Archive for August, 2007
August 17, 2007 – They Call Me the “Bat-Man”
Last night, I awoke in the middle of the night to some strange sounds. After a while, I figured out it was a bat in our bedroom. There are some pretty firm division of labors in our household (and some not so firm), but I immediately knew that a bat in the bedroom fit into the “crunchy bug” category, and therefore the solution to removing the bat relied on my ingenuity as I saw Linda duck under the sheets.
Hmmm. First step, dash out of the bed and shut the bedroom door so the critter doesn’t get into one of the kid’s rooms. Mission accomplished, hop back under the sheets to make sure Linda is still OK.
Plan A. Take the shades off the window and remove the screen while draped with a blanket. Wrong answer – the screens don’t come out easily with the new replacement sash windows and the shades seem screwed into the window frames.
Plan B. It’s looking more and more like direct contact is needed. So I run downstairs and put on shoes, long-sleeve quilted shirt, jeans, thick leather gloves, and a hat. I grab a plastic basket about 1/4 the size of a laundry basket. Now, I’m ready to initiate bat capture. Bats aren’t necessarily bad critters – they just don’t belong in the house! We had seen one flying outside while we were outside watching the meteor showers. I think it must have flown in the door on one of the many beverage runs by adult or child into the house. It’s the second time we’ve had a bat in the house in 10 years, so it isn’t a common occurence.
So, I’m all dressed up, with a blanket draped over me, trying to figure out how to catch it. I’ve got about 1 inch of exposed flesh between my shoe and pant leg (did not put on socks). Of course, the bat managed to fly into that bit of leg and I just dropped the blanket on the bat and then gingerly unfolded the blanket until the bat was revealed and put the basket over it. Then I slipped a piece of cardboard under it and brought it outside and didn’t want to have it close to the house, so I put it in the back of the truck and drove to a wetland about 5 miles away and released it into the air. The trip was rather erie – middle of the night, intermittently pea soup fog condensing on the window so fast I needed the wipers on.
The marsh is right next to a four-lane highway, so I felt a little sheepish out in the dead middle of foggy night pulled over, doing something that looks unusual. Thankfully, nobody stopped to “help” so I was able to get back home and back to sleep. Sorry, I wasn’t too motivated to get the camera, so there is not a picture of the critter.
August 16, 2007 – Thingamajig Thursday #84
Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry.
Also check out the last thingamajig answer.
As always, put your guess in a comment below.
Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.
August 15, 2007 – Building the Hives
You’re all probably as sick of the heat as me, so I won’t even go there. Things have slowed down over the past few weeks. But today GJ got out to build some bee frames.
But today GJ got out to build some bee frames.
It’s practically an assembly line with Martin to help paint!
August 14, 2007 – Improving a Little Corner of the Farm
A year ago this spring we seeded some native plants in an ugly part of the farm that was essentially a mudhole. The low spot collected runoff from rains on the adjacent fields and would be under water for a few days a year. The cows liked it as well and continued to break off the sod around its edges to increase its size. To see what it looked like them see the blog entry from March 28, 2005. Last year, it was fenced off and at least grew a nice cover of weeds. In the middle of this summer, we started finding some non-weed plants that must have been part of what we planted!
There is swamp milkweed – in this shot with both a monarch and some ferocious-looking black killer fly (looks like a beneficial predatory insect to me!)
On the very edge is a black-eyed susan.
Then there’s this plant that I haven’t yet identified. Ideas? At any rate, it is full of small fluttering critters as well. In addition to these, we noticed some prairie cordgrass and sedges. The area is still mostly weeds, but may be turning the corner and the natives are a magnet for many insects. It is heartening to see it go from a sterile mudhole (growing by the year) to a more natural place, adding a bit more diversity to the place.
August 13, 2007 – Restored Marshall County Courthouse
Last week when I had my camera in hand in town, I couldn’t help but stop and take a snapshot of the Marshall County Courthouse. It truly is a landmark, taking up a city block in the middle of Marshalltown, Iowa – a town of about 25,000. I remember a historian once remarking you could tell what was most important to a culture by observing what its biggest buildings were – the biggest buildings were once churches, then government buildings, of which this is an example, and finally buildings of commerce today.
The courthouse was dedicated in 1886. It was constructed of limestone from Marshall County at a cost of $150,000. Much later, there were several attempts to replace this building with a “modern” county-city building; all of them failed (we can imagine what a “modern” 1975 building might look like today!).
