Last gasp of summer?

10/21/12

Wow, what a gorgeous day!  Blue skies, sunny, warm (69 degrees), slight breeze - why can't I live somewhere where the weather is always like this?  Well, I suppose I'd start to take it for granted, whereas this way - man, do I appreciate it.  This is particularly true when contemplating the coming winter...  Even if the predictions are for a warmer-than-normal and drier-than-normal winter, that could mean 10 below rather than 30 below, and maybe a couple blizzards rather than a dozen!  Though, after last winter's non-occurrence, I don't know...  With the drought this summer, I think I have to hope for a very snowy winter, in spite of personal inclinations to the contrary!

The last of the tomatoes in the basement are ripening up nicely, with only an occasional failure to be tossed.  The basement-ripened ones are more tart than the vine-ripened ones were, but still very enjoyable.  I've just been eating them sliced, with crumbles of feta and chopped walnuts on top, salt & freshly ground pepper, and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.  Very yummy!  We also made several batches of stewed tomatoes (peeled, simmered with onion and garlic) which were then frozen in smaller units for use this winter.  The tomatoes were definitely a success, as were the squash.  The other veggies.... not so much.  I think the rabbits got more use from them than we did!  That's okay; small compensation for Henry's depredations earlier in the summer!

Speaking of squash, I made a very tasty soup from some of Fred's already-cooked butternut squash.  It was basically squash, pureed with some cream, chicken broth, and your choice of spices (I added a bit of pumpkin pie seasoning, but I couldn't taste it at all - too stingy, I guess!).  I used the blender I've had forever and never thought I'd use again!  Had to do it in small batches, but worked fine.  Now I wish I'd kept the Cuisinart I sold when I moved to the first farm...  I added more broth once I had it all back in the pot because it seemed really thick, and then it was wonderful.  I broiled an open-faced sandwich of cheese, dried tomatoes, and onions to go along with it.  I felt very "harvest dinner"-ish!  Well, a small harvest dinner...

I froze the leftover soup, with some trepidation because of the cream, but it thawed nicely.  The reheating and whisking made it totally creamy again (I was worried that it would remain porridge-y).  I'm feeling pretty pleased with my first summer of growing veggies.

Drying tomatoes

10/2/12

Finally a chance to catch up a bit.  This fall has been busy!  We're in the midst of a warm spell - supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow - but the cold is coming.  Over the past couple weeks, I've harvested all the tomatoes off our two plants and have been trying to deal with the results.  I can only eat so many tomatoes in one day!  After spending some time online, I found a site with a simple way to oven-dry tomatoes.  The result is tomatoes that are just as good as sun-dried, but without the bugs and dust and bird poop!  And a lot cheaper than the store-bought ones...

This is just a small number of the ripe tomatoes I dealt with, and there are probably 5 dozen more green tomatoes ripening in the basement.

I cored and cut tomatoes for what seemed like forever, squishing the seeds out with my thumb.  The acid stung after a while - surprised me!  Started this process at about 4:30 in the afternoon.

I didn't bother to remove the skins, but did cut them in sixths, rather than fourths.  If they'd been smaller or less juicy, I think fourths would have been fine.  You can see the seeds and squishy parts are gone, leaving the meaty part behind.

If I'd had enough cake racks, I'd have used them, but I didn't, so cookie sheets had to do.  My oven's lowest setting was 170 degrees, so that's the temp I used.  Using the cookie sheets meant turning the pieces and rotating the racks every few hours to even out the drying.  The pieces stuck just enough that they had to be turned individually.  Turning at 4:30 PM, 7:30 PM, 10:30 PM, serendipitously awake at 1:30 AM, then again at 4:30 AM when I discovered that the oven has a safety feature: it turns itself off after 12 hours of continuous "on"!  Lucky for me, I was there and turned it back on before too long.


At around 8 AM, they all seemed raisin-y dry, so I took them out.  I think they turned out great and have been using them in my scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, salads, etc.  I did the whole thing twice, so I have 4 baggies in the freezer with dried tomatoes!  And as the basement greenies continue to ripen, I'll probably have to do it all at least one more time!  Oh, and we also have about a dozen tomatoes frozen in the freezer!  They were too ripe for drying but should make good sauce.  Good weapons, too, if the need arises...

Fred's been eating squash from the garden every day.  I'm going to try it tomorrow.  To me, squash is best used as a vehicle for a puddle of melted butter and brown sugar in the center of the cup!  Yummy...

I think this is about the end of the garden for this year.  Not a raging success, but good enough for our first attempt. :)

Fall Projects

9/23/12

Wow, how the days disappear!  School has been good this year, but it's always a shock to get back to a routine that means being gone from the farm from 5:45 AM till 4 PM.  Now all the projects that need doing have to be crammed into the early evening or the weekend.

Fred got the three remaining, surviving seedlings transplanted last weekend.  Two blue spruce and one lilac have been added to our tree population.  I hope they survive the winter!  I may have to bank them with straw for an insulation assist.  We had so little snow last winter that many, many trees died from exposure.  It's sad to see a stretch of 50 foot tall poplars lining a road, now dead except for one...  Our trees made it without too much frost damage, and I hope they all get through this coming winter as well.

While Fred was digging holes, I was shoveling rock.  The Henry puppy has a habit of making a great bounding leaping pounces at the kennel fence when he sees Jack (the barn cat) on the other side.  This has pushed the pea rock through the fence and piled up on our gravel path.  Note how high up on the 6x6 timbers the rock has piled!  I spent some serious time and back-muscle relocating it all back into the kennel.

 Notice the nice new boards along the bottom edge of the kennel? That was part of last weekend's projects.  Fred and I generally don't work well together (we both want to be the boss), but we managed this one with no arguments!  Such an accomplishment!

Only partially done shoveling up the rock, but at least I can see the sides of the 6x6 now.  I  had to sort of pour it through the fence into the kennel.

