Evidence!

      Wandering that field a few days ago, the peninsula in Lake Joanne, looking for gophers and finding none, there were cedars. Today I went back to remove the cedars, twelve in all. It is a gorgeous day, windless after yesterday's hurricane, and finally warm enough to be out in shirtsleeves. 

    Finishing with the cedars I walked back to the truck on my neighbor's side of the property fence. What did I find? Pocket gophers heading for my land...actually within five feet. Gopher mounds are a clear indication of the direction they are moving and they were on a line to my property. This is clear evidence that they do invade from populations on the neighboring property. Never seen above ground they do their distance moving at night. Suddenly dirt mounds will appear long distances from established colonies, as  was true in this case.

Takk for alt,

Al

Today's random photo is the Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Retreat!

      Marine lingo is full of bravado: e.g. "We're surrounded, good, they can't get away from us now!" Or, "We never retreat, we just attack in the opposite direction." Today I retreated without shame.

    When there's a 25mph wind with gusts to 35 it was time to catch up on some chores. Busy for several days, things were hastily deposited in the garage. As a refuge from the wind it was perfect. Now it's all ship shape and tidy again until another spasm of activity disturbs it's order.

     A washer and dryer were included with the purchase of The Little House, nineteen years ago. Had they not been included I would have added them. With the organizing in the garage complete it was time to do laundry, another escape from the wind.

    Entering the butcher shop gave me opportunity to congratulate, Doug, the butcher. His wife, Heidi, gave birth to a baby boy last week. They now have four children, a girl and three boys. One of the boys is named Shadrack so perhaps this son should be Meshack...but not so. Not wanting to leave empty handed, I purchased three ribeye steaks for $78.43. Why three, you ask? Josh next door does them on his grill and his son, Drew, also gets one.

Takk for alt,

al

I love the sign above the door: GARAGE.  Built in 1907, long before .com, so why the dot?

Well, that didn't work!

     Today's plan was to walk some grassland surrounded on three sides by Lake Joanne. It's a peninsula that is seeded to native grasses, bordering a neighbor's grassland that is rife with pocket gophers. These pesky critters don't stay home. They frequently go looking for greener pastures and invade my property. Today's walk was to see if any have invaded. None had.

     With water so accessible I hoped to keep Kaia on dry land. Why? you ask. When we were burning that CRP ground recently Kaia hit the water and emerged a total ball of mud. Hoping to avoid a repeat of that, I struck on a strategy. Filling her water dish by the truck I though, perhaps not being thirsty she'd stay out of the water. What happened? She drank heartily from her dish and then ran right into the water! Actually, she was in the water at least three times. Fortunately she came out clean...no mud.

   On one venture into the water she chased a duck, which flew away. When she's gone after geese on the water they swim just out of her reach. They lead her far out in the water until she finally gives up and returns to land.

Takk for alt,

Al

Kaia, the wonder dog.

Gravity in play!

      

    Where oh where did my agility go?  It's certainly gone. Proof of the loss comes when attempting to cross a pasture fence. Seeing some cedars growing in the pasture, crossing the fence was mandatory if I was to reach those trees. The fence, at this point, was a on a sidehill slanting away. With the gift of gravity I easily rolled under the fence. With that accomplished, I made short work of the cedars, well, perhaps slowly cut them down. 

     When I was finished with a number of cedars it was time to return to the truck. Back at the fence gravity reminded me that it is more difficult to roll uphill. But roll uphill I did and didn't risk getting my feet tangled crossing the fence. "Where there's a will there's a way" someone said. It's sometimes true at least.

   That's about what passes for excitement in my life!

Takk for alt,   Opps forgot to hit Publish yesterday...so will count it for today...my bad!

Al

   The current book I'm reading is about lighthouses. It reminded me of this one near Melbourne, Australia, which Amy and I climbed.

Bad News!

      Last year the wildlife food plot near water became a pasture for geese. Perhaps a fourth of the corn remained standing when the geese were finished. During their molt the geese are flightless and walk in search of food. Finding my corn they had a feast. They even ate the water hemp leaving the ground bare.

    A wildlife official told me that they would fence the geese out this year. After planting the corn I told him I was ready for a fence. Today, the man in charge of the fencing called me. He said fencing was only to protect farmer's soybeans, so I'm not eligible. 😖

   That creates a dilemma.  It's a half hour drive by tractor to the field. Is worth the multiple trips to salvage a little bit of corn? Or, should I just abandon the effort?  Too bad that I'd planted the corn, then the decision not to plant would have been easy.

Takk for alt,

Al

    

Silly Dependency!

      At dinner/suppertime last night I overloaded a circuit, knew better, and tripped a breaker in the electric panel. It's also the circuit for my internet equipment. Re-setting the breaker was easy but the router would not reload. Quickly it became apparent that I'm internet dependent. How silly, but true. 

     Some years ago, as I looked locally in South Dakota for a copy of the Minneapolis paper, it dawned me to subscribe to the online addition. With that subscription I frequently read the Minnesota, and U.S., news in Thailand. A habitual person, the morning paper is a staple. Up at six, Kaia out the front door, breakfast and then a mug of coffee while I read the paper. No internet and the routine is kaput.

    At 7:30 I called the internet provider and at 9:30 a technician was at my house. Prompt service for sure and I can resume my habits, dependency or not...so there!

    After lunch/dinner it was warm enough to ride a tractor. Riding a tractor I did and planted my corn. The physical test I'd planned wasn't possible. Last year I lifted a 60lb bag of corn unto a six foot tractor fender. "Can I still do that?" I wondered. It remains to be seen because this year a bag of 80,000 kernels (Ed, tells me that's actual count.) was only 45.5lbs. There was no challenge hoisting it to the fender. 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS Spotted the first goslings of season. There were three with mom and dad and very small, so newly hatched!

Dinner vs lunch!

       Supper vs dinner! What was the genesis of the nomenclature split for the names of meals? During childhood on the farm, lunch was the refreshment between breakfast and dinner, the noon meal, and between dinner and supper, the evening meal. Mary, who grew up in Minneapolis, but was now a farm wife, invited Joe, the hired man in for the noon meal calling it lunch. "Lunch" he said "It better be more than lunch!" In the OFH, lunch is at noon and dinner in the evening.

     They call it 'dinner' and, with a standing offer to join them, who am I to argue? A common human trait I've observed is the common reluctance to respond to verbal cues. Frequently I've dropped in conversation something like "when I was in Thailand." What happens? Most typically it goes nowhere and the talk moves on. The dinner invitation is every Wednesday at the bank and some from the butcher shop also attend.

   One of the bank employees grew up in the Philippine Islands. Frequently we compare notes on life in the Philippines compared with life in Thailand. This exposes the other diners to information about both countries that they would never ask about. Today, it led to a group conversation about these places that lasted for an hour.

    How about you?  When someone drops a clue in conversation do you pick up on it, or just move on? 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS In response to Michelene's comment/question about the size of the cedar tree pictured. It's an illustration of the problem of not removing cedars as saplings. Today, I trimmed the branches that were intruding on the fence but left the tree standing.