2025, animals, Music, pets, Uncategorized

Me And Puppy McGee

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Today’s post comes from Jacque.

 October 5, 2025 was puppy day.  Lou and I travelled to Kimball, MN to a small acreage outside of the little town where the kennel, Minnesota Country Corgis,  is located.  This is the same dog breeder as the one who provided us with our Phoebe.  He is her half brother (same sire). We had been there to visit ten days before.  At that time we were offered the choice of the last puppy left from a 6 puppy litter (mama Betsy), or to choose one from a 4 puppy litter (mama Annie).  The 4 puppy litter was an accidental pregnancy after the breeder’s husband mistakenly let the dam and sire “socialize”.  Diane, the breeder, was away from home that weekend.   Her husband reversed her instructions, so the Christmas litter was born in August.  Oops. 

We chose the last puppy of the 6 puppy litter, and named him McGee.  It has been a week now.  McGee is making himself at home.  He has gained 1 pound, survived a mild case of diarrhea after eating too much, and he slept almost all day on Wednesday.  He seemed exhausted by the adjustment to a new home. He is personable and loves to play and chew.  Watch the teeth. So now McGee is the best puppy ever, only rivaled by our other past dogs.  My son, the neighbor kids, and other friends have come to visit him and welcome him to the world. 

Our Baboon, Linda, in a rush of inspiration, wrote this parody of Me and Bobby McGee earlier last week on the pizza blog. It makes me smile about the puppy and at remembering Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson, great musicians. (The dental plate reference is about Lou’s lost dentures, which were restored to him and are safely in his mouth.) 

 
Sittin’ down in Eden Prairie, thinkin’ ‘bout a plate. 
Dentist’s office lost it in the mail. 
Puppy chewed a shoelace up, left me in a state 
And he just sits there waggn’ his little tail. 

Boredom’s just another word for nothin’ left to chew 
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t chewed. 
And feelin’ mad is easy, Lord, when Puppy chews the shoes. 
But feelin’ mad is never good for me…. 
Never good for me and my Puppy McGee. 

Here is the link to Janis’ version: 

What are your favorite dog songs? 

2025, Farming Update, Theatre, Uncategorized

More theater than farming

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The weekend farming update from Ben

Not a lot of farming this week. Opening a college play in two weeks so the focus is there. Mostly.

Quite a few years ago when I was younger and full of energy and enthusiasm, I bought some pneumatic brakes and other air powered things for sets at the college. I used them for some fun stuff. Then I didn’t use any of them for a few years, but this show is using an eight-foot octagonal rolling platform and it needs some kind of stop, and I thought this would be a good use for the air brakes. I use a small tank of compressed nitrogen rather than air, because it’s a little more efficient, and the tank lasts a lot longer than my small tank of compressed air. Of course that’s assuming the stage managers remember to turn it off at night so it doesn’t leak down.

Wheels on the platform

The wheels are called “triple throw casters”. Three swivel casters mounted on a plate with a Lazy Susan. It makes things roll easily without forcing the castor to change direction before moving.

Pneumatic brake

It was fun to do and the students think it’s really cool.

I’m building some triangle shaped flats. (walls are called ‘flats’ in theater lingo) and they will be covered with cave paintings.

The show is an original, written by our own artistic director, Jerry, called “Ouch”. It’s about a young cave person, who has new ideas, such as words, or cooking food with fire rather than eating raw, and the elders don’t like all the new ideas. Not a lot of set; some fake rocks and the rolling platform upstage (at the back), and the walls with cave paintings. And shadow puppets for the Mammoth of course.

I spent two days in the lighting catwalks swapping out newer 2015 fixtures for 1980 fixtures. And converting some from incandescent / halogen to LED. The LED lights then need ‘data’ cables to them. The others were just swapping out the old for the new. The reason for that was better light out of the new ones, plus, they’re able to be upgraded to LED if we get money. We’ll see at the end of the year how much money is left. An LED upgrade kit is about $600. A whole new LED fixture is $2000 -$3000. Each. All the fancy stuff gets an address, so the lighting board know which light it’s talking too. That’s called “patching”. Each light gets it’s own number, meaning address. One universe of lighting has 512 addresses. My lightboard can output 4 universes. The first universe goes downstairs to the dimmers. The second universe is up to the catwalks and a lot of stuff up there. Universe 3 goes to the stage, and universe 4 has a Wireless gizmo to control some other lights on stage. This photo shows how many of the 512 addresses are being used in Universe 2.