You can see where it's piled up on the inside, against the new boards.  I cleaned up the edges and after a week, it still looks pretty tidy (Dad would approve!).

We're getting things ready for the cold season.  Still some projects to go, but a couple things checked off the list anyway!

My little hummer

9/10/12

I never thought I'd be trying catch a hummingbird!  One flew into the open garage yesterday, then couldn't figure out how to get out!  It kept bumping against the ceiling in a futile attempt to fly up - their normal behavior.  Not being like bats, even the open doors didn't draw it.  We closed the big door - it kept flying above the door, not down through it, then tried to get it out the smaller access door.  It was both comical and tragic, as Fred and I staggered around the garage, waving snowshoes in the air (we didn't have tennis rackets or a net!), trying to herd the tiny thing towards the door.  (Just try holding a full-sized, old-fashioned snowshoe above your head at arm's length and control it while waving at a hummingbird!)  Fred eventually just stood on the car and tried to toss a light towel over the bird as it hovered near the ceiling.  He got it once, but it squirted out when he tried to hand it to me.  The second time, 10 minutes later, he got it captured, and I scrambled through the door with it while it squeaked frantically.  Man!  Poor thing must have been exhausted as well as traumatized, but it seemed to fly off with no trouble.  Gawd....

New beginnings

9/8/12

One week of the new school year is done, and I didn't get cursed at once!  Looks like it's going to  be a good year (knock on wood!).  In fact, one student even made a special stop in my room to apologize to me for being sleepy in class!  She didn't want me to think she was being disrespectful.  Wow.  So far, it doesn't look like anyone in any of the five classes is going to be a behavior problem.  Of course, that doesn't mean they'll all work hard and learn a lot, either.  I can already ID a few students who will slack off and likely fail the class without a significant attitude change.  There's only so much I can do, and at this age (16-18), they really ought to be responsible for their own motivation.

The classes are all large: 28, 33, 38, 39,and 40.  This means less time for each student, which is not good. I do offer after school tutoring, but few take advantage of it.  The few who do, usually find it very helpful, but how do I get them there in the first place??  Many have after-school responsibilities (jobs, family care, etc.), and too few put their math class (or even school, in general) at the top of their list.  Very difficult to get them to realize and believe how important post-high school education is and how hard it can be to get accepted into a worthwhile program.  A high school diploma is simply not enough anymore!

Farm news is all about winding down the summer and getting ready for the winter.  We have a couple of blue spruce seedlings and one lilac to transplant, and the garden is getting to its endpoint.  It looks like we'll have lots of squash!  The tomato plants still have a lot of producing to do - is there anything as tasty as a garden tomato??  Sliced, with chopped walnuts and crumbled feta cheese scattered on top, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette... yummy!  The squash will be good, too, though I have to confess I use them purely as vehicle to hold a slurry of melted butter and brown sugar!  Definitely not a low-carb dish!  

We're going to build some kind of dogbed in the garage for the dogs this winter.  I'm picturing a low manger, filled with straw.  Henry simply demolishes anything less durable, and he'll chew on the wood side of the manger, too, but at least he can't really shred 2x4's!  Our fancy electronic dog door would be fine if he didn't simply stand in front of it, triggering the door to raise, so he can stay in the warm house and still watch Jack (the barn cat) in the cold garage!  I'm worried that he'll burn out the motor!  So, he and Molly will spend their days in the garage and the outdoor kennel.  Don't feel bad for them; the kennel is 16x18, and the garage is insulated - they'll be fine (they've been doing it since last April).  The other dog project is to build some kind of barrier along the bottom edge of the kennel fence to hold the pea rock in.  Henry makes great diving pounces at the fence (usually when he sees Jack on the outside), and shoves massive amounts of pea rock right through the wire fence!  I can just imagine what the snowblower will do with pea rock whipping through it, along with the snow...  Not a good thing.  So, maybe strips of 3/4 inch plywood?  A double row of 2x8's?  Fiber cement siding??  Not sure yet!

Fred spent three hours in the barn this morning with our farrier, helping the farrier reset the shoes on all three horses.  The farrier, Ernie, is a very chatty guy - nice, but boy! does he talk!  I escaped earlier by going to the grocery store, so Fred had to do the honors and make like a hitching post.  There really does need to be someone helping, but it makes for a long morning.  I particularly dread it in the winter.  Standing around for three hours when it's about 20 degrees makes for a chilly time!  I just can't dress warmly enough...

Well, it's still nice out for now!

Loose ends, again

9/2/12

Well, I think the bunnies are launched!  No one was there when I checked the nest, and nothing was disturbed, so I think they're out exploring their world.  YAY!  A really good website for wild bunny info is http://www.2ndchance.info/bunnies.htm .  It helped me a lot with my bunny traumas earlier!  Of the three litters I know of this summer, at least this one was successful.  Dang dogs...

I've been having cell phone problems (dropped calls, no service, etc.) with T-Mobile that I never had before, so I called to ask some questions.  I cannot even begin to describe the frustration at dealing with that automated female voice!  After shouting at the phone and swearing a blue streak, I finally just hung up.  Why oh why can't they just hire a real person??  I tried the trick of just hitting 0 repeatedly, in hopes of getting to customer service, but "she" just kept saying, sweetly, "I'm sorry. I didn't get that - would you repeat it please?  Your choices are ......"  GRRRRRRR!  So then I tried to find some info for Verizon cell phone service and couldn't find anything except packages for HDTV, Internet, and phone all bundled together, which is not what I want!  Maybe I’ll just go back to a land line and get really out of touch!

As I was mowing the so-called lawn this morning, I thought, “My god!  I need a sports bra to mow the grass!”  It is so bumpy still, after all these years.  The guy who seeded our pastures used the same equipment to seed the lawn, so it was all in rows, not broadcast.  The yard is sorta like corduroy, only harder!  A washboard, maybe? 

This is Quinn, totally relaxed.  What a life...  I wonder if cats have any idea how silly they look at times?  They always seem so very aloof and dignified, then they do something ridiculous.

