Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Attack the dam day!





Dad Jokes:

What does a fish say when it bumps into a wall?

"Dam."

What is Irish and stays outside all summer?

Paddy O'Furniture

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I was feeling a little poorly this morning. My head was rather congested, most likely from summer pollen, and I was a bit nauseated.

So I got after it. I started by "constructing" a compost heap in the back yard. Yesterday I hauled in a few cubic feet of chicken bedding -- mostly wheat straw and chicken poop -- and I needed to add a steel post and pallet to define the third side of the enclosure. The fence by my back garage defined the other two sides, and I'll leave the fourth side on the west open so I can easily turn and water next year's fertilized garden soil.


Once that minor chore was done, and by the time I'd churned through email, blog comments, and writing my weekly crop and weather report for one of the regional ag newspapers, I was feeling better and ready to carpe the diem. Or as they say in the Mother Tongue, Rünnake neetud päev!

I still wasn't feeling great, but attitude helps.

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I checked cows and found that all was well. Then I got stuck in to the task of enclosing the east windmill with livestock panels. That task would finish the chore I started yesterday. Here, btw, are pictures of the reservoir tank filling and the drain/tank supply fitting and valve.

Water running nicely.

Filling the reservoir tank.

Valve closed.

Open!


Aaand, video!


I didn't do a good job documenting work on the east windmill, just a couple of pics.

Junk/trash load.

In the middle of the chore.

Later in the afternoon, video!


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After getting the above video I saw dust clouds on the west horizon. Hostile savages? Nope. Wheat harvest has begun.


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I called it a day around 6 p.m. Then pop-up tasking from the newspaper, a request for a third story this week. And OBTW, the deadline is unchanged.

Well, shit! I am not in a writing mood. I'm tired and sore and sweaty. I've lurched more than 31,000 steps today and done a lot of heavy physical labor. So I don't wanna!

However, there is time, and I've already got a story idea with pics -- Wheat Harvest Begins!

So I did it, and it's been submitted, along with the rest, well before deadline.

Yeah, attitude helps.

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Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.



 

10 comments:

  1. An honest day's work, even when feeling crappy. A man can be rightly proud of that. And, that is how successful people get ahead, not moping around feeling sorry and waiting for someone else to do their work.
    Hope you feel better tomorrow.
    John Blackshoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks John. One of the nice things about being a one man band is there's no "next man up." It simplifies things. As for success, how do you measure it, and how do you define the concept of "ahead"? I don't prizackly know the answers, but I believe the most common 21's century measuring sticks are wrong.
      Whoops, didn't mean to get all serious. And I am feeling better this morning. Gonna be a hot one!
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

      Delete
  2. Any predictions as to the wheat harvest this year?

    A friend, past President of the Colorado Cattlewomens Association, penned a short article on the number of brands up for auction, especially in Texas, and the early sale of cattle due to no or limited feed available. What do you see in your area?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The limited number of fields I've scouted are all over the place. It's been dry and there was a late freeze at flowering time. From what I've seen some stands are excellent but a lot have very low weight and quality grain. I guess we'll know when we know.
      Regarding the cattle business in this neck of the woods, it's pretty much business as usual. Conservative producers who are in it for the long haul are fine, while some risk-takers are getting kicked in the nuts. Another way to think about it is those who work with nature generally do okay, those who have a better idea and try to invent their own reality usually end up having a hard time.
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting Frank!

      Delete
    2. I'm often in the Panhandle on business but not a good judge of agriculture. From what I've seen over the past five years, things don't look prosperous.

      Delete
    3. It's been a low ebb for various reasons.

      Delete
  3. Dust clouds on the horizon - when I was a wee little one there were still some visitors from the east coast who would ask what direction Indian raiders came from. Verily, the mind doth boggle.
    Frank

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back in 2012 one of the players from a visiting high school football team claimed to be nervous because he expected Indians to attack from over the hill. The high school is on the edge of town and surrounded by prairie covered high ground, and the visiting team was from south central Nebraska alongside the Platte river -- very different looking country. Who knows about high school kids, whether they mean what they say or if they're just firetrucking with the grownups. From the football field it does look a bit like a scene from an old western. And my great grandmother used to talk about the Indians riding through the ranch on their ponies, often trying to get away with stealing a calf.
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting Frank!

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  4. Wow! You're a posting maniac lately, it's hard keeping up.

    It's good to know that life goes on while the chattering classes foretell doom and gloom. I don't know who to believe anymore.

    Sprayed coffee all over the monitor with "while some risk-takers are getting kicked in the nuts." You certainly can turn a phrase my friend!

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    Replies
    1. Well, some kind of maniac anyway. Thanks Chris. It's mostly just a lot of jabber as I go through the process of getting my writer dialed in. As for who to believe, I think all of us know you have to cross off the list anyone on the tee-vee or in gubmint and the vast majority of stuff from the interwebs. Fortunately it's possible to get good and useful information so long as one is willing to do the hard work of being skeptical and checking claims. Having been kicked in the nuts myself after visits from the good idea fairy I've come to the conclusion that some of the best lessons are laced with good old pain. Somebody has to show the rest of the world what not to do!
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

      Delete