The State Fire Marshall ordered the building repaired or removed in 1973. At this time the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Friends of the Courthouse Committee, a newly-formed organization, decided to save the building. A referendum barely passed to restore the courthouse, but it passed (huge thanks to those who fought to save it!). The courthouse was remodeled at a cost of $2.7 million dollars in 1975 and remains the centerpiece of the city today.
August 12, 2007 – Iowa State Fair Day
Today we went to the Iowa State Fair. Since it was so hot, we decided to try something a bit different. Rather than battle 100,000 or so people for a place to park, eat, and stand in line in the heat, we arrived there about 5:00 pm and stayed into the evening, to experience the fair after dark.
There was virtually no line at the butter cow, at the big boar and farrowing exhibit, and other places there are usually long lines. We’ll do that time period again!
Of course, you can get nearly anything on a stick at the fair.
But to my mind, the coolest is the new “Energy on a Stick.” Over a year, this wind turbine will produce enough electricty to run all the power needs for the 11 day run of the state fair – midway, lights, cooling etc. In total, it will provide 1/4 of the fairground’s annual power needs (the grounds are open to other events year-round).
We always look at the displays and compare the blue ribbon winners to stuff at our farm and think that if we ever were organized enough, we may do quite well!
This morning Linda and I presented the service at church where we talked about the sustainability of local foods. So today was a bit of a relief day after getting ready for the service and party simultaneously. The service was well received – we even got applause at the end! Dennis Keeney, former director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was in attendance and thanked us as well.
August 11, 2007 – Party on the Farm!
In our quest to remain the undisputed “Live Music Capital of Logan Township,” (of course a township is a block of land 6 x 6 miles) we hired the Blue Moon Players and threw a party. We hope this is the first of many such summer events. There’s something nice about live music out in the country, with the wide-wide world of the farm and barn for the kids to run wild in. The older folks can forego the games of Sardines or capture the flag by sitting in the shade and listening to some great music.
For my money, any time you’ve got an upright string bass propped up on your hay wagon, you’re living the good life! The day was incredibly hot, but we all managed just fine.
Of course, no party is complete without a spread of food, so here’s the food table showing some of the delights of a midwestern potluck in August.
August 10, 2007 – Claire in Boston, Part 2
We spent an afternoon on the Freedom Trail in Boston seeing historical grave yards, churches, and Paul Revere’s house. Among the most famous churches we saw included the Old North Church and King’s Chapel.
This is Paul Revere’s grave. We saw a bell that had a sign next to it that said that the bell was warranted for 12 months. It’s still working!
We also saw the House of Seven Gables about which Nathaniel Hawthorn’s popular book was written.
We spent a large portion of time in Salem. This is me with a new buddy of mine at the Pirate Museum.
It is a bit of a tradition for our group to pilgrimage to Ben and Jerry’s every night (and sometimes morning) for ice cream. The last night, we divided into two teams to conquer the Vermonster- a delicious 20 scoops of ice cream with tons of toppings, bananas, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Above pictured is my team, before we conquered the mighty beast.
It was an excellent trip- I couldn’t have asked for better
August, 9, 2007 – Thingamajig Thursday #83
Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry. OK, this might not be fair for those far away…
Also check out the last thingamajig answer.
As always, put your guess in a comment below.
Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.
August 8, 2007 – Claire to Boston Part 1
Claire is our guest blogger the next two days – reporting on her church trip to Boston.
I just returned from my second trip to Boston. This time I went on the trip as a touch group leader, which gave me some responsibility. It was a group of 20 from our church. We explored many places in Boston, Salem and Concord, including Walden Pond, the Freedom Trail, Louisa May Alcott’s house, and the locations of some of the witch trials and punishments in Salem. The first part I’m going to talk about is our experiences on and in the water.
We went to the ocean for an afternoon
Here are the girls in the group getting buried in the sand. Get buried was a common occurrence in our experience here at the beach. The water was nice and refreshing, especially since the first few days were in the high 90′s. We also journeyed to Walden pond and saw Thoreauâ’s cabin site. We then spent a portion of time swimming in the perfectly clear water.
We spent an enjoyable morning whale watching. We were lucky enough to see 5 whales total. There was a mother calf pair who came up right to the edge of the boat and looked at us. It was an amazing experience (except for the people who got seasick and spent the time in the bathroom). The whale watching boat was 3 decks high, with indoor cabins and then decks out in the fresh air. It was also equipped with a knowledgeable naturalist who told us everything we could possibly want to know about humpback whales.