Students start on Tuesday - that's tomorrow!  Eeek!  I'm more-or-less ready, and am so pleased that I won't have to deal with freshmen this year.  I may actually get through days at a time without being called some foul name... what a concept.  But, teaching public school is easy, dontcha know.  After all, we get lots of benefits (that we don't earn, right?); working with eager young people must be a joy (OMG); and we're highly regarded by our administration and community.  Mmm hmm, yeah, right.  Okay, okay, I'll stop.  This year should be much better than last year was, and I'll try to focus on that.  Check in next week to see how it looks after one week!

Summer's end

8/29/12

Started "Teacher Week" on Monday....  So sad....  Well, at least I don't have any freshmen classes this year, which eliminates the strongest possibility of a horrible year.  Our fearless leader decided a couple years ago that it would be more "fair" to make as many teachers travel from room to room on carts as possible, rather than trying to get as many teachers into their own room as possible.  There was such an uproar that he petulantly agreed to mess with the rooms only when the occupant left the building (retired, switched schools, etc.).  So when I saw that he had switched me out of my room for one hour each day, I was most unhappy!  I suggested to the teacher who was scheduled to be in my room that hour that she go to the other room down the hall, and leave me alone!  I was  a bit more tactful than that, and she was agreeable.  I haven't heard anything from the powers that be so I assume that's the way it'll be.  To have me switch rooms for one class period, just to make things "more fair" - how stupid is that?  Let's maximize the chaos in the building!  That'll help student achievement!  Gawd...

This is another straw on my back as I weigh the pros and cons of retiring this spring.  With the early retirement bonus plus the payment for unused sick and personal days, I could leave with over $10K of extra money.  AND, I wouldn't have to worry about all the new BS initiatives coming down the line in public education.  (No one ever seems to acknowledge how vital the role of parents is in creating a good student who takes ownership of their education!)  Anyway, I have lots of number crunching to do before I make a final and irrevocable decision about retiring this spring, but it sure is tempting!  Too bad I can't do it now - there's a full-time math opening at the Shakopee high school, about 25 minutes away.   Sigh.  I don't expect to retire retire - just stop with the hour commute to St. Paul.  Well, we'll see.

Bunny update:  the babies are doing well and getting noticeably bigger.  When I lift the BPU to check on them, they get into kind of a squirmy panic, so I don't want to do it too often.  I think what'll happen is I'll check on them one day and find the nest empty.  They'll be out in the world, on their own.  I think they're close to that point now.  Once their ears stand up rather than lay flat against their bodies, they're ready to be on their own.  They still seem so small, though!  Such a defenseless little creature...

I've refilled the bird feeders and crossed my fingers.  It may be too early, but I think I'll just sanitize the feeders every weekend.  As they get ready for migration, I want to provide a good source of high energy food.  Gotta get those birdy bods all plumped up, dontcha know!

Hay there!

8/25/12
After reading all the press about the drought across the Midwest (and experiencing it to a lesser degree around here), we got a bit worried about the winter hay supply for the horses.  A friend was picking up 200 bales for her horses and saw a semi truck from Texas loading up for the trip back!  We bought 2 big bales this weekend and will get two more next weekend.

Two big bales on the trailer

The big bales are about 8 feet long, 3 feet high and 3 feet wide, so they're pretty big.

Long forks on the tractor spear & lift the bale

Fred loaded them onto our little trailer, then used the tractor to pick up one at a time to take into the barn.

Coming through the barn

We set up a storage area in the arena and will stack the big bales there.  Hate having hay in the arena. but having hungry horses would be much worse!

How much more work it would all be without the tractor and engine power!

Weeds...

8/24/12
Baby bunnies are still in place, still moving, so I think the BPU is working.  Henry is wearing his shock collar all the time now when we're outside.  Screaming like a banshee at him doesn't seem effective when he's got a baby bunny in sight!  We had a massive thunderstorm last night, too, so maybe the BPU even helped protect the bunnies from that.  An inch and a half, with almost non-stop lightning, and scary-high winds.  It was wild....

See the tiny spruce seeding in the middle left?

I went to check on Fred's so-called veggie garden to make sure my 4 plants survived the storm.  Out of 8 blue spruce seedlings and two lilacs, I still have 2 of the spruce and both lilacs.

And he calls this a garden...

Between the extreme heat and the drought, I guess I'm happy with the 4 that survived.  And, I think Fred pulled out a couple by mistake as he was weeding earlier.  He denies everything...  I say "weeding" with some hesitation, since the weeds are now over-my-head tall!  I took my hedge clippers out and whacked away a safe zone around each of my survivors - it took some searching to even find them.  I gotta figure out where they're going to live permanently and get them transplanted soon - before Fred loses patience and mows the whole weedy patch down!

Squash growing out of the manure strip

The veggie garden is kind of a joke at this point.  He'll get squash yet, and has gotten some kohlrabi and beet greens, but the rest were total failures.  It was mostly eaten by critters or overwhelmed by the heat or buried under weeds.  He's really got to do some serious thinking and planning for next year.



I like the idea of growing our own veggies, but it really takes constant work and determination  I don't think it's cost-effective, but I like the thought of learning how to grow at least some of the food we eat.  My two tomato plants are doing well and we shouldn't need to buy any tomatoes for a while (next, I need to learn how to can!).  They're in the bird garden near the house, so I can weed and water conveniently.  The bird garden has berry-producing shrubs for food and should also provide some cover over the winter.  There won't be much this year, but it should get better each season. 

Rabbit repeat

8/22/12
Henry found another bunny nest yesterday!  This time, I was right there and was able to get him away before he did any damage, thank god.  I used an idea I got from a website to rig up my special "Bunny Protection Unit" and now I'm just hoping the mama will accept it and the babies will make it.  They're still alive today and I'll keep checking over the next few days.  As long as I don't see mangled bodies or lots of fur strewn about, I'll be optimistic.   As you can see, I'm using half of a cat carrier to block off the top and rocks to make the opening smaller.  I just hope it's enough room for Mama to get in and nurse her babies!













