisel plow, it takes about 2 years for the soil to really break down enough to be workable because it doesn’t turn it over completely or cut the roots so cleanly. I also use the moldboard plow when a neighbor wants part of his hayfield plowed up in order to reseed the next year.
Plowing makes a ‘furrow’ after the last row. That furrow is a trench about 5” deep and 16” wide that you put the tractor tire in for the next round. (If everything is lined up right). At the last round of the field, you try not to make such a deep furrow. That last round is called the ‘dead furrow’. You want to remember how you plowed this year, so the next year you can go the other direction, therefore moving the dead furrow to the other side of the field. Clyde, what would you like to say about plowing? At the end of the field, how did you turn with that? Did you have to lift it or roll it on the side?
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?
Thankfully theaters are equipped with AC these days. This week was all about theater.
I was at the Rochester Repertory Theater Monday and Tuesday evenings finishing lighting and dress rehearsals for ‘I and You’ by Lauren Gunderson. That opened on Thursday with a preview audience on Wednesday so that Wednesday night I was headed to the town of Chatfield, 20 miles South of Rochester to begin lighting ‘Hello Dolly’. I drove down on Monday with my friend Paul to scope out the place since I didn’t work there last summer, and the building had a lot of renovations done. Potter Auditorium, built in 1936, is attached to an elementary school built in 1916.
The theater was renovated in 2016. The renovation done to the school revealed the original skylights and main beams in a ‘great room’. It removed a lot of steps and ramps and various levels and added more bathrooms and elevators. It’s pretty nice.
I started working in Potter Auditorium in 1986, building the set for ‘Annie’ for $500. My dad and brother helped me carry 40 sheets of 4×8 particle board up from the basement to cover the gym floor (because of course it was a ‘gymnatorium’) and we couldn’t mess up the basketball floor.
The next year I built the set for ‘Barnum’, and the next year, some kind of original talent show.
Working in Chatfield always feels like going home. Lots of good memories there. There wasn’t AC until the 2016 renovation. Back in the 80’s, hornets would come in and buzz around on their backs on the floor. I’d walk over and step on them. Good times.
I recently heard someone mention how, when they were a young kid, their dad talked about hunting and outdoor sports so that’s why they hunt now. And I thought, I got mail order books, and Disney records of Musicals. Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Hmmm.
I mentioned we had hail last Saturday. I notified crop insurance, and they assigned an adjuster. Haven’t met with him yet.
It knocked some oats out and beat up the corn and soybeans a bit. Left some marks on our cars too.
The ceiling insulation for the shop was blown in on Wednesday. The ball is back in my court to start working again.
I started cutting oats on Tuesday. It was so hot the swather wouldn’t run right and it left me walking home twice. And then we got an inch of rain Tuesday night. Because of course now it would rain.
Also Tuesday the electrician buried the new electric line to the shop. He cut the phone line, which I didn’t need to the shop anymore. He also found the phone line from 1968 when we lived in the machine shed while the house was being built.
And then he found the current electric line to the old shop. The one my dad buried in the 1950’s and the one being replaced. It was 30 feet from where I thought it was. So, he changed course. Oops; found it again. Thinking back; there was a ravine and a tree there, so I guess Dad had to go around the tree. Maybe that’s why it was way over where it shouldn’t have been.
But this guy is an electrician, and he was able to fix it; no harm, no foul.
Here is Kelly posing with her new Gator.
We like it better than the old one already.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE OR SONG? PLEASE RESPOND BY SINGING IT.
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?
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?
Another week of life being relentless… I’m tired and I can’t keep two coherent thoughts together so this week’s blog will be basic highlights and a bunch of photos.
*I did finish planting corn. Except for about 2 acres that are wet. But I’ll get to them soon.
*Working on planting soybeans. Hoping to finish on Saturday.
*The college show opened on Wednesday and the paint was dry and it’s a good show. The set isn’t my best, but it works.
*We’ve had 4 sandhill cranes hanging around.
*The lilacs are looking – and smelling – so good!
*Every morning, I let Humphry out, and Bailey comes in to get a morning greeting and some attention for a minute. Then she’s happy to go back out.
*For the first time ever, I kinda got tired of music in the tractors. I listened to podcasts: Moth Radio hour, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Radiolab, and my frequent standby: Light Talk. (Imagine the Car Talk guys, doing a show about lighting).
*Kelly and I picked up some very large limestone rocks using an old thing called a ‘Slip Scraper’ or ‘Buck Scraper’. Clyde, you ever use one of these? This has been behind the shed for years. It’s missing some handles, but we made it work carrying rocks.
*The coop applied fertilizer for soybeans.
*Next week is all about lighting the next show in my schedule.
*My last day at the college for this academic year is May 31. I probably won’t have all my work done; I may have to stop in the next week just to finish what I don’t get done this week.
But then, THEN, the pace will slow down and I can start working on my new shed space.
Have a safe and peaceful Memorial Day weekend!
Here are photos:
Planting CornTracks in the DirtTractor BuddyViewViewViewMinnesota RockKelly with RocksBuck ScraperLoaded Buck ScraperGoofballCoop SpreaderLoading SeedAnother Tractor BuddySeed Camera View
Planting corn, the tracks in the dirt, my tractor buddies one day, my view from the tractor front and back, a rock shaped like Minnesota (that was really heavy!), Kelly and her second load of rocks, the “buck scraper”, A goofball, the coop’s fertilizer spreader, loading soybean seed from the trailer, Another tractor buddy, and the camera’s showing the seed in the drill.
Where and what was the best burger you ever had?
