2024, animals, Farming Update, Theatre, Uncategorized, work

Life

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

It sure does get dark early. By the time I get home from work, change clothes, and talk with Kelly a bit, it’s dusk. And it’s only going to get worse for a while yet, and I’ll be OK with that once it’s cold and “winter”, but I got too much going on right now. The world goes round, and the seasons change, and it’s OK. Even the roadside vegetable stands have all closed and that’s kinda sad. It seems to happen so fast!

I really do love fall and wrapping up the seasons. The harvest and the fieldwork and completing that circle, it all just feels right. My friend Diane and I have always talked about how we get that urge to ‘pack up’ and suddenly we’re all about organizing. Cleaned off my home office desk one day, and then at the college, I took some pillows up the prop room and spent an hour packing up greenery and organizing.

Some of you have an ‘Arts and Crap’ room, I have props. It’s kind of a disaster. In theater lingo, a ‘prop’ is something the actor handles, versus the set or furniture. If you think about it, you can imagine all the stuff a theater might have for ‘props’. Anna or Catherine might have stories about props and props people. But here, I just tell the kids to try and get it somewhere near something else that looks like it. But they don’t care, and once you go down that road, you’re headed for disaster. I’ve had several people offer to clean it up. Maybe they chicken out once they look at it. ANYWAY, I cleaned up a corner and that’s a start. A few more corners to go. One day at a time.

At home, I was supposed to get the shop heater on Thursday, but it got postponed to Tuesday. And I need to move some stuff so they can work in there. Meaning once again, half the crap is moved to another place, and I was just getting so I could find it now. The pallet rack is the biggest deal. I’m taking half of it apart and maybe I can drag the other half out of the way.

I got a lot of other stuff done. Got new hydraulic hoses for the tractor loader, and since I replaced all the rest last summer, they are all new now and good for another 20 years unless I break one.

Got some hydraulic hoses off the chisel plow and took them to John Deere. They make all the hoses as needed. It was busy at the parts counter, so I told them I’d come back on Saturday to pick those up. There are two women at the parts counter now, Belinda (Or ‘B’ as I realized they call her). I don’t know the other woman; I haven’t worked with her much. But Belinda is fun.

I also got the 630 running again so I could move that. (Had pinched a wire going to the starter and created a ‘dead short’ and had smoke coming from under the dash. Accidently let out some magic black smoke but I was able to get it back in). it’s not running well, and it needs further investigation, but at least it’s running.

I took the carburator off the ‘4-wheeler’ and cleaned it and put it back on and it ran for 100 yards, and then I limped it back to the shed and pushed it out of the way. Will come back to that later. But I’m getting good at taking the carburator off.

Sounds like my neighbors will get my soybeans out this weekend. Good to have that done, and sure glad the weather has been holding.

I’ve been listening to Kris Kristofferson this week. He wrote so many songs you know, but you’re not used to him singing them. What a talent he was.

It’s fun to hear other versions of familiar songs. These are not by Kris, butTennessee Stud or Don’t think Twice, it’s alright are two that come to mind that have multiple covers.

On the duck front, we’re down to four. Went from 22 to 11 to 8 and now 4.

The world just keeps going around.

WHAT CYCLES DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE?

2024, Automotive, education, History, Kids, Uncategorized

What’s Your Ride?

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I made it home from South Dakota early yesterday afternoon. There were lots of newspapers waiting for me to go through. We subscribe to print editions of the Bismarck Tribune (6 days a week), the Dickinson Press (1 day a week), and the Rock County Star Herald (1 day a week). They are usually delivered on time. I was only gone 4 days , but that still left a lot of news to read.

I was tickled by an article in the Star Herald about Luverne’s recent High School Homecoming and the ABC Parade (Anything But A Car), which challenged students to drive on a parade route from the ice arena across town to the high school in unusual vehicles. Motorcycles were the most common, followed by tractors, lawn mowers. scooters, golf carts, a race car, a bulldozer, and a dump truck. How fun!