I think my bluebirds have all started moving south.  I haven't seen any in a couple weeks and the only birds eating from the bluebird feeder are sparrows (we have lots of small native sparrows).  After the problems with the finches, I've stopped feeding any seed-eating birds.  The Baltimore Orioles, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds will still get food, but no seeds out there for a few weeks!

Keep your fingers crossed for the bunnies.  (I never shoulda read Watership Down...)

Animal health??

8/21/12

More sick birds at my feeder!  I was able to find out more information from the Cornell bird site http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/abtdisease.html.  The pictures they had were exactly like the finches at my feeder and it's a respiratory disease called  Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis .  The info I've found indicates that they don't know what causes it or how it's transmitted, but they recommend sanitizing the feeders with a 1:9 bleach soln as soon as you see an infected bird.  It's been moving across the US from the East Coast and although not common here, it's been seen more and more.  The poor bird's eyes get swollen and crusted over so they can't see, then they starve to death or get eaten.  Though it's illegal to do to a native species, I've started capturing and euthanizing the birds I see with it.  If the bird is sick enough for me to get close enough to throw a towel over it, it's better off with a quick death by car exhaust than a starvation death or a cat death.  So I spent an hour or so yesterday dismantling my seed feeders and cleaning them with dilute bleach, and now I'm going to stop feeding for about a week.  At least at this time of year there should be lots of natural food out there, and crowding at feeders probably isn't good if there's a sick bird about.

I went to the grocery store in NP yesterday and when I got home and opened the garage door, no dogs came dashing out.  They came running from the other side of the house, so happy to see me!  The kennel gate was wide open and I assume they spent the hour gorging off the manure/compost pile.  Neither seems to be suffering from it, though Henry's stool was a bit weird this morning.  Just what their poor GI tracts needed after the feast on Granny's  garbage, eh??

Today I left both dogs unattended and loose in the house while I went to Ace.  Nothing was chewed or shredded when I got back!!  Amazing!  Maybe Henry is growing up...

Elder Care...

8/15/12
Just talked with Granny, after having the police go check on her.  We'd been trying to reach her for hours, but getting no answer on the cell phone (it was turned off for church) and right to voice mail on the house phone. Apparently the house phone was slightly off the hook on one extension.  A "very nice young policeman" helped her find the problem and now she's back in business.  With her recent health issues, and this being her first day on her own, not being able to reach her was getting worrisome!  We need to set up a rotation for checking in with her twice a day, and for someone to go to Austin each weekend.  With three of her five kids just 90 minutes away, we oughta be able to take one weekend day every three weeks to go down there.  That would also keep the refrigerator situation under control!

Speaking of the fridge...  I put out the garbage this morning, but couldn't fit all Granny's bags (two more, for a total of 4 bags in two weeks!) into the can, so left one in the garage.  Big mistake.  While taking Fred to pick up the truck (another $411 tab...), Henry and Molly went to town on all that bad meat (mostly breaded chicken and very old steaks).  When I opened the garage once I got home, and saw all the pieces of plastic bags and meat trays, I just groaned.  All I'd need would be two poisoned dogs!  So they both got about 60cc of hydrogen peroxide and spent the next 20 minutes vomiting all their stomach contents.  Henry was the worst and he wandered all over the driveway and ditch, leaving piles of chewed up chicken and plastic mixed with copious amounts of H2O2 and saliva.  It was so lovely to clean up...revolting!  They're both pretty subdued right now.  God, what an experience.  Took another 45 minutes to clean out the mess in the garage - meat juices smeared all over the floor, bits of other luckily unidentifiable stuff scattered about, and that godawful smell of rotting garbage.  The flies were having a field day :(   Finally got it cleaned up, closed the garage, and fogged with Raid.  Ick, ick, ick!

Long boring days just don't seem to be in the cards for me...

Strays...

8/8/12

This is the kitty who arrived at my back door last Saturday evening.  He was precariously perched on the grill, sticking one paw into the drip tray to grab some good stuff, then licking his paw clean.  He spooked, of course, when I opened the door, but unlike most strays, he didn't disappear into the night.  He went halfway down the steps, turned, and meowed at me!  I talked to him a little and he became my best bud in no time flat.  Of course, I was hooked.  He was a thin, declawed, neutered male, and very affectionate, so I know he was someone’s pet.  How he ended up at our farm is a mystery.  I fed him for a couple days, then realized I had to find him a home, or when Fred returned from his trip, I’d be looking for a divorce lawyer!      (Last August when Fred left on a trip, he came back to find three dogs, instead of two.  This kitty showed up the same day Fred left on this summer’s trip.  Fred will never leave again!)  At first, I’d thought he was a she, but the vet said nope – neutered male, maybe 6-8 years old.  No microchip or ID, of course!  My friend Pat said she’d take him, so now he’s charming her and the rest of her household.  He’ll have a good life there.  I kinda miss him!

Granny and I spent all day yesterday in Austin, taking care of business.  She got her hair done, a hearing aid replaced, shopped at her favorite butcher, visited the library, sorted through mail, and cleaned out all the rotting food in her fridge.  She’d been gone for nearly 3 weeks, and she tends to hoard anyway, so there was a lot of garbage to deal with…  (my trash went out today and I’m sure the guys are wondering what we’ve been up to in the last week!).  She had nearly 4 dozen eggs in her fridge!  I took 2 dozen home, thinking we could eat them here, but after cracking a couple and gagging at the stench, I checked the dates.  Both cartons were “best by Jan 2012” !!  So, more to be added to next week’s garbage haul.  Yuck.  I think we need to get rid of anything in her fridge that’s older than a month, particularly anything opened…  How many open containers of mayo can one little old lady consume??  Her fridge would make a food safety expert panic!

