Archive for the ‘Family – Mark’ Category
March 17, 2012 – Man v. Chainsaw
With the advent of the warm weather, I’m behind on the pruning. Today, I thought I might catch up by speed-cutting down the willows by using the chain saw instead of the hand pruners. Perhaps the execution was faulty. While I failed to separate my leg from my body, I did manage to turn it into an ER room visit for 6 big stitches right near the inside of a knee. Claire was home, and while I felt I could drive, I wasn’t sure I could drive home, so off she came with me. The two hours there went quite quickly as the basketball tourney was on the waiting room TV and the suturing room TV, which was decorated in a Nemo theme.
The doc said it was easy as chainsaw stitch-ups go as the chain didn’t “bounce” two or three times making a road rash like some chain saw incidents.
February 14, 2012 – Norse Unite!
On a college visit with Emma to Luther College, I picked up a knitting pattern for a Norse hat.
Here’s father and son proudly wearing the hat on a rare snowy day (it melted with 24 hours). Linda was kind enough to knit them for us. We do attract attention wherever we walk wearing these beauties!
January 6, 2012 – Trying to do Our Part
Although, like most people, I don’t like seeing myself on film, the Farm Energy Working group asked if they could interview me for part of a larger series on farm energy. For better or worse, here’s my 4 minute segment.
January 3, 2012 – Year In Review
It’s time for a year=end review of some of my favorite moments and photos of 2011.
Kids and baby animals are hard to beat.
Extremes in any domain are interesting.
Martin’s new found love and interest in cooking gave us many great meals.
The promise of a neat spring garden always brings hope.
Linda’s wild look in the White House captures a moment.
“Walking the Talk”
Claire as a professional at her work post in DC.
Dad and Martin up on the North Shore of Minnesota.
Martin’s initiative to carry a big pack, rather cheerfully over 3.5 miles of portages.
Emma exploring new foods in Boston.
Taking care of some of our own responsibly-grown meat.
Visiting with women farmers from around the world at our farm.
The majesty and scale of the new wind turbine farm just south of our farm.
Finally, after 20 some odd years (who’s counting, exactly) the love of my life shining a little light of hers.
September 24, 2011 – A Sweet Day
Today was honey extraction day. As GJ says, it’s all about separation today. First, you separate the supers from the hive and therefore separate the bees from their honey. Then you separate the individual frames from the supers.
Then you separate the beeswax from the frames. Emma with the heated knife and gj with a wax scraper.
Then you separate the honey from the frames in the extractor.
Then you filter out all the bee parts and remaining wax from the honey.
A final look at Emma with a nice frame. We ended up with about 15 gallons of honey from two hives. Shortly after the aerial jockeys sprayed around our farm, the hive at our place ha greatly reduced activity. After the bees died, the wax moths took over and there was no honey – but the two hives at another location adjacent to about 15 acres of prairie, did very well.
one year ago…”U of M Public Relations Disaster”
August 23, 2011 – Planer Work Continues
Whenever I get a free moment or two, it’s back to the planer to keep working on the boards.
When everything is clicking well, it’s a treat to watch the boards self-propel through the planer. Some of the 10 foot long 12 inch wide boards need an assist.
Again, before and after.
one year ago…”Moon and Stars Watermelon”
August 2, 2011 – Boys Week Out Begins!
Martin and I journeyed north with another dad and ten-year old for a father-son wilderness excursion! As it is over 500 miles to the final destination, we took it in a couple of days. The first day we drove to Tettegouche State Park in Northern Minnesota.
There are some nice journeys on the narrow, if not beautiful backroads of the North Shore of Lake Superior.
One of my favorite sightseeing points is Palisade Head, now part of Tettegouche State Park. It’s a wonderful cliff overlooking Lake Superior.
Here, Martin dares to peer over the edge!
Finally, Dad and Martin on the top. Shovel Point is in the distance and a destination for later in the trip.
July 12, 2011 – Fishing Waters
One of the things I most look forward to is fishing in beautiful surroundings.
Here Martin shows off a baby northern pike he let go.
The nicest fish of a pretty lousy fishing week – the biggest of three smallmouth bass caught right together in some swift water – this one was 19 inches and was released.
Me in my natural habitat – on an island in a channel, baiting up.
The rapids entering into Lake One from Lake Two.
The head of the rapids from Lake One, heading to Confusion Lake. I could spend a lot of time wandering down this river to the next lake!
July 8, 2011 – Gothic Garlic
It was garlic pulling day at high hopes today.
Here’s the kid version of the American Gothic with some of the garlic we pulled today.
