So Lucky in Our Life

Tags

DIY, fun, local

So many blessings in the last couple months!  I don’t even know where to begin and I’m sure I will leave out several of the most wonderful things…  But I am starting to believe that some of the wonderfulness is because of our gratitude.  We are continually saying, “How lucky are we?!?”  It’s like good things just keep coming our way.  And I will keep giving thanks for it all, and hope it keeps delivering.

One of the first signs of spring are baby lambs and goats.  Our friends at Split Oak Farm have both.  Their lambs were rescued triplets from a local farm that keeps the best two of a litter and these sweeties are so small!  I never knew a lamb could be as little as a cat!  And this is at some days old.  I happened to be going for a visit with friend Connie who was helping Angie make an apron from an old linen tablecloth.  That tablecloth never looked so good as when they were finished.  A beautiful upcycle.  Anyhow, the lambs had arrived earlier that week and they were so adorable.  A few days later, Connie and I had a trip to town and so we stopped by the Farm on our way home.  Good thing!  Angie was just bringing out milk for the little lambs and we got to help!  We also got to see baby goats – four of them at the time – two new born and two a few days old, all adorbz!  Connie and I got to play farmer as we helped move two ewes to a birthing pen and relocate a momma and baby that had gotten into a wrong space.  Those goats are sneaky little devils!  All in all, I’m glad we don’t have livestock at our homestead… but I’m sure glad to have lots of farmer friends who do. 🙂

Another farmer couple, Jill & Randy at Merry Gardens Farm, are remodeling their kitchen and we (mostly Dan) are helping with the project.  They pay us good… in food!!  Every time we visit, we end up having a meal and it’s always, in part and sometimes almost in whole, harvest from their land.  We’ve had pork liver and onions, roasted potatoes, beets, and Brussels sprouts, pork chops, and Thai cabbage salad.  Yes, Thai food!!  Jill is an amazing cook and on a recent visit we had both the Thai cabbage salad and Thai noodles.  It was like a dream in rural Minnesota where most of the food tends toward the white and bland.  Her recipes for the two sauces were very similar – a mix of Liquid Aminos (GF soy sauce), garlic, peanut butter, chili sauce, oil and honey – but just different enough to give a nice contrast.  Oh, just yummy!!  And she also makes several varieties of mean tapioca pudding – my favorite.  We never leave their place hungry.

Winter at Merry Gardens is quiet in the fields but we also get to see baby piglets.  These Red Wattles are SO SWEET!! I just love their sleek ruddy coats and their sturdy little frames.  They are really manageable for the first couple weeks and then they are past the cuddle stage.  But they are still fun.  Their market pigs were cracking me up as they ran through the fields rearing up and taking off for no apparent reason.  And even the older sows and boars are wonderful.  Most of them are talkers and they are like little dogs the way they play with Jill when she steps into their pen.  They have some Mangalitsas which are like a velcro pig.  When they are little piglets, they look like sheep in their white fuzzy coats.  And maybe my favorite is Moses, the big boar who, when I call his name, comes running out to meet me like a big kid.  He has the best smile.  And he knows when I call his name I usually have food!  But his real buddy is Randy, as this video shows.  I don’t know who is cuter, Moses or Randy.  Merry Gardens Farm really love their pigs.

But it’s not all fun and games.  The market pigs require castration to prevent “boar taint”, an unfavorable smell or taste caused by the sex hormones testosterone and androstenone.  Though Randy had asked me to help last season, daughter Molly ended up being available.  But this season I got my chance to help.  It was a not difficult process and Randy made it very quick.  I had Danny film us and hope to eventually get a video posted for informational purposes.  Though it may take me a while because I realized it is much harder to watch (a requirement for video editing) than to do the actual castration.  In the moment, I was focused on trying to assure the pig was still for Randy’s process and comforted… as best I could.  Randy says it’s the hardest part of raising these guys.

Crafting has been magically happening in my life as well.  Neighbor Connie and I took a Craft Day to attend the Creative Spirit Fiber Festival and visit Anderson Fabric Outlet.  It was a wonderful event followed by a huge sale.  SO MUCH Creativity and Imagination!! My favorite gal at the fair was Lisa Jordan of Lil Fish Studio. You should check her out. She’s super fun. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=193090157396798&ref=content_filter

And all that fiber watching ended up being a good inspiration for a project that came about due to Connie mentioning “making puppets”.  Turns out my friend Steph’s son Rook LOVES Boss Baby and I had the crazy idea that I would make him a puppet for one of the characters from the movie.  Steph said Tim was his favorite character but I knew I would have to also make a Boss Baby puppet too.  And we did!