Haven’t heard from the campers since Sunday morning, so I hope they’re both fine – not eaten by bears or drowned in the lakes.  I think the weather has been good for them, but neither is an expert canoer so there’s a little bit of worry there…  I expect them back in cell range by Friday morning and home by Friday night.  I’ll be glad to have Fred home – I miss him!

Starting to think about school again.  Sigh…  After Granny goes home on the 17^th, I’ll have one more week of pure freedom before the grind begins again.  At least this year I’ll have only upperclassmen.  I’ll also have two classes of Accelerated Precalc and those kids are usually great fun.  They're smart enough and sophisticated enough to be able to tease and joke with, without risking chaos.  The other three classes will be regular Algebra 2, so not as high ability, but at least a little older and more mature than freshmen.  A repeat of last year would send me to the funny farm!

8/9/12

I forgot the “best” part of my Austin adventure with Granny!  I’m driving and she’s giving directions, but she’s not entirely clear on which of several corners “Turn left” refers to, so I’m swerving from lane to lane, missing the turn entirely, making a wild right turn down a frontage road, into a parking lot so I can turn around and try again.  Much to my dismay, a highway patrol car with flashing lights pulled in right behind me!  I figured he must be wondering what that lady driver is on, with her wild driving, and I was anticipating a ticket for reckless driving (and increased insurance premiums L).  What he was really concerned about was the dark tint on the Dodge’s windows!  I babbled through an explanation about it being Mom’s car (then had to explain why I was driving it) from Arizona where tinted windows were common.  Well, in Minnesota, they can only be tinted to block 50% of light through, and mine were allowing less than 70% through.  I’m not sure if it’s actual light or a certain wavelength, but in any case, I was illegal!  He told me I’d have to remove the tinting from all the windows, not just the front (passenger cars vs trucks and vans), and I’d better do it pronto because my official warning would be in the system that day.  If I got stopped again, I’d get a ticket (I don’t know the fine amount since Henry chewed up the ticket when I got home – good dog!).  He was kind of a putz.  So, I just finished removing the tinting on the front windows.  I had to stop for a while – the acetone to dissolve the adhesive was making me dizzy!  Gawd…

Hot again!

7/25/12

Back to the heat again, but at least we’ve had some rain.  We got 2.5 inches here on the farm over about 36 hours – badly needed it, too!  You should see Henry leaping over the rows of soybeans!  They're tall enough now that all I see is the tip of his tail as he trots down a row.  When I call, "O Henry!  Come on, Henry!", he bounds like a hurdler over the rows.  Boing!  Boing! Very cute.  The corn is quite tall, but I don’t know enough about how corn grows to know if it's okay. I do know that rain at the right time is critical to good kernel formation.  I’ve seen too many very brown corn stalks, particularly in southern Minnesota, to not worry about the crop.  Being a farmer would be so hard!  How do you deal with having so little control over a critical factor like weather?  And it must be heartbreaking to have livestock in the midst of a drought.  My heart goes out to ranchers who are watching their herds die of thirst or starvation, or finding themselves needing to slaughter herds and lose bloodlines they’ve spent decades developing, all for the lack of decent rains.  My dying lawn and struggling shrubs become awfully trivial in comparison…

The shootings in Aurora were mind-boggling.  I’m not a gun control fanatic, but I have a hard time understanding why anyone without evil intentions needs to own a semi-automatic assault rifle!  Guns for hunting and personal protection are one thing; military-grade assault weapons are entirely another.  The argument has been made that if someone in the theater had had a gun, maybe they would have been able to kill the shooter before he’d gotten as far as he did.  Maybe so, but if the hero had missed, would the shooter have sent a barrage right at that area, leaving more innocent spectators caught in the middle?  I don’t know anything about conceal-and-carry laws.  Would someone with a conceal permit be allowed to bring a gun into a place with one of those “guns are banned in these premises” signs posted?  Maybe if everyone was carrying a gun, fewer psychos would think they could get away with it?  What a god-awful mess….

I have been watering the tomato plants and they’re growing like crazy!  I keep waiting for some hint of color on those green balls.  There is nothing as tasty as fresh garden tomatoes!

Had to send in my laptop for repair.  I downloaded a recommended security update from Toshiba and the next morning the laptop wouldn’t boot up.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but I tell ya, I’m going to be a lot more leery of updating a perfectly fine unit from now on!  At least it’s still under warranty, so the repair shouldn’t cost me anything.  Still, $35 to send it in and not having it for at least 2 weeks is a substantial price anyway!  I’d been using it a lot lately, since sitting at the desktop computer for very long has been painful (the back issue…).  I set up the laptop on the kitchen counter and stood there – worked out quite well, but now it’s gone.  At least the back is getting better!

Is July over yet??  This has been a rough month around here… brother-in-law’s death; back meltdown; Fred’s uncle’s death; Granny’s GI bleed (and she had a small heart attack last night!  Good thing she’s already in the hospital).  Crimey!  Send good vibes this way, please J. 

Loose ends

7/19/12

The last of this year’s bluebirds have fledged!  Yay!  I was worried that this last batch would get killed by the heat, but they’re gone (see the dirty empty nest!) and no dead babies left behind.  Now, if the last of the tree swallows would make it out, I’d breathe a big sigh of relief.  

Messy bed!

Each time I take out an old nest, I'm amazed again that 3-5 bluebird babies could have lived there.  The floor is just too small.  I'm going to play with the design of these boxes this fall and see if I can modify them to provide more room.  If we're going to continue to get these hot summers, I'll feel much better about the bird babies if they have a bit more space.




