Archive for February, 2008
February 15, 2008 – More Fun on the Road
The plow has been by a number of times and the road is now at full width, but there are 6-8 foot banks of snow along parts of the road.
On the back sides of the banks on a downhill slope, Martin has spent many happy hours sliding, driving his Tonka truck, and pushing his truck down the drifts, kind of like the Hot Wheels jumps I made as a kid, only this is a much larger scale
one year ago…Thingamajig Thursday #61″
February 14, 2008 – Thingamajig #107
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.
February 13, 2008 – Looking for a Wife? (I’m not)
Linda sat down at the computer and found a web browser open with the following in the Firefox “search in page” panel.
I could imagine it might be a bit of surprise to sit down to your home computer and find out that the person before you (most likely your husband) had searched for a wife, and been given options to view the next wife, previous wife, or highlight all wives!
Actually, Claire is to blame, she was doing an assignment on a famous person’s wife and used the search box. Not a good thing to be looking for so close to Valentine’s Day!
one year ago…”Snow Sculptures”
February 12, 2008 – Mystery Package
Everyone, including the delivery driver, didn’t know what to expect in this 6 foot high package that was dropped off while I was at work.
Even though it was about 6 feet tall, the shipping charge was only $10.16. The family is never too sure what might be in the mail at high hopes.
Mystery revealed – some tubex tree shelters and bamboo stakes – all at what I thought was very reasonable prices – a buck each for the tree shelters in packages of 5 that are usually $2.50-$3.50 each and the bamboo stakes were 6 foot for $0.30 each. They’ll be used for something – perhaps a trellis or something else – it will just be good to have some around. Thanks to Ray’s Supply Company for the quick delivery as well.
one year ago…”SXSW Draws Near”
February 11, 2008 – Egg Peril
When the temperatures don’t budge much above 0, by the time we make it out to the coop, we sometimes end up with egg balls.
These frozen balls of eggs will end up in very scrambled eggs for breakfast the next morning. Yes, it’s still cold, and it did snow again. Usually it has to warm up to snow, but not today.
February 10, 2008 – “Passable Roads”
This is one of those days where there is a huge diference between living in town and out in the country. The roads in town are just fine and our road is, shall we say “passable” thanks to neighbors with equipment and not the county plows.
We left home early in the morning and came home after dark and found the drifts were higher than the car and the width of the road was a few inches wider than the width of a car.
Again, we’re happy to be home as it is still bitterly cold, but the wind has stopped -Â but 4-5 more inches are forecast for tomorrow. This snow is exceptionally dense – shoveling it is more like digging dirt than shoveling snow. I don’t know if it was the result of the snow being blown for miles and loosing the flakey edges or if the cold makes it pack together tighter. Whatever the cause, the car drives over the smaller drifts instead of sinking through.
one year ago…”Newer Wheels Arrive”
February 9, 2008 – Stuck
The old wind fired up today – up to 45 mph blowing all day – filled up the road in no time. Linda left for town before it started and the van plowed through the drifts until about 1000 feet from home. Once again, the tractor was called into duty to pull it out. A while later, more folks got stuck, and by this time, it took a bigger tractor with a blower and another truck with a blade and about 45 minutes to get this truck out.
This shot shows the tractor trying to clear a path to the truck. We were all glad to get home and stay tucked in the house in this night that promised quick death to those who ventured outside not dressed appropriately.
one year ago…”Photo Friday – Sky”
February 8, 2008 – Smartest Cities in America
Today Forbes Magazine published a study of the “Smartest Cities in America.” There was only one state in the union with two cities represented – and no, it wasn’t a state on the East Coast or the West Coast, but Iowa!
If anybody’s keeping track of these things, Ames, IA, home of Iowa State University, came it at number 6 in the nation and Iowa City, just slipped into the top 10. Here’s the list:
- Boulder, CO
- Bethesda, MD
- Ithaca, NY
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Corvallis, OR
- Ames, IA
- Lawrence, KS
- Cambridge, MA
- San Francisco, CA
- Iowa City, IA
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #60″
February 7, 2008 – Thingamajig #106
Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry. This is a bit different. The deluge of college letters has started for Claire. I got a kick out of this “Minnesota Nice” letter. If you’re a listener of “A Prairie Home Companion” you know all about the unassuming nature of the people of Lake Wobegone. I would bet that Garrison Kellior mentions this school on occasion during his radio broadcasts. So, I’ve taken the name out of the letter and your task is to guess which polite and unassuming Minnesota college sent this letter to her.