My first vehicle was a very old Nash Rambler my dad got very cheap from someone in 1973. I graduated to a Chevy Chevette when I got to college. I would probably have driven in an ABC Parade in one of my Dad’s U-Haul trucks. No CDL needed for that!

What did you drive to school in? What was your first vehicle? Ever been in a parade? What news outlets do you subscribe to?

2024, Travel, Uncategorized

Travel Anxiety

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Today is driving day for me. I am heading back home to ND. It is about a seven hour drive. I will stop once or twice on the way. It will be good to be home. I have travelled more than usual over the past six months, with three trips to Brookings SD, and one trip to Boston.

I have to fly to Dallas, TX the last week of October for a conference of Psychology regulatory boards. I am truly dreading the trip, mainly due to the destination. I put off making plane reservations until last Monday, and was quite relieved when I got it done. I did it online as usual. One of my worst fears was realized yesterday when I took a look at the reservation and saw that I had misspelled my first name. This entailed a text conversation with someone at the airline who fixed it up rather handily, much to my surprise. I am not afraid of flying, but of the preliminaries to the flights.

I don’t know why this all makes me so anxious, as I have never really had messed up reservations in the past, and things can be fixed. I suppose I could do this all through a travel agent, but we don’t have many in our town. I am happy that the Dallas trip looks ok on paper, at least. After that I just want to stay home for a while.

What about traveling makes you anxious? Tell about good trips and less than good trips. Any tips about Dallas?

2024, Family, Food, home, Kids, Music, Theatre, Uncategorized

Oma Sees All

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I have been thoroughly enjoying myself here this week in Brookings. Son’s surgery went well. He is home recuperating. Yesterday I roasted a chicken and made slow cooker Bolognese sauce and chicken enchiladas. I also got to drive six year old Grandson to school, which is terribly fun. One morning we listened to a number from Cats on the Sirius XM Broadway station, and he was rather astounded when I told him that the performers were singing and dancing in cat suits. He also liked the number from Hamilton that we heard.

Son and Daughter In Law are good parents with quite appropriate limits and expectations. I tend to call Grandson out more often for minor infractions, though. It was pretty funny when, one evening at supper, Grandson announced, with a huge sigh, that Oma’s eyes saw everything, and there wasn’t anything he could get away with that I didn’t see. This was after I reminded him to eat his penne with his fork and not his fingers. He made a point of showing us his fork skills after that.

What is the first Broadway musical you remember hearing or seeing? What is your favorite musical now? How was your relationship with your grandparents?

2024, Automotive, Media, Travel, Uncategorized

Crash!

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It has been in the news, but if anyone didn’t hear, last Septmber, a young man driving between Fargo and rural Minnesota had some car trouble. His Honda Pilot took on a mind of its own, speeding up to 113 mph, not letting him brake, and not allowing him to shut he car off. He was able to phone 911 as well as his mother while driving, and the Highway Patrol and county sheriff figured out how to stop him. A Deputy sped past him going 130 mph, stopped the patrol car in front of the Pilot, and instructed the young man to crash into the rear of the patrol car. He did, the vehicle stopped, and no one was injured.

The whole story is amazing, but what astounds me is that the driver was using his phone all through the ordeal. My phone is in my purse when I drive and is on silent so I can’t hear it or be tempted to answer it. My son has his phone set up so that it sends him calls and allows him to call while driving without taking his hands off the wheel. I imagine that is what the driver of the Pilot did, too. I don’t know if I would have had the presence of mind make the calls and drive and flip all the switches to try to turn the car off.

What would you have done? Is your phone connected to your car audio system? What is the fastest you have driven?

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2024, Business, Family, Food, Seasons, Uncategorized

Fall Bonanza

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You all know my weakness for seasonal goodies – so does Trader Joes.  There is normally a slew of new items each season, most of which won’t be back when the season is over.  YA and I went out a couple of weeks ago, right after the latest Fearless Flyer (Trader Joe’s newsletter) arrived in my mailbox.  There are plenty of things we like to shop for but looking at and maybe picking up some of the seasonal stuff adds to the fun.  In this respect, the YA apple didn’t fall far from the tree!