I’ve learned a lot this summer about the birds, but it’s just made me worry more!  I noticed that one of the finches at the deck feeder seemed very brave about having me come out on the deck.  The other birds would scatter, but this one would just keep on eating.  A few days ago, I noticed that the skin around his eyes was featherless and red (see the picture – if you click on it, it will enlarge), so now I’m worried that he’s blind!  I haven’t seen him in a couple days, which is also worrisome.  And now I’m concerned that his condition is something contagious and the other birds will get it!  I’ve gotten various pieces of advice from removing the feeders to trying to catch the sick one for treatment.  I’m not sure a wild finch would survive the trauma of being caught and treated, but I might dump the remaining seed and sanitize the feeders.   Hmmmm…

 With the drought we’ve had, the last thing my plants need is to be eaten by bugs, but I think that’s what’s happening to my flowers.  Doesn’t look good!  At least the berry shrubs are still doing well.  I don’t like gardening and don’t want to worry about this stuff!  


And look at this monster eating my primrose!  You can see the damage on the other picture pretty well.  That stick-like stalk should have lots of leaves.  You can see the nubbins left after being chewed...

Poor primrose...  They get blown over by the wind, peed on and trampled by the dogs, and eaten by things.  I think I may just dig them up and plant more large rocks.  That's truly low maintenance!

Heartbreak and backache

7/17/12

My brother-in-law's funeral was good, and very well-attended, which was some consolation for his wife, I think.  I remember feeling hurt that so few people came to Dad's funeral, but I've since wondered if we knew how to get the word out effectively...  I encouraged Jeanne to wait till Monday to have the funeral, rather than do it last Friday because I wanted people to have enough time to make travel or work arrangements.  Anyway, Bruce had a great send-off, with eulogies from his boss, his best friend, and his cousin.  

I spent the service alternately sitting and standing in the back, rather than sitting with family.  My back muscle is still so sore, and I couldn't have sat still throughout the service, especially after sitting for an hour in the car.  By the time we got home, I was in pretty bad shape.  I need to be able to change position about every 10-15 minutes.  I'm still taking drugs and doing stretching exercises, but I think healing that muscle is just going to take time.  One of the exercises acts as a massage, as well as a stretch, so that's a good one.  I'm not worried that it's spine-related; it just so clearly feels like a pulled muscle - very localized and very tender to the touch.  I think about Ella's lifetime of back problems and really don't want to go there!

Thinking about what I'd want for my own funeral is an interesting exercise.  I told Fred he could do whatever he wanted, once I was cremated.  Not being a very religious person, a full church funeral service seems hypocritical, but I guess what would help Fred would have to be the first priority.  After all, I couldn't care less at that point!  Well, chances are good I'll survive him anyway.  He said I could bury him next to Chicanery in the back pasture.  Not sure I could get away with that... but spreading his ashes in the pasture would be okay.  Not for many years, please!!

I'm glad I have a laptop.  I have it set up on the kitchen counter so I don't have to sit to email!

It's funny what I can do without experiencing pain, but they all have the common thread of no bending and very light lifting.  I'm able to "finish" the stalls, which means spread the straw back out, refill the water buckets (with the hose), and rake up the aisle.  I absolutely cannot "clean" the stalls, which means filling muck buckets with manure and dirty straw, and dumping them into the manure spreader, up at chest height.  It's the lifting something heavy that poses the problem.  I can wash dishes at the sink, but have to be very careful bending to load or unload the dishwasher.  I'm going to try to vacuum today, but will be very careful with the twisting motion!  When the dog hairballs start floating across the carpet, I gotta do something!

Speaking of which, I think I need to go stretch a bit.

Come In threes?

7/14/12

Okay, threes, eh?  One, my brother-in-law’s death; two, my severe back spasm yesterday (more later); three, the new water softener isn’t working.  Are we safe for a bit now?  Cars okay?  Animals fine??

I was gardening yesterday, bent to pull a weed, and blam!  Severe pain in lower right lumbar region.  24 hours later, after multiple cold packs, gentle stretching, and lots of drugs, I’m incrementally better.  This is very reminiscent of the back episode I had prior to the England trip, and that was a doozy!  I seldom suffer these during the school year, probably because I’m moving almost all day, seldom sitting for more than an hour at a time.  Plus, I’m not doing any heavy lifting during the school year.  The summertime is much less structured, with random acts of stretch and strength required.  I should take Fred’s advice and start doing a regular yoga stretching routine.  He used to have back problems but since he’s been doing yoga every day (7 years now), he hasn’t had a single episode.  Okay, okay, even if I never feel like I have time during the school year,  can at least do it during the summertime! 

I skipped the family gathering yesterday and today, in hopes of making it to the funeral on Monday.  It’s an hour drive to and from, plus time for the service and reception, so a lot of sitting.  I may have to sit at the back of the church just so I can stand once in a while!  Fred went today, armed with brownies.  We almost hosted today’s gathering out here at the farm – good thing it didn’t work out that way.  Fred and I make a good team for events, but doing it all by himself would be asking a lot!  And, it would drive me nuts to have to sit and watch him organize, rather than do it myself! 

Good news on my last group of tree swallow babies.  I’d thought they were in dire straits after all the extreme heat and humidity.  The nestlings were very quiet, no begging behaviors, hardly moving, and I wasn’t seeing parental activity.  I thought they were doomed.  This morning though, I saw heads sticking out the hole, and parents entering!  YAY!   I just really hope they use the new bigger boxes next year.  I just may replace all the boxes next year.  Building them would be a good fall activity – maybe MEA weekend. 

Time for a stretch and maybe a walk.