August 7, 2007 – Linda to Mexico
The Northwest Area Foundation along with University of Iowa Institute for Support of Latino Families and Communities, and the Main Street Project has instigated a four-state, four-year project focused on building community capacity in rural Latino communities in Iowa, Minnesota, Idaho, and Oregon.
One of the goals is to find ways to integrate Latino immigrants into their new communities. Part of the process is for people in the communities that are receiving the immigrants to have an understanding of the background and culture of the immigrants in order more smoothly make new connections to their new homes. Linda was asked to apply for a cultural exchange/immersion as one of three representatives from Marshalltown. In her role at the college in working out a way to get new farmers started through classes, social support and most importantly, having land adjacent to the college to rent to new farmers, Latino immigrants may be one of the main groups of people who may be interested in starting a farming enterprise. So this fall, she heads off with folks from 4 towns, (in Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, and Idaho) to a rural Mexican area to visit with and understand the background of the immigrants.
After initial resistance, Marshalltown has finally realized that a prosperous future depends on using all their assets, including the huge influx of immigrants. There is no doubt that Marshalltown will soon have a much different flavor than the rest of the primarily white population of the rest of the state. For example, more than half the births at the Marshalltown hospital are to Latino parents. Already many of the previously empty storefronts on Main Street are now bustling with the activity that Mexican grocers, eateries, clothing, and other businesses afford. In fact, a prominent downtown businessman told me that the influx of immigrants has revitalized a struggling town, now growing slightly instead of losing residents to old age or export to larger urban areas. There certainly have been challenges, particularly in the school system and resources needed to get students up to speed with English and other skills, but 20 years from now, the consensus seems to be moving towards looking at the immigration as a positive boost to the community.
one year ago…
August 6, 2007 – Step into Another World
There’s a place in downtown Melbourne that hides its secrets well. “Vern’s Implement” always has a yard full of old farm equipment along with an accesssory lot along side the road on the way to our place. In the past, I’ve bought a thing or two from Vern. He’s also got a small retail store complete with the old general store type wood strip floor, big wooden entrance door, and a couple of aisles of different size bolts, nuts, etc. in old wooden bins. A while back, I had a hard time finding a certain length bolt in a 5/8 width – not at big box stores, not at True Value – all the while, the right one was sitting at Vern’s.
Back in the shop it really changes. I swear Vern doesn’t like to work on equipment made much past 1950. I thought I might get him to work on my ’47 Cub, but he has other work he evidently enjoys more and said he didn’t have time. (I don’t think he likes mundane repairs.)Â He also has an older solar array on the front of his house – probably from the 70′s – so he is obviously a tinkerer.
Here he is, looking at a steam-powered, steel-wheeled tractor from the early teens. He has fabricated missing parts, rebored what needs to be re-bored, and finally painted it. It’s a massive hunk of machinery – you can see the back steel wheels are about 5 feet tall. It takes about two hours of burning before the engine is ready to go.
This shows the back of the tractor and some of the gears – there is one “gear” – forward and back. This is in the way back of his shop and to get there, is like traveling through a tractor graveyard, with all kinds of other tractors in various states of repair/restoration – it’s got the feeling of an old blacksmith’s shop. I’m sure there are other places like this (at least I hope so) but they are getting rarer by the day.
August 5, 2007 – And So It Goes…
Yesterday (doesn’t really matter what day!) brought a common occurence on the farm – something not going according to plan. This isn’t particularly compelling story, but typical. Had some weed-trimming to do, so in the more relative cool of the evening (if 85 degrees and 75 degree dew point can be called cool) I set out. I had previously outrigged the weed whip with a head that was a chain, so it really cut tough weeds and nascent mulberries, and lasted a long time – over a year by now. It finally needed to be replaced and so I tried to turn the screw that kept it in place and it wouldn’t budge, even with penetrating oil and some time (as it is getting dark and no work is getting done).
Finally, the head breaks off the screw, so more extreme measures are needed.
Between a bench vice and a vice-grips, I was able to get the shaft of the screw out and replace the head. The replacement head had a better design, which didn’t rely on a single screw to come out, but used the whole cutter head assembly to tighten onto the shaft. I guess the good news was I had a replacement head on time, but it was still not until after dark that the repair was made. But at least it is ready to go for another day.
August 4, 2007 – Gourd Tunnel
The gourd tunnel is finally in full force. Check out the same place in April.
There is still a cabbage or two underneath, but most of the cauliflower and broccoli are gone and it is time for the gourd to have its time in the sun.