We tried fall leaf tortilla chips and potato crisps in the shape of ghost and bats.  A big jar of harvest soup, a bag of apple granola.  Pumpkin pasta.  At the last minute we tossed a box of apple shortbread cookies into the basket.  Normally the seasonal items we pick up are nice but nothing that makes me sad knowing they won’t come around again.  But this year is different.   The tortilla chips, the ghost potato crisps and the apple shortbread were all winners.  I even whipped up some fresh salsa to have with the tortilla chips.  YA ate most of the apple shortbread before I even got one. 

Over the weekend, I had to pick up a couple of things at Michaels… and when I came out of the store and headed toward my car, my eyes lit on the Trader Joes on the other side of the parking lot.  I didn’t even hesitate; headed right over and picked up more of the chips, crisps and the shortbreads.  YA was very happy to have two more boxes of shortbread but thought that my extra bags of chips and crisps boarded on “hoarding”.  She also suggested that I shouldn’t be eating the ghost/bat crisps until it’s a little closer to Halloween.

Considering that the world has been celebrating Halloween for a couple of weeks; the scary movies started up on October 1st on the dot.  I like the fall and Halloween, but I prefer not to have my wits scared out of me by scary movies and creepy designs.  I do like most folks yard decorations at this time of year; how do they keep those giant skeletons standing up? 

So we’ll be enjoying our fall goodies for a few more weeks; I’ll probably have to make more salsa!

Do you prefer the cozy side of Fall or the spooky side of Halloween?

2024, animals, Family, Farming Update, Nature, pets, Uncategorized, work

Progress

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

I took a few days to work at home this week.

I got a lot of work done on my shop wall. It’s basically all framed up. I need a few more boards and a lot of finishing bits, but it’s getting there. I’ve purchased insulation to install myself, the LP tank has been installed, waiting on the heater and the big garage door to be installed, and the steel siding has been ordered. Going for gray on this wall. Might make it before winter yet.

I sure do appreciate my friend at Red’s Electric letting me use his lift. This would have all been much MUCH harder without.

I sure have been dropping things and knocking things over with working on this. Good thing I’m working alone; I wouldn’t want to be around me the way it’s been going. And there’s barely room for me in the lift. Cause you know, I need all the tools.

Saturday will be adoption day for Luna. And back in 2007, it was about the same time of year we acquired Allie.


Last weekend I burned a brush pile. I need to dig the metal out of it and then I’ll have the ash pile buried after that.

It was time for a new ‘everyday-in-town’ hat. Not so dirty to be a farm hat, and cleaner than the farming hat, but dirtier than my ‘going-to-church’ hat. This is a hat I got for free at the theater conference USITT. It’s a seating company that I won’t be able to afford anyway.

I lost half the ducks last week. Friday afternoon I counted 22 ducks. Saturday morning I saw something white laying down by the barn. It was a dead duck. And there was another. And another. I picked up 6 carcasses. Four outside and two in their pen. And we have 11 ducks remaining. We’re pretty sure it was a weasel as there was a bite mark on the back of their heads. I have found some piles of feathers out in the fields. The dogs never reacted, and I never heard a fuss, so I’m not sure what happen. But it’s very discouraging.

The mallard ducks have discovered they can fly. And if you think about it, how would you know you COULD fly, if no one told you or showed you? You’d have to figure it out by accident. Maybe instinct, but again, no examples… so… what will they do?

I often listen to a 1940’s station and one of the things I enjoy are the songs you don’t hear anywhere else. I heard Hogie Carmichael singing ‘Huggin’ and Chalkin’. It’s considered a novelty song.

“I gotta gal who’s mighty sweet

With blue eyes and tiny feet

Her name is Rosabelle Magee

And she tips the scale at three o three

Oh gee, but ain’t it grand to have a girl so big and fat that when you go to hug her

You don’t know where you’re at

You have to take a piece of chalk in your hand

And hug a way and chalk a mark to see where you began”

….

….

One day I was a huggin’ and a chalkin’ and a beggin’ her to be my bride

When I met another fella with some chalk in his hand

A comin’ around the other side of the mountain

A comin’ around the other side

Oh my gosh.