How does the Fiber Festival factor in?  Well, when it came to hands and shoes, I decided felted wool might be the easiest option.  And it sure was… with Char’s help.  Char (of Char’s Yarn Basket just down the road from me) is an amazing artist and I knew she’d be able to help me with my project.  Sure enough, we got it done.  I believe my favorite parts of Tim are the jeans and shoes.  And his head is the best of the two puppets (Connie did the paper mache work on it).

All in all, we are truly blessed.  Even the icky stuff that seems to happen ends up having a positive impact – lessons learned, relationships strengthened.  I hope that you are feeling blessed in your life too!

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This Week for Me – Busy as a Bee!

Tags

Bees, local

Wow.  I continue to be amazed at how life fills all the time you have!  I really thought when I retired from the rat race that I’d have too much free time and might even get bored.  Especially when I headed to the Harn on my own, I thought there could be a chance of feeling like I was too isolated and alone.  But that is SO FAR from my reality.

What’s been happening in the past week for me? 

Last weekend Dan and I were down in Alexandria.  Dan helped do some electrical work for a friend and we got to check in with Mom and Tom a bit.  We took a bit of a day off Monday as I think I got exposed to a cold virus while in the Cities.  It was a cold, rainy day anyway and, while I didn’t really have yucky cold symptoms, I did have some morning congestion and just felt like resting after a few busy days.  So there was lots of cuddling with Lucky and some napping.  I did check out the pond Dan dug while I was away and that was pretty cool; loaded videos on that and the potato planting the next morning as we headed to Bemidji.

We were able to finally secure a cistern to replace our broken one.  Kind of bummed that we are going from 1500 gallons to 500 gallons but it’s better than just losing all that water back to the land.  It’s been a pretty dry spring so we need water for the gardens.  Even with hugelkulture, we still have to water some of the time when we go for a long stretch without any rain.  Plus we are nurturing the orchard plants a bit and I continue to plant more stuff!  Connie and Mom, and now Sherry and Char are making the Harn grounds GROW.

We gave our presentation on the Harn for the Leech Lake Tribal College and it was good to present our story as a couple of new homesteaders focused on sustainability and living in harmony with Earth, Water, and Other Beings in Nature.  We were able to discuss some of the things that we are doing to live more lightly and one of the attendees noted that making a commitment to changing just one thing can be a step in moving forward.  I agree.  So, what’s the one I recommend?  OK, my pet peeve is watching someone wash dishes or brush their teeth while the water runs continuously.  So my suggestion is to change how you brush.  I use a glass of water to brush my teeth.  I dip the brush in the water and suds up my teeth.  When I’m finished with all the brushing, I take a mouthful of water and rinse, spitting the rinse water over my brush.  I do this a couple times and then rinse the brush with water from the glass a final time.  All the water is used.  None just runs down the drain without doing a job for me.  If we all did this, we could save thousands of gallons a year!  I also use a plastic tub when washing dishes for wash and rinse water which drastically reduces the water needed.  Any water I run is over these tubs so it is used a couple times.

I spent a couple days working with my bee hives.  On Wednesday I checked the hives for the first time since receiving them.  {Every day I’d hoped to check up to this point had been windy or cold and just not optimal for checking on the bees.  It was still windier than I’d like but it was sunny and far too long since I’d gotten the girls, so I went for it.}

First I opened up the weaker hive and saw kind of what I expected… low population and little brood.  There was honey and pollen being stored but it just seemed like not a lot happening.  Also, I noted lots of dead bees on the bottom board under the frames and it just seemed sloppy – quite un-beelike.  I was not able to find a queen and wondered if they had one.  Next I went to the active hive.  This hive had a damaged bottom board so I’d gotten a hive box with bottom board from Angie at Split Oak Farms and planned to transfer all the frames from the old hive box to this new box.  The old bottom board on the hive box had a space at the back lower corner where the bees seemed to love exiting and entering the hive.  Luckily, the new hive box from Angie had a hole in the back which I knocked out to hopefully give them a similar situation for access.