Traumas

Well, this has been a rough few days!  My brother-in-law was admitted to the ER last Thursday and died on Monday 7/10.  He’d been dealing with complications from kidney cancer since last September, and the metastasized tumors in his lungs are what finally ended his life.  His wife is, understandably, exhausted and stricken.  He was in his late fifties, so she’s feeling cheated out of decades of life with him.  I’ve been trying to be as much help as I can, and being a teacher on summer break has given me opportunities many people don’t have.  The worst part may be over for him, but now she has to figure out how to make a good life on her own.  Hard times… 

The drought here on the farm continues.  I do water the bushes we spent so much effort and money on this spring, but I feel a bit guilty trying to keep the grass in decent shape.  It’s not a lovely suburban lawn at the best of times, and now it’s pretty ragged.  Crabgrass, alfalfa, pasture grasses – it’s a mixed up mess!    I have decided that even weeds look better mowed, though.  The different grasses grow at different rates and the lawn ends up with random tufts of tall, coarse, green grasses scattered throughout the browning yard.  Looks pretty tacky!  Dad would shake his head…

I’ve been wondering if I should stop listening to the radio.  I get so annoyed at the political garbage that gets spewed out by both sides, but particularly the Republicans.  Neither side seems to realize that when they say “Americans want us to -----------“ they’re generally only speaking for half the polled population!  I  don’t care if my tax dollars fund family planning clinics where abortions are performed!  I don’t want the Affordable Care Act repealed!  I don’t want Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy renewed!  I want more freedoms, not fewer; I want universal health care, not health care only for those who have jobs where it’s provided; I believe that people earning over $250,00 per year can afford a bit more in taxes; I don’t want single parents to have to choose between food and medicine – and on and on!  I believe that I’m representative of at least half the population, so when John  Boehner spouts off about “The American citizen wants us to repeal Obamacare”, I get really annoyed!  What I really want is a return to the idea of working together to find mutually-acceptable solutions to the problems facing the country, from unemployment to the environment to strengthening families to health care.  We need statesmen, not politicians.  Grrrrr……!

7/5/12   Remember this story from a few years ago??  At least tonight's baling shouldn't be such a nightmare!

"I’m finally somewhat recovered from my weekend at Barleycorn Labor Camp…  I already told you about the work we did on Saturday with planting the shrubs and my reaction to either the juniper oils or the new sun screen.  We watered all our 40-some trees on Sunday and lugging the hoses and buckets is not trivial work!  So by late afternoon I was bushed and ready to stop.  I was washing the sweat, dirt, plant fragments, and wind off my face when Fred raced into the house and said, “Nancy, we need you to drive the tractor!”.  Our farmer friend’s hay baler wasn’t working entirely right and the mechanism that kicks the bales back into the hay wagon wasn’t doing its job.  This meant that each bale was simply dropped onto the field and would have to be manually picked up and tossed into the hay wagon.  I was supposed to drive the tractor, towing the hay wagon, slowly up and down the field while the guys “tossed” the 40-60 pound bales 3 feet up into the hay wagon.  I’ve driven the tractor exactly once in the past three years.  It has 2 brake pedals on one side, a clutch pedal on the other, a hand lever accelerator, and a gear shift with 5 vague gears.  My foot can barely cover the brake pedals, the seat is not adjustable so I’m reaching with both legs and arms, and the gear mechanism is very sticky.  I was fine until I started to go uphill and wanted to shift gears.  I could not get it into gear!  And the tractor was rolling backwards downhill, getting ready to jack-knife the hay wagon… (Look for us on the evening news…!)   I’m pushing on the brakes but sliding backwards in the seat, so the brakes weren’t terribly effective.  Fred is racing across the field shouting at me to put it in park (like I could just do that!).  I finally got it stopped and into park, at which point Fred reached me and said, “I’ll drive!”.  So then I was supposed to be on the ground, flinging the bales into the wagon.  Right.  Like I have the arm strength to fling 50 pounds up three feet into a moving target!  My third and last option was to ride in the hay wagon and stack the bales the other 2 guys were tossing in.  I could get them stacked up about 3 layers high, but no further.  Each bale is about 3 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft, and wrapped twice around with thin plastic twine, and don’t forget the weight!  Not an easy object to toss about.  At one point I felt like Lucy in the chocolate factory, with bales coming in from both sides!  At some point in this venture, the farmer left and returned with a different baler with a working kicker, so he finished the rest of the lower field with that.  However, he did the upper field with the broken kicker, so we had to go pick up those bales, too.  Then, we had to unload and restack all the bales in the barn! It was not fun.  We have a barn full of sweet-smelling new hay and that’s nice, but we’re anticipating that about 1/5 of the bales will go bad.  The cut hay really didn’t have enough time to dry between the cutting and the baling, but we were running into a rain threat so didn’t really have a choice, once it was cut – had to get it baled and off the field or risk losing it all."

The new equipment John (the farmer) is using stacks the bales in nice layers of 12 and drops them onto the barn floor.  If we had the room, the loader could just turn around and drop them onto the hay storage deck, but we don't, so we do have to restack them by hand, but that's a lot easier than tossing them out of the haywagon!  The kicker tosses the bales, willy nilly, into the hay wagon and it's like playing Pick Up Stix to get them out.

7/7/12  Update: for some reason known only to God and his angels, John left our bales in tidy piles in the field!  We had to take the tractor down to pick them up, trundle back to the barn, dump them and then stack on the hay deck. I couldn't believe it....  It was a small cutting, so only about 30 bales, but still!

There are only two nests of baby birds left to fledge, then I can take the boxes down to clean them (pour boiling water all over them!).  I hope the TRES use the new boxes next year!

Hot & humid!

Another really hot and humid day…  Actual 4PM temp is 91° but the heat index is 101°, with a dewpoint of 73%.  Very uncomfortable, but not as bad as yesterday!  I just put out another shallow box filled with rocks and water for the birds, so there are three bird baths out there.  Remember those 80-some plastic storage boxes I used when I moved to the first farm??  This is one of them.  Fred wanted to sell them a couple years ago but I knew we’d use them eventually, and boy! Have we ever!  This “water box” may be big enough for the crows…  I think the bird at it in the photo is a female red-winged blackbird, but don’t quote me on that!  

We really want to put together some kind of mini-pond with circulating water, but are going to try to do it on a shoestring budget.  I keep thinking a small, rigid-sided kiddie pool could work as the container, and a simple pump shouldn’t be too pricey, right?  We could bury the pool a bit, so it wasn’t so high off the ground, or even just cut the sides down.  Wonder if we could do a controlled melt of the edge so it wouldn’t be too sharp… we do have a small propane torch…  Any ideas out there??

