Funny Happy!

In these ever darkening, shortening (lard, if you prefer), cooling, and gloomier days of autumn a little jocularity will lighten the mood. Along with a beer or two or your favorite antidepressant.

There now. Isn't that better? I know I feel better!

Now to get back to the life at hand. Well, maybe just one more cold beer and a shot of Aquavit for medicinal purposes.

News from the farm and around the world

So in past news...

Downton Abbey.

Can you believe it? The Brits got to see the beginning of season 5 on the 21st of September, just because they're Brits! Here in the colonies we still get no respect! Maybe it's time for a Tea Party. No, not the twisted maroons that stole that moniker and use it for their own backwards agenda, but a real revolution in the cross ocean entertainment biz. I can't believe how sucked into this I have become.

 

With all the satellite technology you'd think we could just download it from space. I guess not. :(


Scotland

Scotland got to vote on whether or not they wanted to be part of the U.K. or a separate entity. While 55% wanted to stay and 45% wanted to be independent they would consider it a "landslide" I think 45 out of 100 disgruntled Scots is a lot of disgruntling. The British P.M. David Cameron needs (and actually promised, although he is a politician) to address the issues that made the Scots get all uppity. Otherwise they might get uppity again. Who could blame them?

 Hadrians Wall was built by the Romans to keep the barbarians in the northern part of what would become England. Many British citizens feel that it is still there for that reason. So now England has to get serious about the needs and demands of Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as Scotland. Otherwise those countries will get all uppity and may not want to be part of the United Kingdom anymore.   Maybe that's why this guy was making a point in Trafalgar Square.

Sand hill cranes.

I heard a strange noise in the sky, but finally found the source after squinting so hard I started to look like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western. I haven't seen any stop by and hang out in the pastures, but at least I saw them fly by. I zoomed in and there was a formation heading south like any intelligent animal would do this time of year.

Harry Beaver.

This particular beaver, whom I refer to as Harry, has now damned up the trout stream that flows through the farm as well as made a mess (to me, probably not to him) of the upper pond and surrounding area. So I thought I would spy on him for a while just to see what he's up to.

He's just minding his own business and doing what beavers do.

Annual geese:

As per their annual visit there are greater and lesser Canada geese eating the horses' grass whilst hanging around. I suppose they are fattening up for their annual trek to all the city parks and lakes south of here. You would think the added weight would make flying a little more strenuous, but what do I know?

 


Rummage sale:

We participated in the community rummage sale a couple of weeks ago. We were determined to come home with less crap than we brought to sell. It was a moderate success as we brought one truckload and two heaping carloads of really awesome crap to sell and came back with only one truckload and one heaping carload of said crap.


My share of the take was still not enough to offset the towing bill when the subframe of my car departed from the rest of the body a couple of months ago. I think I need to get busy on Ebay to make up the balance.

Beat Buddy:

I have never participated in a crowd funding event until this little item came along. It was about a year ago that I became informed of this little gem. I had the money in my hobby fund and decided to risk the investment. I got the Beat Buddy for about 1/3 of the retail price by being among the first group of investors.
 

It took about six months longer than anticipated with tweaks and other delays, but it was worth the wait. It doesn't replace a real drummer, but takes up way less space and much less beer. My first foray into venture capitalism was a success. The return on investment puts a smile on my face, but no cash into my wallet or beer into my fridge. Still it is a good thing.

P.S. I got the footswitch, too!

I thought summer was a busy time and forgot, like I do every year, that Fall is even busier. It took me two weeks to write this!

It's coming!

It is officially meteorological autumn and things are doing what they do. Every living thing in this part of the world is either getting ready to go dormant, hibernate, or migrate. Most of these activities require fattening up. If I wanted to do all three, and there are many days that I do, I would need to eat a lot and practice sleeping. And there are many days that I do. Practice filling a suitcase would be another useful task, but alas, I am not able to accomplish any migratory desires. Sometimes living vicariously through other species will have to do. Take for instance this enterprising spider. It is a very nice web, but with morning dew it loses it's invisibility and effectiveness. Until the dew dries up.