I began by pulling the hive box with bottom board from the pallet and then I put the new hive box on the pallet where the stronger hive box had been.  When I opened up the hive, I was ecstatic to find a hustling, bustling bunch. I started pulling frames to see how things looked and there were LOADS of bees.  I pulled each frame and placed it into the new hive box.  There was a little tightness but everything fit. This hive box hadn’t been used in a while so I had to squish the frames in a bit at one point.  I was trying to check for the queen but mostly I just wanted to see what was happening and get them re-housed in the new hive.  It was obvious there was a queen as I saw LOTS of brood (workers and drones).  I kept moving frames and ALL the frames had activity.  I thought there might be a queen cell developing (which can be a sign of pending swarm – the hive will start to raise a new queen so the old queen can take a part of the colony and head out to find a new space while the new queen continues in the old location).  With all this activity, I knew it was time to add a second hive box for the bees to expand their operations. I again did not see the queen but, since I was working on moving them, and I was struggling with the smoker staying primed, I just got them moved with the new addition and closed everything up.

I planned to call Lewis when I got back to the Harn but… as is typical, something distracted me.  I don’t know what I did really with the rest of the day but I kept busy.  I spoke with a retired friend in Alex this weekend and she agreed that this is how life works for her too.  She is constantly busy but couldn’t tell you with what.  That is totally it!  Maybe it’s cooking, cleaning up, reading, getting a call – whatever, it definitely makes for staying busy!  And I’m super happy.

Thursday I called Lewis to ask his advice on the bee situation.  He noted that he’d given a frame of brood to the weaker colony prior to giving it to me, which he had told me when we picked up the hives, but we agreed that didn’t seem to have done the trick.  He suggested moving a second frame of capped brood (mostly developed and ready to hatch worker bees) from the strong to the weak hive.  BUT… if I did this, I had to be SURE not to transfer a frame with the queen from the strong hive into the weak hive. I questioned whether that queen would be in the top hive box, but Lewis was sure the queen would still be in the lower hive box, since I’d just added the top box yesterday.  Since I was going to be heading to Alex to meet with Mom the next day, I knew I needed to do this that day.  I tried calling in a beekeeper friend but couldn’t get in touch with anyone so… I headed out to give it a whirl!

I pulled the weak hive top cover and checked a couple center frames – smoker working better today but I was still nervous about how much time I’d have so I worked quickly.  I was able to find the queen on the weak hive right away!  I pulled a side frame with almost no activity and put it aside.  Then I headed to the strong colony and pulled the top cover and flipped it over.  I set the top hive on the cover so just in case my queen was in top, she wouldn’t drop into the grass.  I pulled a frame and checked it for brood and didn’t see the queen. As I placed the frame into the weak colony, Dan asked about the bees on the frame… I hadn’t asked Lewis about that so, I hope those worker bees are OK in their new location.  🙂 A fellow beekeeper thinks that perhaps those bees will fly back to their home hive.  We’ll see.  I looked at some more frames (spent more time than I realized…) but didn’t find her.  I am sure hopeful she is still in the strong colony hive box!   I did confirm a couple queen cells developing in the strong colony so, I should be OK regardless but it definitely will lose me a few weeks if I put the strong queen in the weak hive box.  So much to learn…

Here’s a couple videos:

• First Check of the Hives: https://youtu.be/Dxp_bTV8hmU
• Changing a Frame of Brood: https://youtu.be/eDmO4rZopS4

In addition to beekeeping, I also started some seeds that afternoon.  I know, I’m WAY behind schedule.  But, we’ll see.  Some people aren’t putting out plants until mid-June.  I figure we’ll see how things go and I’ll probably get a few plants from the nursery or friends.  Char says she’s got a few things for me.  God love her!  She’s really helping this homestead to start out with a lot of help garden wise.  Oh, and we watched the Bee Movie – you know, the one with Jerry Seinfeld – and I realized how much of a load of crap that movie is!  I mean, the main character is a BOY BEE!  And so much of the film focuses on guys doing all this work.  What BULLSHIT!  It’s the GIRL BEES that do ALL the work!  I mean, besides that donation of sperm from the drones, everything that happens in the hive is done by the females.  Ah, so frustrating.  It’s definitely an interesting experience to watch this movie now that I know so much more about bees.  It’s fascinating to see all the social aspects of that film – the mosquito is a black dude (Chris Rock – a fave!) and there is so much on that topic I could spout off about too.  Anyway, if you watch it, look for all the conditioning.  It’s annoying but helps you realize how we socialize ourselves with film.  Guess I expected more from Jerry.  Oh, and we saw lightening bugs tonight when we went out to pee.  A little phenology for you.