The parents and their gothic pose.
oe year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #216″
June 25, 2011 – Emma At Dorian Music Camp
One of Emma’s favorite weeks of the year is Dorian Music Camp at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Nestled in the driftless landscape of trees, streams, hills and forests, it makes a great setting.
She has a week to concentrate on music and hang out with other kids with similar interests.
Dad cleaned up pretty good after being on the trout stream in the morning!
one year ago…”Cherries to Food”
March 15, 2011 – Japan Retrospective – Events and People
Today I’ll wrap up the review of my trip to Japan, but not my thoughts for the country.
The trip was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Here at an official function our group is introduced.
The head of the delegation was former Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge. Here, Patty seems just a little unsure about the different seating arrangement at a restaurant. The woven mats on the floor are for sitting on, and there is a recessed compartment in the floor for your legs to dangle down. You can see some of the place settings on the table.
Always toasts to friendship and success before every meal.
In order to do business in Japan, it takes much more cultivation of personal relationships than in the U.S. Typically, before getting an order in the food business, you’d get introduced on one trip, exchange some *preliminary* thoughts on products and prices. If all was well after that, you could expect a trip by your Japanese counterpart to the U.S. to meet with you again and tour the farms/facilities the food would be coming from. Then, there’d be another visit to Japan to make final arrangements. During this trip I was representing an organic meat company that lasted about five years before high feed prices doomed the products.
Navigating Tokyo was unlike most cities I’ve been in. Addresses are not on a logical grid of any type. Unlike western address that go from most specific to least specific (address first, state last) Japanese addresses are the opposite. In a way, that part makes more logical sense.
An address begins the the prefecture (state), city, ward, district, block, building, and street number. Only the last three are typically numbers. To make things more confusing, the blocks although numeric, are not in any order, so block 15 may be adjacent to block 76. Nor are blocks of a standardized size. Then buildings are also in a block, but not in numerical order, followed by address. Even though our guide had lived in Tokyo his whole life, he frequently stopped to ask shopkeepers more specific directions as we arrived closer to our destination.
Finally we’ll end with a gentleman from Nippon Organic Agriculture Products. Fortunately for us, even though it was just after lunch, he was proud to share a bottle of organic sake with us during our meeting.
one year ago…”Checking the Beehive”
March 13, 2011 – Japan Retrospective – Tokyo
Today, the Japanese retrospective continues. I continue to be deeply saddened by the horrors the people there have experienced. It is impossible to imagine the collective agony of all the people washed away or crushed.
There’s so little we can do so far away, so I’ll continue my impressions of the beauty and wonder of Japan.
Tokyo is a big town! About 35 million people call this home and it was named most livable megapolis in the world. Here’s a view of Mount Fuji in the distance from out my hotel window.
There’s more green space than you might imagine – sometimes in unusual places – like this rooftop garden visible from the hotel.
And some of the side streets in the city are very beautiful.
This is the Ginza District, known as one of the highest-end shopping districts in the world.
The moat around the Imperial Palace. It is the home of the Emperor and is generally off-limits to the public. During the height of the Japanese housing bubble in the 1980′s the UK Telegraph reported that the grounds and property were worth more than all the property in California.
This is the entrance to the Senso-ji Shrine.
February 25, 2011 – Belated Valentines Day Dinner
Monday night didn’t seem like such a good night to go out for Valentine’s Day, and tonight was the first night that Emma could watch Martin for us to get out. Where to go? How about the “Accordion European Restaurant?”
When I first proposed a visit to this restaurant in Valley Junction in old West Des Moines, Linda asked if I looked up a food review. My response was “any restaurant whose web site has in broken English “We have live music performance every night” and brags about “extended accordion show” doesn’t need a review of the food!
I’m assuming this is Sergey Lozovich. In the Des Moines Register, under type of music it is listed as “alternative.” Sergey was also the cook, and when there was a break, he would come out and play a bit. He had a this button accordion and a Hoehner with the keys on one side.
It was a nice meal with some European brew and some food you usually don’t get.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #197″
February 12, 2011 – Ready for a Texas Dance Hall!
I dropped a bunch of old suits at Goodwill today. Before the floods of ’93, I used to have to wear a suit to work, but it’s been 18 years since then, and by golly, many of my suits no longer fit me. Having finally given up on the fact that I’ll fit into them again, I dropped them off. While I was there, I browsed for some replacements and found this wonderful western sport coat for $5.99.
Emma said that my brother would be drooling over such a sport jacket, and I think she’s right! This is the real deal, a made in the USA Circle S western sport coat from Dallas, Texas.
I love the western yoke on the front and back of this jacket. Next time I find myself in a Texas dance hall, I’ll have something to wear! Now, George in Texas, I know you are a faithful reader and I look forward to your comment!
one year ago…”Claire Interviews for World Food Prize Internship”