Almost full

Each parameter of a light takes an address. So intensity, red, green and blue, would be 4 addresses. A light that moves and can do patterns, colors, zoom, and might take 65 addresses. At that rate, 512 doesn’t go far. Something like the Olympics or a rock concert might be using 20 universes of lighting. I know I probably cover this every time I’m working on a show. Sorry for the repetition.

My clipboard cheat sheet

Last Sunday Kelly and I took a drive to see the leaves. We were a little early so there wasn’t a lot of color yet. We started following the Zumbro river at Zumbro Falls and my goal was to drive gravel roads with no traffic. That mostly worked. Down to Hammond, out to Millville, eventually to highway 60 and over to Wabasha, and Nelson for ice cream, then back to Weaver and through Whitewater on that gravel road, Elba to Plainview and back home. It was a nice day for a drive.

Somewhere along the Zumbro

At home I’m trying to finish some stuff before it gets too cold. The plan is to pour concrete the last week of October. I have help lined up. I went to one of those big box stores and spent – I mean SAVED big money the other day. I have most of the concrete tools I need now. If this concrete project works out, and I expect to learn a lot, I plan to do more concrete next summer. I’m going all in! Had a load of gravel delivered as I need more to put underneath the concrete. My brother will help, Padawan will help. (The job he started didn’t last. He says they just told him “This isn’t going to work out.” He told his step-mom “They don’t have any patience.” He hasn’t yet figured out that she and I talk. We were childhood friends and he knows we know each other. She and I get both sides of the stories that way) So, he’ll help cause he’s got nothing else. Son is bringing some friends to help. I was hoping one of them knew something about concrete, but he says they’re just the muscle, not the brains. Shoot. That means I gotta be the brains. And I only know enough to be dangerous. I’ve done a bit of concrete over the years, and I’ve watched some YouTube video’s. And that’s why we’re starting with small slabs.

I got the front wheels put back on that hay rack. Remember after straw, the frame cracked, the tie rods bent, and the wheels were pointing different directions? My nephew, Matt, put it back together, straightened it, and reinforced it. I repacked the front wheel bearings and tightened them, and just need to bolt the box frame back to the wheels. One more thing to check off the list. My farming seems to be happening in the evenings now.

Reinstalled Wheels!

Some days I fix one thing and break two more.

HAVE YOU TOO OFTEN BEEN THE METAPHORICAL BRAINS OR MUSCLE?

2025, Food, home, Uncategorized

Pasta

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Being the efficient person that I am, I have been packing up any nonessentials as I have had time to do. Husband mentioned Tuesday that he wanted Fettucine Alfredo for supper. We had cream and everything else for it except fettuccine, since I had packed up all the dry pasta weeks ago. We settled for some nice fresh fettuccine from the grocery store.

I love to make my own fresh pasta and I look forward to being able to make it more often after we move. I have made tortellini, homemade lasagna, ravioli, and taggliatelle. Spaghetti is hard to make with our crank pasta maker. Grandson says that buttered noodles, which includes actual noodles as well as any kind of pasta, are his favorite things to eat. When I was his age it was a treat to have Chef Boyardee canned spaghetti. I don’t think I had spaghetti out of a box until I was in college.

I was lucky to have as a landlady in Winnipeg a woman who had immigrated to Canada from Calabria, and she helped me choose a crank pasta maker from the local Italian grocery store and taught me how to use and care for it. I remember her husband, also from Calabria, lamenting how awful the spaghetti was at a spaghetti dinner sponsored by their very English Catholic church (They had left the Italian Catholic church in Winnipeg due to a conflict with the priest). The spaghetti was really gluey and overcooked.

What are your earliest memories of spaghetti? What are your favorite pasta dishes?