On Monday, a young man will be coming for some tutoring help before he takes a Calculus refresher course this fall.  This will be my first tutoring job!  He was steered to me by a mutual friend and sounds very highly motivated, so it should be a good experience.  I have no idea what to charge, but I think $25/hour sounds reasonable for private tutoring.  I’ll actually be preparing and delivering lessons, not just helping with specific homework problems, so it’s a bit more than just some college kid offering homework help.  I hope he’s okay with dogs and cats in the house!  Being a city kid, he may enjoy some time out in the country.  If it’s still this hot, though, we won’t be taking any breaks outside!

Just got word that our hay will be baled late this afternoon.  Oh joy.  That means an hour or so in the hot barn, “tossing” bales to Fred to stack.  Dusty, sweaty, hard on the back.  I’m too old for this!!

Exciting morning in the barn

This was a rather exciting morning in the barn…  I was finishing up one of the stalls when my eye was caught by the unusual and unexpected sight of four hooves cartwheeling through the air.  I rushed out to the arena to see what had happened and there was Faye, on her back and scrambling to right herself.  Fred was cautiously approaching, trying to make sure she didn’t get tangled even worse in the lunge line, and she did make it to her feet safely, blowing and trembling.  Very carefully and slowly, talking calmly all the time, Fred drew the lunge line through her legs  and it was finally over.  Wow.  He’d tried using side reins on her while lunging her – very loose -  to see if she would adjust her head and neck position a bit, but as soon as she felt the restraint, she panicked and literally flipped out.  No damage done to horse, handler, or saddle, but quite a sight to see!  He rode her quietly on a loose rein for another 15 minutes, then turned her out.  Even though she’s an 11 year old horse, she’s basically a pretty green 2 year old mentally.  If I remember correctly, she had about a year of work under saddle (once a week) when she was around two, then was a pasture buddy for three older mares for the next six years.  She’s very pretty, very hot, and very spooky, so training is a challenge.  She is making progress, though, so Fred just needs to keep it up.

I’ve been dealing with a very achy lower back for the past few days.  I got dragooned into helping Fred shovel out rocks from the pasture shelter.  These are about 1.5 inch, jagged chunks of rock that we paid someone to spread with his front end loader about two years ago.  God, a shovelful is heavy!

In the spring, the shelter was getting totally bogged in deep, sticky mud, and we thought a mix of rocks would stabilize the ground surface over time.  It did, but now there is a layer of loose rocks that get in the way of cleaning, so out they came.  Shoveling rocks in 90 degree weather is not fun!  Plus, I am not in shape to do this kind of work!  Something’s wrong when my life is getting physically more taxing the older I get.  Gawd…    So I’m popping pills and bending very carefully and only when I must!

Grape jelly seems to be a favorite of a lot of kinds of birds.  I’d thought that only the Baltimore Orioles would eat it, but I’ve seen woodpeckers, finches, starlings (another invasive and nasty species!), and blackbirds all eating it with apparent gusto.  Then they have to wipe their beaks on the post to get all that sticky stuff off.

I think the crows would be there, too, but they’re too big to get into the feeder cup area.  They do like the bird bath, though!   Very funny to see one large crow trying to splash in one smallish bird bath.  I should get a kiddie pool for them…

I worry about the bluebird nestlings in this extreme heat, but I'm not sure there's much I could do for them.  Heat is better than getting chilled, I guess.  One more nest of tree swallow eggs to hatch and then I think we're done for this season.  I've been seeing the tree swallows checking out the new boxes - hope they use them!  I'm going to leave the doors on the bluebird boxes open for an extra week next spring to try to encourage the tree swallows to claim the larger boxes.  We're far enough north that the bluebirds don't overwinter here and I think the tree swallows come back first.  I'll be watching carefully!

Baby Bunnies...sigh

I know dogs are predators and when they chase and kill small animals they’re just doing what Nature programmed them to do, but I sure do hate to witness it!  I was waging war on my nemesis weed (that thistle!) with my sprayer when I saw Henry expressing too much interest in something buried in the tall grass.  Sure enough, it was a rabbit hole with a youngster nosing up out of it.  I zapped Henry (effective but mild – don’t worry!), yelled at Molly (no collar on her), and we moved on.  However, I lost track of the dogs after about 10 more minutes until I heard that awful noise of a baby rabbit being chewed up.  Running screaming at the dogs, zapping all the way, backpack spraying bouncing all over, I was, of course, too late.  The poor little thing had an eye gouged out (head bite, most likely, pulling it out of its burrow?) and skin tears along its little legs.  I HATE this!  But the only alternative is to keep the dogs leashed all the time and I won’t do that on our own 10 acres.  I appealed to Fred’s manliness and he dispatched the little bugger more mercifully than letting it simply die in its own lingering time.  Between the two dogs, they’ve killed 5 baby rabbits I know of.  I wish the dang things would go burrow somewhere else!  I read that they tend to nest near houses because they know their natural predators (foxes, weasels, coyotes, etc.) will avoid the houses.  What they don’t seem to recognize is the danger of cats and dogs…  Sigh.  After reading Watership Down, I’m entirely too capable of anthropomorphizing rabbits!

An hour or so later, Henry was charming me with his passion for shredding boxes.  Boxes of all sorts – really cheap chew toys!  I’ve spent many dollars on fancy squeaky toys or braided ropes, and he ignores them all for a box.  Go figure.

Several hours later, three more baby rabbits are gone!  God, what a day! The dogs got two more and the barn cat got the third, and I am a basket case.  How do I keep the rabbits out of the areas near the house??  I think the whole litter is gone…  I suppose there’s really no way to keep wild rabbits safe near the house, short of leashing the dogs (which I won't do out here) but this is really upsetting!  

I just read up a bit on cottontails (god I love the internet!) so I'll be better prepared for the next litter we find.  At least now I'll know how to age the babies and have some tips on how to protect the nest from the dogs and cats.  Such trauma out here in the country!