(The first time I had a ‘blue Burger’ ((blue cheese on a burger)) was at a bowling alley and it was FANTASTIC and none have compared to that one.)
Now that the weather is nicer, YA’s inner-pyromaniac has emerged for the summer.
Years ago I inherited a backyard fire pit from a friend. At this point I think the rust is the only thing holding it together but it has provided many years of enjoyable backyard conflagrations. YA is good at sweeping the yard for twigs and branches that she piles up in the very back of the yard; she is always on the lookout for kindling. She is the initiator of 98% of our backyard infernos and is generally in charge of any arranging and poking that is needed.
It doesn’t take long after the first couple of the seasons blazes that she asks about graham crackers and chocolates. We always have marshmallows (Trader Joe’s – vegetarian). I knew this was coming so I had already stocked up; we were able to have our first s’mores of the season that day! We even used the s’mores trays that I bought at the state fair a few years ago. These are clearly unnecessary toys but I love them anyway.
We have a gas stove; we could easily have s’mores all year long, but we never make them except over the fire in the back yard. I suspect that the sunshine, the smoke from the fire, the joy of finally being outside after a long winter contribute to why having summer s’mores is just the best way to go.
I saw a sticker in a YouTube video: “Life is -f**king- relentless”. Boy, they got that right.
Tuesday morning, I was a little overwhelmed. The college shop was a mess with stuff from the play, and from the concert, AND from commencement. Plus, I had to build the set for the show opening the 24th, not to mention farming. By Tuesday afternoon I had gotten a lot done and I didn’t feel so bad.
About noon on Tuesday, there was a crane placing the heat and AC unit on the roof at the Rep Theater, that was fun to watch.
On Thursday, as the heat and AC guys did final measurements for the ductwork, they inadvertently dumped about 30 gallons of rainwater that was trapped inside a temporary roof opening, into the theater. I was there just to unlock some doors, but I heard the gush of water and I kind of knew what it was, but why was there THAT MUCH?! Of course, it ran along the steel joists and dripped over a 20-foot area on the first and second floor. So that was fun. And unexpected. And not what I meant to be doing. It didn’t really hurt anything.
Kelly and I had supper at a Middle Eastern restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. A new place for us. There was only one other couple in there. The food was great! The owner / host didn’t speak English and there was a lot of pointing at pictures in the menu, and I didn’t get the appetizer I thought I was ordering, (I didn’t get any appetizer) but the entre was good. And I even tried the coffee!
Sundays, Kelly and I take the gator around the farm and check out what’s happening. It’s a pleasant Sunday drive.
With all the rain, it’s a little wet in some of the fields.
Mom celebrated her 97th birthday with ice cream with friends.
Her birthday was really Friday, but they celebrated Thursday. Mom gets very anxious and had called to be sure someone was coming. When she plays music on her Alexa device, she turns the volume down. Then when she calls someone, she can’t hear us. It’s rather comical. There’s a lot of shouting and interrupting each other. Kelly and daughter plug their ears when I talk to mom.
The family reunion was really nice. Got to see nieces and nephews I hadn’t seen in a while. A couple of them came to the farm to relive memories, and I made friends with a grandniece who wasn’t too sure about me until we got on the tractors.
Taking a gator ride, we found blue bells, wild leeks, and they showed me jack-in-the-pulpit’s that I didn’t know about.
Thursday I finally went back to planting corn. Finished one field and was doing a food plot for a neighbor when the tractor got hard to steer. I had blown a hydraulic hose and lost all the hydraulic oil. Course it was after regular business hours. The other day we talked about good customer service: The parts guys are willing to come in after hours if you need. When I called, the guy was half hour away from the store. I’m half hour away too, but I also wasn’t sure they could make a new hose or it’s something they need to order. I decided it could wait until morning.
Since I was a few miles from home with a broken tractor and the planter in the ground, Kelly came over with the gator to pick me up. I took the other tractor with the soil finisher and went out doing field work. After one round, I found one of the shovels of the digger laying in the field. The big bar it attaches to, called a ‘Standard’, had broken off. Well, there’s 30 other ones on the machine, so missing this one isn’t the end of the world. I worked until about 9PM, went home and backed it up to the shed and used lots of new tools. I used the 4 foot ‘under hood’ cordless LED work light that Kelly gave me as a gift, I used my new cordless grinder that I bought myself as a gift, I use some pry bars that I got recently, and I use the air hammer, which I don’t get a chance to use very often. Considering there was only two bolts to get out to remove the standard, I’m surprised it took that many tools.
All the parts manuals are online and they take a little digging sometimes, but it sure is convenient. I placed a parts order online about 11PM, to pick up the next morning. Hydraulic hose, bolts, standard, ect.
Kelly and I burned the pile of winter sticks one night and had a nice time being outside.
The first corn that I planted on whatever day it was, it’s already out of the ground. I picked up soybean seed this week, so I’ve got all the seed now.
We found some guinea eggs in the chicken’s coop one day so we put them in an incubator. We’ll ‘candle’ them next week and see what we got. We put 8 chicken eggs in there too just because.
Guinea eggs are kind of pointed. They’re the ones on the bottom of the photo. The cradles they’re sitting in ‘rock’ them gently; in effect, turning them like a momma hen would do.
There was a male duck hanging around here one day. And over in the field where I was planting corn, a male and female duck were hanging around. They weren’t bothered by the tractor so I suspect they’re one of my pairs.
The chickens, while down a bit on egg production, are doing well.
Still got coyotes coming around most every morning, but Kelly and the dogs are keeping a good handle on them.
A bear has been spotted on some security camera’s in the neighborhood.
Trail Baboon 