2025, Automotive, Mysteries, Science, Technology, Theatre, Uncategorized, work

RANDOM THOUGHTS for an OCTOBER DAY

47 Comments

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how I alternate between hating people and enjoying people. I’m in my hating people phase. Seriously, is everyone an idiot driver? I feel like my driving karma has been off for about a month. One morning, a car at an intersection sat there missing options to go. I honked. They looked in their mirror and said something to me. Without finger gestures. And then at another intersection, I got the green arrow and someone from my right made a LEFT HAND TURN ACROSS ME on his RED light! I honked. He honked back. Jeepers.

Idiots.

If it’s related, making me one of those idiots, I’m having a heck of a time parking correctly lately. I pull in, then have to back up and straighten out and pull in again to get in there straight. I’m not sure if the lanes and spaces have gotten smaller or the car is bigger, or my depth perception is off. But parking seems like it used to be easier. Just another first world problem.

I threw away a cardboard box the other day. Packing material and everything that was in it. There was a shipping label on the side from August of 2007. I threw away that box, one of two identical boxes, so I could save a different box complete with it’s packing materials. And I chuckled to myself and told myself I’d only have to save this new box for a few years. Full disclosure, they’re boxes that moving lights came in for the college. Of the four lights I got in 2007, they’re old enough now, if one does need repair, I’ll just put it in the back of the car and take it to a place in the cities for repair. And once the new one gets through it’s warranty period, I really could throw that box out too. But will I?

HAVE YOU STOPPED SAVING CARDBOARD BOXES?

IT’S VENTING DAY. WHAT’S MAKING YOU GRUMPY? (and not the feds; The orange menace is a gimme. We can do better.)

2025, education, Family, Gatherings, sports, Uncategorized

Bowl

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I see that today in 1520 is the anniversary of Henry VIII ordering that a bowling alley be installed in his palace at Whitehall. I imagine it was an outdoor lane for lawn bowling, but even so it reminded me of my bowling experiences.

I noticed last week as we were driving around Luverne that the bowling alley was still a going concern, although it is only open Thursday through Saturday these days. I never belonged to a youth bowling league, but the bowling alley was a place to go to have fun when I was in high school. I don’t remember it serving anything but snacks and simple beverages. My mother belonged to a bowling league, and I remember how heavy her bowling ball seemed to me when I was a child when I would take it out of its bag in her closet.

The bowling alley in Dickinson is a really busy place that doubles as a bar and restaurant. There are very active bowling leagues for adults and children. It also is the stop for the buses that run east and west across the state. The police have their hands full there. A work colleague’s husband was attacked and robbed in the parking lot by a couple of Montana guys recently who he met bat the bar and had a couple of drinks with.

One of my high school classmates had a dad who was a professional bowler who seemed to earn a living bowling competitively. I remember seeing him on TV in bowling matches. I don’t think that is a thing anymore. What a way to make a living!

When I started as a freshman at Concordia College in Moorhead. MN, we had to take two semesters of physical education. I opted for bowling for my first gym class. It was taught by Sonny Gullsvig, the college basketball coach, at a local bowling alley. I will never forget Coach Gullsvig instructing us in his coaching voice as though he was in the Concordia gym ” FIRST YOU TAKE THE BALL AND TOSS IT DOWN THE ALLEY….” I skipped class a lot and ended up with a “C,” in the class.

What are your bowing memories? Ever hang out at a bowling alley?

animals, Health, Medicine, Mysteries

Aspirational Dreams

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Last week I had an “aspiration” done; technically I should probably say “aspirations” since I had the procedure done on both my knees.  Since it creeped me out when it was described to me, I shan’t describe it here.

Since the description was creepy and I’ve been dealing with these knee issues since the beginning of August, I had more than my usual anxiety when I settled into bed the night before.  At about 3 a.m. I was dreaming about getting my teeth cleaned (note – I’m not crazy about this procedure either).  In the dream, after the hygienist has done the top teeth, she informed me that they would be anesthetizing me to do the bottom half.  When I expressed alarm, more dentists and technicians came in to hold me down.  I continued to struggle and they told me I was making my blood pressure too high which was why they had to put me under.  It was at this point that I woke up.

