Family History.

      While living, where geographically I explain "as near the junction of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota", Cathy came to live with us as a foster daughter. Because her family of origin disintegrated we became her legal guardians. The other foster children who lived with us had other guardians. 

      Cathy was very intelligent, mature and possessed exceptional common sense. Parenting her was a dream. First in her extended family to graduate from high school she married Tim. Cathy and Tim continued to live in the community where she had come to live with us. Tragically she died from breast cancer twelve years ago. Tim and I have remained in close contact and almost every year he makes the 350 mile drive to visit me. 

     Last fall, when Tim heard of my plans to rent an excavator to remove rocks he intended to come and help. Winter intervened before we got it done. So, he came last week. He has worked both as a mechanic and a heavy equipment operator. He said running the excavator removing rocks was fun. After a five minute orientation at the rental place where we rented the excavator, he was good to go. He climbed into the cab and drove it up on the trailer. In the field with the rocks it was clear that he knew what he was doing.

  With his mechanical skills he was keen to work on my tractors. He put points and condenser in one. In another he adjusted the timing and replaced the fan and alternator belts. Another tractor's battery was dead. Arlington, about 15 miles away, has an Interstate Battery warehouse. They sell blemished batteries for half price, so I paid $80. for a new battery instead of $160. Then, Tim helped me switch batteries between tractors. Finally, he restored the function of the back-up camera on my truck.

   Perhaps this seems exploitive but he's happiest working on projects with another guy. Since, the death of his brother, with whom he was regularly engaged, he's happy for these experiences.  And I? Grateful for the relationship and appreciative for the help!

Takk for alt,

Al

   

Ya, then...

     Tim left this morning for his ND home. I'll have more to say about his visit.

     With the temperature in the 60s I ventured out with tractor and plow. Now with the plowing finished Monday looks warm enough to finish the tillage. Then the first warm day I'll plant the corn. 

   Why this brief blog so late? Blame the WNBA and my absent mindedness.

Takk for alt,

Al

it's Late!

   Involved watching the Lynx final pre-season game. they beat Toronto, time slipped away. Tim and I had a fruitful day of machinery repair. All's well and I'll write more tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al 

10,000 year old gifts!

       Does the title "10,000 year old gifts" tell you the subject of this post?  Glacial deposits would be another description. Long ago glaciers swept this area bringing rocks from Canada. When the glaciers melted rocks were left behind, many of which live on my land. Previous owners  of the property were not diligent rock pickers. Using rock picking as a substitute for gym membership I'm trying for rock removal. In that process there were many rocks too large for me, or any of my machines, to handle.

    Enter Tim, from North Dakota. His planned visit to assist with rock removal, and socializing, was foiled by the season's first snowfall last November. Yesterday he arrived and today we rented a mini-excavator and went rock hunting. Smaller rocks were loaded on to the trailer for addition to a rock pile off the field. One large rock was deposited at a fence line. Another was pushed into a wetland where it'll be a roosting site for ducks, pheasants and smaller birds. Then there was  big ben! It was so large the mini-excavator had no hope of lifting it out of the ground.  Tim dug a deep hole next to it, pushed it in and covered it. There it may remain another 10,000 years or more.

   All in all it was a good days work advancing the task of rock removal from this land.

Takk fir alt,

Al

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The mini-excavator on the trailer.

A large rock.

One that's too large to lift, "rest in peace" big ben.

Birds return!

     At the cemetery I recorded these birds this morning: Franklin's Gull, Song Sparrow, Pheasant, Red-winged blackbird, Robin, Grackle and Chipping Sparrow.

I came across this good description..."The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to conserve farmland for future generations while providing habitat for wildlife, reducing soil erosion, and improving water quality."  It was a CRP field that I burned last week.

   Servicing the corn planter this morning I was reminded of sage advice Mark gave me when I acquired it many years ago. It's likely a product of the late 1950s. Corn kernels (seeds) are placed in a round metal box. In the bottom of the box is a plate with serrated edges. As kernels drop into the serration, and as the plate turns, one kernel at time drops into a tube leading to a disc that creating a small furrow into which the kernel drops. A device then covers the seed.

   Mark warned me, that in winter, spiders spin webs that choke off the tubes where kernels drop to the soil. Today three of four tubes had spider webs closing the entrance. His advice saved much trial and error frustration.

Takk for alt,

Al

In response to comment's questions:  I don't know if $300. is a good price. My 80,000 kernels plants 8 acres. The old planter's rows are 38" apart. Now corn is planted at 30", 15" even narrower rows. Thus, 80,000 would not cover many acres. Assume a farmer plants 1000 acres his corn seed will cost a lot. Kernels are so uniform I assume the 80,000 is arrived at by weight.  Seed corn sales is now measured by kernel count. 

This picture of the planter shows the round seed boxes. A pole on either side drops (theoretically) when turning to scratch a line to follow as one returns across he field so rows are evenly space.

Rural life!

      When I was five miles from The Little House yesterday on my return from the OFH a sheriff's deputy blocked the road. "They finally got me"  was not my first thought. He said the road was blocked at the next intersection. Assuming accident I detoured to reach my destination. Did he say "accident" or did I assume it? Well, it was an accident but not like I imagined. It was a very 'rural' accident.

   The hired man of the local bto, (big time operator), was on a tractor pulling an implement across the highway. As he crossed the highway at the intersection the implement imploded such that it could not be moved. There it sat impeding traffic until a repair part could be fetched from town. What the failure was I haven't learned. My guess is that it was a broken axle. The good news is that it wasn't the type of accident that endangered life and limb. 

    Food plots for wildlife are what I plant. The state fish and wildlife agency provides free seed for those plots. It's leftover commercial seed from a seed corn company. 80,000 kernels came home with me today. It would sell for approximately $300. One field still needs tillage.

   The local grain elevator sells gasoline. The price they charge is a per centage higher than what they paid. The price remains the same until the gallons purchased are sold. Then, if the price they pay for the next supply is higher the pump price reflects that. Last week the pump price was $3.36, today it was $3.85.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Little House...

      Kaia and I have discovered that if we leave the OFH at 6:00 am we can transverse Minneapolis and Eden Prairie at posted speeds. That gets us to The Little House about 10:00, and so here we are. It was a good stay at the OFH.

    The local flora are rejoicing. Why? you ask. Rain, blessed rain, 3" by one report. Farmers locally have done quite a bit of planting so this moisture assures germination of the planted seeds. Pastures, hay land, trees, shrubs, flowers, thistles😕...all need moisture.  It doesn't end the drought but may signal the beginning of a wetter period...we hope. It's great for the grass which was burned last week. It would be interesting to know how many gazillion thistle seeds were consumed in that fire. Even three inches was not sufficient for the pond across the street to show water. This is the first significant rain of 2026, and there was very little snow last winter.

Takk for alt,

Al

Until I'd visited these mangroves in southern Cambodia I always envisioned them as large trees with huge trunks.