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.
one year ago…”Yeah for Heated Waterers!”
February 6, 2008 – More Snow
What’s left to say. Another day, more snow. Another day without school. This round of weather started yesterday and ended today around noon. I am liking the tractor and blade!
I think April has the right idea. Find a sheltered spot out of the wind, wait for a bit of sunshine and sleep!
one year ago…
February 5, 2008 – Ordering Seeds
We’re a little behind schedule on the 2008 garden already! We usually have our seeds ordered by now, but that’s one of the things that fell by the wayside due to the trip over Christmas/New Years.
So once again, it is the hopeful time of year when the garden is full of luscious vegetables, the weeds are magically in check and the temperatures are warm! We are moving “up” this year. We ordered more vining/climbing varieties and plan on growing more on trellisis (or is that trelli?) – at our advanced ages, it only makes sense to be able to pick without bending over quite so much!
We’re excited about getting some 12-16 inch long pole beans (they should be great for dilly beans) climbing cucumbers, and some climbing pumpkin to go wild in the corn – the variety is even called “corn pumpkin.”
one year ago…
February 4, 2008 – More Yuck
It seems like we’ve had ice/snow/cold since early December this winter.
Here’s what the yard looked like after all the ice started falling off the trees when it warmed up to 33 degrees. This big warm-up followed a thunderstorm at about 6 am this morning at about 29 degrees. It was a bit out of the ordinary to have lightning illuminated the heavy fog when the temps were below freezing. Martin was happy to have all kinds of rain in one day – rain, ice, and snow!
one year ago…
February 3, 2008 – Google Yourself!
Every once in a while, it’s good to google yourself to see what comes up. I did that yesterday and found two publications in the past few weeks have included quotes by yours truly. One was a story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about Stern Tanning Company’s relocation from Sheboygan Falls to Milwaukee.
Iowa farmer Mark Runquist, who raises sheep, also is eager for Stern Tanning to ramp up its business.
The Runquist family’s small organic farm, located near Marshalltown, has used Stern Tanning to help create around a half-dozen sheepskin rugs annually over the past five years. The rug sales help supplement the family’s farm income, and Runquist said there are few other U.S. tanneries that provide sheepskin tanning.
The other story was from the Cedar Rapids Gazette concerning the public hearing on the proposed coal-fired plant permitting.
“I’ve sat through five presentations by Alliant on this plant and they’ve given us every conceivable opportunity to ask questions,” said Iowa Valley Community College District Chancellor Tim Wynes. “Don’t make this decision based on a fear — fear of the unknown.”
But in this case, the unknown fear was bigger than most the Iowa Utilities Board has previously considered — the fear that carbon dioxide emissions of coal-fired power plants may be deemed so damaging that federal regulators step in to halt their use or require extremely costly environmental controls to capture the carbon. “Alliant management should be fully aware of and financially responsible for this risk,” said Mark Runquist, a plant opponent from Melbourne. “Alliant plans to benefit financially by the operation of this plant. They should assume the risk.”
So, if you haven’t lately, it’s good to Google yourself to see what’s out there about you.
February 2, 2008 – Iowa Network for Community Agriculture Meeting
Today we ventured to Cedar Rapids for the 13th annual Iowa Network for Community Agriculture annual meeting. The morning’s speaker was tangerine farmer and film-maker Lisa Brenneis from Ojai, California. You may ask, what is a California farmer doing in Iowa talking at a local food conference? Quite simply, if you followed yesterday’s blog entry – she was taking us down a different road.
Her film “Eat at Bills” profiles the wildly successful Montery Produce Market – a kind of market that currently does not exist in Iowa. It was her job to stretch our understanding how local foods could be offered to eaters.
Here’s Lisa showing off some of the just-picked Mandarin Oranges from her orchard. We got to take some home to share with the kids! What a treat in February.