I don’t normally remember my dreams when I wake up, but this one wouldn’t leave me and every time I started to drift back to sleep, I’d be back in the dentist’s chair.  At 4:30, I just got up, turned on the lights and got started on my morning puzzles. 

Of course, the aspiration was nothing to be anxious about.  With the short exception of the cortisone shots at the end, it wasn’t painful and was interesting to watch on the screen while the doctor was working.  I was able to walk out and drive home.  So that scary dream was really unwarranted.  Wish I could have explained this to my subconscious at bedtime!

Are you aspiring to anything in particular this week?

2025, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

Old Town, New Bottle

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It has been interesting being in Luverne this weekend as I get to know the place again. When I grew up here I never bothered to associate street names with places or landmarks, so when I am told that City Hall is on Luverne St., it means nothing, but when I am told City Hall is in the old hospital, then I can find it no problem.

There are more coffee shops now, as well as a Mexican grocery store. I ran into a couple of people who knew who I was after I introduced myself, although their memories of my dad are fresher than their memories of me. I recognize familiar faces but don’t have names for them yet.

Two people stopped by the new house when they saw we were parked in the driveway. One was a neighbor who I knew from high school, and the other was the former owner. Both told us they had been keeping an eye on the place until we moved in. The former owner was able to tell us the garage door code and said her husband would come over to help navigate the very complex sound and video system set up throughout the house. We feel very welcome.

Last evening we ate at a very fine Italian restaurant in Sioux Falls with our daughter, son, grandson, and daughter-in-law. It was at the hotel we are staying at this weekend. We struck up a conversation with the waitress, a young woman in her late 20’s. She grew up in Luverne, knew my dad, and went to high school prom with my Cousin Jack’s son. She was going to drive to Luverne after work to visit her parents. She said she visits there a lot and would see us around town. I feel connected with new and old.

What are positive and negative changes over the years in your community? When have you experienced old wine in new bottles?

2025, animals, crops, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Uncategorized

Squirrel Farming

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This weeks farm update from Ben.

I sure am enjoying the cooler weather. We had 30 degree’s Wednesday AM. I had moved the pressure washer inside the feedroom, dumped out the hummingbird feeders, and we moved the tomato plants and flowers into the garage. 

I was using the pressure washer to clean off the haybine after cutting the weeds in the oat fields. After I hose it all off once, I start the machine up and run it slow in order to clean off the reel and get the dirt out of the sickle and cutterbar. And as I walked back around to the front, pulling the pressure washer hose, I gave the hose a ‘flip’ –and stuck it right into the reel and cutter bar and I was done washing. I can splice it back together, and it might hold (it is a PRESSURE washer after all) I just haven’t had time yet. Honestly, I kinda forgot the machine was running and what I was doing. Brain Fart.

The top drawer fell out of our dishwasher the other day too. I ordered some new parts from Amazon and the dishes are piling up in the sink. Yes, we could wash by hand…we just haven’t had too yet. 

Last week I mentioned how the squirrels were tormenting the dogs at home. They’re very busy around the college too. Right outside the theater are a couple large Oak trees. Three squirrels are often scampering around them. I call them Frank, Bob, and Jane. Frank seems to mind his own business. Bob and Jane are usually chasing each other and fussing over something or other. When she does get a break, Jane can often be seen foraging in the leaves. She doesn’t mind me and I don’t mind her. 

I’ve been seeing groups of turkey vultures lately. Sometimes around home, sometimes in SE Rochester where there may be at least a dozen sitting in a cell tower. Did you know group of turkey vultures in the air is called a kettle? I knew that a group sitting together is called a committee. I didn’t know they could also be called a volt, or venue. If they’re feeding, it’s called a wake. Who came up with these names? I’ve been on some committees that would certainly qualify as having vultures as members…

I am part of CoCoRaHS for reporting rain and snow fall. Although I only report rain. “Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network”. All that’s required to become a reporting member is their special rain guage that measures rain to the hundredths.

https://www.cocorahs.org/

They have a master Gardner guide:

https://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=MasterGardener

 They have 1000+ stations across all 50 States and Canda reporting weather data, which is used by multiple agencies.