HOW DID YOU LEARN TO LIGHT PAPER MATCHS?

WHO WAS RESPONSILE FOR TEACHING YOU BAD HABITS?

2024, education, Family, Kids, Music, Uncategorized

Happy Kids Music Day

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The National Day folks have determined that today is National Kids Music Day, to emphasize the importance of music education for children.

My first music teacher in school was Miss Roesetter, who studied music in Paris at the Sorbonne. How she ended up in a small, rural school in Minnesota I’ll never know. Our school was blessed with wonderful band directors, most who had been educated at Luther College. Husband played cello in his school orchestra. Son played trombone. Daughter played piano, French Horn, and violin. Grandson is to start piano in a year ago. He loves to toot on his great grandfather’s bugle.

Grandson loves our recording of Peter and the Wolf and The Carnival of the Animals, narrated by Hermione Gingold. He listens to it on a cd player in his bedroom. His parents value music education as much as we do. His mother was a vocal performance major, so perhaps he will have a voice, too. It fun to watch how much children benefit from music.

Daughter is currently on vacation in Maine with a former Suzuki violin student she studied with in Bismarck as a child. Last year they visited their violin teacher who had moved to New Mexico. How fun is that?

Tell about your experiences with music teachers and music lessons as a child. What was your favorite music as a child? As a teen? Any instruments in your home now?

2024, Food, gardening, Uncategorized, Weather

Freeze Warning

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The temperature was predicted to get down to possibly 29 last night. We were in a Freeze Warning, the third in the past week. I didn’t cover the garden during the the last two warnings, but I decided I didn’t want to risk it last night. Covering the garden with blankets has never really worked well for us, given how windy it can get here. It also leaves you with tons of laundry to do.

I spent late Wednesday afternoon bringing in all the produce that still had the potential to ripen. There are tomatoes and eggplants in boxes in the garage. For some reason, you aren’t supposed to can tomatoes that have been through a hard freeze.

The Swiss chard is in buckets keeping hydrated until I can clean it, wilt the leaves, and freeze them.

Husband wants to make more pepper jelly from the red serranos, and will freeze the green ones.

The carrots will be better after a freeze, and our cold hardy spinach is good down to the low 20’s. Those can all stay in for a while.

The end of the garden is bittersweet but also a relief. Now comes all the work of taking up hoses, taking down bunny fences, removing spent raspberry canes, and trimming things up for winter. November through February are our least busy months, even with the holidays, as there isn’t any gardening to do except dream of next year.

What are your busiest and least busiest months? What would you use to cover your garden from frost? What are your fall yard tasks?

2024, Family, Travel, Uncategorized, work

Big Wind

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Monday we drove to Bismarck to meet with the State Retirement people. That went well. My official last day of work is 01/31/2025. I had lots of questions answered and was very relieved when we left the office.

The day was utterly stressful and overwhelming, however, because of the wind. I drove. We travelled east to Bismarck with a full tank of gas and a steady 36 mph northwest wind with 49 mph gusts at our back. We used very little gas on the 90 miles to Bismarck. The indicator was still on full when we arrived. We ran several errands after the Retirement appointment, always making sure the wind didn’t take the vehicle doors and rip them off, and struggling in and out of stores. The air was full of dust that was being blown around. It was a cold wind. Sunday the temperature was 95. Monday it barely reached 61. When those big temperature swings happen, the wind always starts up.

The drive back home was the worst. Passing on the interstate was really tricky because the northwest wind blew vehicles toward me in the passing lane as I tried to get around them. There seemed to be a large contingent of rackety campers and motor homes, all high profile vehicles, traveling west, all going way too slow and needing to be passed, all swerving into the passing lane. The wind was so loud we couldn’t hear the radio playing, I was so tense when I got home I could hardly move. We used half a tank of gas going west into the wind. I know there is wind in Minnesota, but I don’t think it ever gets as bad as we had here on Monday.

What is your favorite music, poems, or literature about the wind? Favorite wind band music? What is the worst wind you have had to travel in? Ever had to drive a “High Profile” vehicle in the wind?