Another species that fattens up and flies south is the hummingbird. The ones that nested here are already gone. I suspect these are young Canadian bred (I could swear I saw a few with little hockey sticks) hummers on their first trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Most will probably fly over the gulf to Central America where they hang out on beaches sipping little nectar umbrella drinks for a good six months before returning to the north country to have orgies create little hummingbird families.

We had some company last week when a young woman from central Minnesota came up here with her horse and met her trainers from Ohio who brought another horse back to her. Several days of riding on our local trails with the Cooker as their guide was last weekend's big fun. Here are the trainers holding up their local newspaper (apparently some kind of tradition in Ohio) and the Cooker sitting on our mule, "The Colonel", who is probably the awesomest mule in the whole county. A good time was had by all.

The skies are losing their summer appearance as the weather does it's seasonal change. The days are noticeably shorter, the leaves are changing color here and there, and it is a bit chilly some mornings, but still above freezing. Here is a little rain shower out on the lake.

The sky last night was showing us some "mares tails" and this morning I had to put on a light jacket when I fed the horses.

So before I start seriously tackling the weekend chores I think I might start to prepare for the coming winter. I will have a piece of pie and a nap. Winter! Bring it on!

An eclectic week

The work week started out pretty intensely as Mondays tend to do this time of year. As we often do (but not without a bit of protest and stern looks before we cave) we accepted someone's freight as we have forklifts and most people don't. At least not at their homes or cabins. This week it was candy. Not your ordinary candy or your ordinary amount. This was tons. Not figuratively as in "We ate tons of candy," but literally tons. Approximately 3 tons. It consisted of some kind of commercial s'mores in one carton, gorp in another, and coarsely shaved chocolate in another. I'll show you.

I have never seen anything like it. Apparently it is bait for the upcoming bear hunting season. Bears must be difficult to hunt so you get to lure them in with junk food. I suppose that shooting them after they eat this stuff might be considered a mercy killing. Then again...

Long ago I had the time and money to learn to fly and so I did. Then life happened and time and money would go the way of the dinosaur in my world. I enjoyed it and expanded my long term bucket list before I knew what a bucket list was. A realtor friend and I were talking at a get together a few weeks back and we thought flying his airplane and me taking pictures for the real estate business might be worth trying. So we did. On Wednesday evening we flew around the area for about an hour. I even got to take the yoke for a few minutes for old times sake. My friend was a little disappointed that we didn't see any moose, but there were sure a lot of trees and lakes. That's what you would expect living in a National Forest near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

 We got to see some of the river canyons and falls.

And even my own little farm.

A last look at the town and harbor before we concluded our hour in the air.

But the best event of the week was getting to meet, live and in person, none other than our own Professor Batty and The Weaver. The Cooker, Stitch, and I got to meet them for dinner at one of our local (thirty miles is considered practically next door up here) establishments. Good food and good spirits abounded at this joyous occasion and a good time was had by all. Hopefully, I'll get to visit Flippist World Headquarters in the near future and visit the Professor in his native habitat.

Dragons and 'shrooms

Last weekend was the annual Dragon Boat Race which consists of a lot of people paddling their asses across the harbor at a high rate of speed. Some of them are even serious about it, but that doesn't spoil the fun.

 Here is Stitch steering her team in after another grueling heat.

The Coast Guard and local law enforcement were on hand in case anyone fell into the water. Luckily no one did as the water is about 40F (5C). and you won't stay conscious very long.

Not everyone was in a hurry that day. The folks on board the Hjørdis were out for a leisurely cruise.

Of course, the local ducks are always out for a leisurely cruise until it's time to head south.

Finally,  we have been having some dry weather after a particularly wet winter, spring, and first half of summer. People have been starting to get out and have some fun. On the way home from work the other day I saw these people paddling between shore and Five Mile Rock. The rock is a couple of acres in size and is a favorite place for gulls to nest. It got its name for being five miles from town, but sometimes it is called guano rock because of the gulls.

The other thing about this time of year is that it is chanterelle season! Those tasty golden mushrooms that grow under the large leaf asters that add so much to a steak or risotto or some of these other recipes. It is delicious fungus among us that is only here for a few short weeks. This is where they hide.

So after a late afternoon stroll through the woods, checking our favorite hillsides for this prize, we stroll back to the house with the Cooker carrying a basket full. We always leave enough behind so they will be back next year.