I started off Memorial Day weekend (holidays mean nothing to me anymore) with a trip to Mom’s.  I was getting the truck title transferred and was gonna go with her to the doctor.  I am SO GLAD I got there in time for that as I think it was a help for me to be with her.  She did SO much better getting this shot than she’d done in the past.  I think part of it was being a tough momma in front of her baby.  🙂  I was also able to sneak in a visit to Cherry Street Books to see Anne and that was wonderful.  I am so glad she was hired to take my vacancy – I definitely feel like she’s a well-read and customer-focused person.  I was able to see book club buddy Mary too and that was fun.  I really miss everyone from the book store world.

I also stopped by Special Memories to see Marlys. She’d just put away a puzzle so I didn’t get a chance to find a few pieces but it was really great to catch up with my old friend.  And then I headed to 2 Guyz Pizza for my favorite GF pizza.  Mom’s favorite is the 2 Guyz Favorite – so that’s easy to remember!  They are top notch!  http://www.2guyzpizza.com/ I think Tom was happy to have pizza too so we had a great evening.  Even opened up a bottle of Sauterne – definitely Tom’s fave!   After dinner, Mom and I headed down to the lake shore for some plant gathering – she had some iris and a French lilac she wanted me to have.  Plus we had to burn sticks!  (Mom’s second favorite thing after mowing the lawn on her rider.)  All in all, it was a relaxing and fun evening.

Saturday I packed up and then Mom and I grabbed a couple of “Rita’s Hostas” for me to take up to the Harn.  She threw in a few more things that had grown into the driveway while I showered.  More planting!  And then I headed north as Mom got on her mower. 🙂

I was headed to the Nemeth Art Center for the Beagle and Wolf Bookstore’s book signing for Amy Thielen’s Give a Girl a Knife.  This is a fun memoir of her adventures in NY and in coming home to MN.  She really recommends coming home.  I hope to read it soon.  So, anyway, I was hoping to hook up with new friends Bruce and Cheryl and also to see Amy’s husband Aaron again; we’d met him briefly at Bruce & Cheryl’s.  He adorable.  He had a load of colostrum for Amy.  The only reason I knew this word was because I nursed my son so I was a little concerned about what she might be making with it.  I had to ask.  I introduced myself to her at the end of the gig and she said she actually froze that, took it to NY, and made them a pudding out of it!  (It was cow colostrum.)  I also explained to her about how her show gave my mom hope for me to be a TV star when I moved out to the woods – not gonna happen – and how my husband was tired of hearing about how adorable Aaron is.  Not sure that was what she wanted to hear so I didn’t tell her that he’s now going to get tired of me talking about how adorable SHE is.  And she is!!  She is so tiny!  But she’s a giant bubble of personality. The event was Standing Room Only. She did a short reading from the book on arrival and people who were late missed it.  It was a cute story on working in NY while pregnant.  She’s super cheeky!  I realized her short reading was so she could spend the majority of the time socializing with her fans.  She was so happy to see everyone that I swore she knew them all for years.  Aaron assured me she didn’t know the people she was with when I mentioned to him how she seemed to know EVERYONE.  She is just a super fun and hospitable Midwestern girl.  Just don’t call her a Homestead Honey… or so says Bruce. 🙂

I have to share that this Nemeth Art Center is a hidden gem.  http://www.nemethartcenter.org/about.html  They have a standing Gabor and Edith Nemeth Study Collection that includes 42 European paintings, some dating back to the 16th Century.  They accompany this with amazing contemporary art. There is also a quaint historical museum downstairs.  What a fun place.  And the guy who runs it, Michael Dagun, is pretty amazing too.  Friendly and welcoming – you need to check this place out.  There’s an upcoming Opening Reception & Symposium June 24th from 2 – 5 pm for their current exhibition.  I’m hoping to make it…

After that fun I headed to the Mississippi Headwaters Hostel to talk with Sara about work schedule plans.  I stopped by Rock Creek to fill up on gas, pulling in right behind Kelly.  I think I came around the corner a bit too fast for her…  I swung wide at the corner so I wasn’t RIGHT on her butt but I’m thinking it was a little too close for a momma with kids in the car.    So much for not tailgating people anymore!  I guess it is rare these days but I definitely see how when I’ve got a TON of stuff happening, it’s easier to slip into driving a bit faster too.  Have to watch that…

I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking with the guests at the hostel and checking in with Sara – it had been a while since I’d seen her.  I imagined, years ago when she was about the only person we knew up here, that once we lived here, we’d see her all the time.  But she’s so busy and we’re so busy that it’s lucky if I see her once a month!  We talked about everything that’s been going on since we last chatted and then put in some screens and moved storm windows down to the basement so I earned a few bucks too!  I really love working at the hostel; it’s fun meeting people from all over.  There are loads of great stories to hear.

