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!