It started in Colorado in 1998. They sent out an email this week talking about “the Water Year” which runs October 1 – September 30.  So named because in Colorado, where this is based, most of the water accumulation comes from snowfall after October 1. And that snowfall is what provides water for the next year’s crops. 

The email last week showed how we can view statistics from our own locations as well as any of the others.

 I’ve been reporting since March of 2021. I see I have 907 reports. This year I’ve reported receiving 25.92” of rain. VS would like the site because there’s all sorts of fun statistics in there. 

Last week was our ‘Gotcha Day’ for Luna. I picked her up on October 5th, of 2023. Two years of that crazy dog.

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CROPS!

The neighbors got my soybeans harvested on Friday.

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I haven’t gotten the total bushels from the elevator yet, but according to the monitor in the combine, they were a little better than average. The price isn’t great, but it seems like there was a decent amount out there. Except where the deer have stripped the pods of the plants. I was out in a far corner of the farm and back there, it’s just stems. Stupid deer. I had to leave about half an acre of soybeans in one little field down by the house and buildings. They tried to get to it, but the head on the combine is 40 feet wide, and they couldn’t fit between the trees and a fence. Not the end of the world. The cost of combining that half acre would have pretty much taken all the profit from that half acre. 

The corn looks good. It’s very tall this year! But remember, the height really has nothing to do with the yield of the ears…

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There is a fungus called Tar Spot that’s becoming worse in the Midwest. See the black spots on the leaves? 

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Too much and it will kill the plant early, weaken the stalk, and reduce the yield. 

The corn is physically mature, but still drying down. typically when it’s mature, it’s still about 30% moisture in the kernels. The ears are still standing upright.

Too much rain at this point and it gets down inside the husk and can cause mold on the kernels. Some farmers have started harvesting corn and the moisture levels are all over the place. For storage, the corn kernels have to be 15% moisture. Once the ears hang down, it’s into the teens and drying it doesn’t cost quite so much.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING TWO YEARS AGO?

2025, animals, Business, Uncategorized

Junkyard Cats

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We have made several trips to our local landfill lately disposing of lots of stuff. Our landfill is set up so that you drive onto a scale, they weigh your truck, you empty your stuff in the appropriate bin, then you drive back onto the scale and get weighed again. It costs $3.00 for every 100 pounds.

The people who weigh the truck and calculate the cost are in a sunny office where we frequently see at least one of the three cats who live at the landfill. They have soft beds and full food dishes in the office. Sometimes they sleep beneath a sunny window on the workers desk. One cat has only three legs, and that is the cat we most often see running around, prowling , and sometimes taking a nap in a sunny space. They are very well loved cats and they make going to the landfill a more pleasant experience.

What are your landfill experiences? Where have you unexpectedly run into resident animals at businesses?

2025, animals, Family, home, Travel, Uncategorized

Traveling Kitty

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Today as you read this, Husband and I are making the first of two trips to Luverne over the next two weeks. The main purpose of this trip is to go to our 2 month old granddaughter’s baptism in Brookings on Sunday. The other reason for the trip is to bring to the new house as much food from our freezers and liquids the moving company won’t transport.

Wedged in the back of our van, surrounded by coolers filled with frozen food, boxes of home canned tomatoes, cans of olive oil, and jars of fancy vinegars will be our cat, Luna, in the dog crate. We decided to move her on this trip since it seemed rather too stressful to move both the cat and the dog at once.

The last time Luna made this trip was nine years ago when she was a kitten and had been rescued by our son and daughter-in-law from underneath a deck in Brookings. Our daughter was visiting them at the time and drove the cat to Dickinson after staying with Daughter and her college roommates in Moorhead a few weeks. Her only trips since then have been excursions to the local vet. It is a 550 mile trip to Luverne. Once we get her there she will be boarded at the Rock County Vet Clinic until we are moved into the new house on the 22nd.

We are going to try to make her as comfortable as possible with a litter box, soft blankets, and a small water bowl in the dog crate. I am not optimistic about her being happy at all with this trip and then being subsequently boarded. I will let you all know how it is going as the day progresses.

What are your experiences traveling with pets? Any advice for us today?