New Homes on the North Shore

Last week I got to go out with a professional photographer to get some pics for a promotional wood products magazine. I've known Carrie for a few years and gotten to accompany her before. She is a married mother of three teens and is a capable volleyball player. This year she was taller than me until we got to the first building site when she changed into her sneakers. Then we were vertically equivalent. My job is to help her find the places using certain products and introduce her to the contractors/owners. She doesn't need a lot of introduction as the woman knows how to talk. I really don't need to say much, just pointing directions will do. At least it gets me out of the office for some fresh air.

The fun part is I get to see what my customers are doing with all the stuff they buy and generally get to give them a hard time about it. We get to have some fun verbal banter which is always good entertainment.

The first place we went to was a few blocks from the lumber yard by the Big Lake. It is a timber frame in process.

The nice thing was that it was about 65F at this site which was about 20 degrees cooler than it was a couple of miles inland.

The next place was right in town and the owners had only moved in about three weeks earlier. The had paper taped to their windows as temporary drapes and for some privacy. That is one of the downsides of living in town and a trade off for convenience. The 10" white pine ceiling is a nice touch.

The next place was up on the hill where things were hot. There is still some work going on outside of the house and the garage is being finished. It'll look terrific in the fall after the landscaping and cleanup are done. Here is the house.

 The garage is built to match the house.

The floor in the upstairs was just being finished.

Meanwhile, back in the main house, the living room was being lived in. I was told the Christmas tree would be stored in the garage when the garage was finished. Not all that unusual up here. Driving through town would reveal many Christmas wreaths that haven't been taken down yet.

The homeowners were very kind and gracious to let us share their space for a little while.

I am not sure how the building business is doing around the country, but up here it is fairly intense. Then again we have a very short building season. It gets very inefficient when the temperatures are below zero and the snow is up to your eyeballs.


 

Summer on the farm

Now that the rain has stopped falling several times a week and things are drying (relatively) out I can start mowing pastures. I'll put the bush hog on the tractor and get to it. As soon as the fog clears and the humidity drops below 96%. I'm not kidding! It should be raining, but it isn't. The actual air molecules are dripping water. Step out the door and you become instantly damp. If I put on a rain jacket I will be just as wet on the inside as the outside. No point in taking a shower as I will not dry off. I just hope no one shows up at the farm so they don't find me offensive. Maybe at the end if the day things will change so I don't have to be disgusting in front of another human being. Maybe.

Here is last weekend's chore.  

230 bales of Northern Minnesota's finest hay kept us busy for a bit. That's Stitch doing some stretching before the work begins. Good idea.

Summer is in full swing in town. Between the Art Festival, Wooden Boat show, Fisherman's Picnic  (Fisherman's Panic, as it is known locally), Unplugged and other things at North House Folk School, there is more than enough activity in Grand Marais. If you go through town before civilized people are awake it is pretty quiet, though.

We are just ten miles out of town so mornings here are a lot quieter. Here is one of the local residents saying good morning.

I actually have been able to get some reading time in lately. It often takes a week or two to get a book read as there is little time to do so, but I got one done in just a few days this week. Who needs sleep, anyway.  Dr. Fizzy has written another one to follow The Devil Wears Scrubs. 
It is called Suicide Med.

The Amazon review is this:

  There’s a reason Southside Medical School has been nicknamed “Suicide Med.” For the last six years, every year one student has taken his own life.

Except for last year. Last year was a murder-suicide.

The press has pointed to the heavy workload as the culprit in the high suicide rate. Some students believe that the school is cursed. And others believe that the deaths may not be suicides at all—that it’s no coincidence that Dr. Conlon, Southside’s quirky but beloved anatomy professor, joined the staff on the very year that the suicides began.

Either way, the same question echoes through the minds of every first year student at Suicide Med:

Who will be next to die?

Having lived with some med students at this time of their lives I can tell you that these characters are not far from the reality that I observed. Dr Fizzy (a.k.a. Freida Mcfadden) tells the story from each students viewpoint and weaves them together in such a way that I found it difficult to stop reading. If you are looking for an entertaining book that is different from what you usually read, this is a fun (but chilling) one to read.

I leave you with a quiet, yet overgrown (I'll fix that soon) paddock shot of summer on the farm.