Lucky was happy to have me home to feed him later that evening.  He whined and cried to me about how lonely he’d been.  And then he curled up with me a kept me warm all night long.

Dan’s coming home from his weekend at the Boundary Waters for Cliff’s Bachelor party – sounds like they had a super time.  It will be good to see him.  And we’ll start another busy week.  We’ll be heading to Char & Wyatt’s for a cookout Memorial Day but will likely also sneak in some Yarn Basket shop organization and maybe putting up some light fixtures.  There’s always something to keep you busy once you’re “retired”!!

 

Surviving the Cold

Tags

books, local, Reading

Well, it’s been a cold week here at the Harn.

Hmmm… I feel a bit like Garrison Keillor.  How strange.

I have had the thought, “What was I thinking… coming to the Harn as winter comes on?!?”  But I am truly grateful.  We’re finding all the holes to plug so winter will be warmer than this chilly end of fall. With the past week of truly cold temps, it’s hard to believe that winter has yet to arrive.  And I’ve been able to, thus far, convince the critter trying to dig through the wall to cease and desist.  I’m guessing if I wasn’t here, he’d have chewed through and made himself at home inside the Harn.  He was chewing again Sunday, after an eleven-day hiatus, and I yelled and banged and he stopped.  Unfortunately, he was back today.  I hope I’m hearing each time he comes and that I someday will be able to determine his entry point to block it.  So far, there seems to be no entry from outside.  I can only assume he has residence in the attic or was stuck in the wall when I blocked the outside access.  If he’s in the attic, he needs to stay there!  Of course, if he’s in the attic, I may be fighting this chewing as an ongoing battle.

Several times this past weekend Dan reminded me, “it’s a dry cold!”  This was the coldest weekend of the year and, indeed, it was dry.  But that does not help but when it’s so bitter… -25°F.  You just do NOT want to stay outside for long.  It’s just f-ing cold!  I got a lovely heated bird bath from Fran and Ed last week and just getting it plugged in was enough to teach me about wet cold.  Snow melts when it touches your fingers and, once wet, the fingers are fair game for the death the cold air can bring.  No worries, my digits are fine.  But even without wetness, I have learned that I need to wear gloves when I go out and it’s below zero.  I can no longer live the lackadaisical way I did in Indiana, shunning a coat until well into January or February.  Minnesota North Woods, I’m learning, can deliver a deadly cold.  My comprehension of cold has been a bit of a shock.  But I now always assure I have boots, hat, coat, and gloves on or in the car.  I’m considering adding the snow pants to that inventory!  I did find snow pants as we unpacked and they are so toasty!

The week involved lots of fires and running the space heaters overnight but I’ve been able to stay warm so far.  We continue to plug leaks and I found a breeze coming in from the closet so this weekend we insulated the concrete slab in there (which we didn’t think to insulate from the rest of the slab which is in the cold garage…  Hindsight is amazingly brilliant!)  The floor insulation helps but it’s still only about 40F in there with this heavy cold so the breeze persisted.  It amazes me that a 20-degree temperature difference can create such a strong airflow at that entryway!  We closed off the room with another piece of insulation and that stops the breeze.  The pump room stays warm with the heat lamps so I’m feeling relieved that one of our plans appears to be working well.  And it does seem like we’ve seen the last of mice in that area so – winning!

We did entertain our first guests for a meal – Char and Wyatt!  Made a chicken and red lentil soup and some cornbread.  It was a simple meal but good to see them both.  They have been a huge blessing to me and Dan.  For me, it’s great to connect with Char for so many reasons.  She’s a knitter and has a yarn store – so it’s nice to have a crafty gal close by – and she raises her own food and I hope to learn much from her in the coming years.  Plus she’s just adorably funny and the sweetest gal you can know.  I think Dan and Wyatt are hitting it off too.  Wyatt did our concrete work in the garage and Dan reciprocated in part by helping Wyatt with his electrical work at their place.  And they are finding more in common as we go – turns out they are both album fans.  Yes, vinyl!  They both have turntables and record collections, and, though Dan’s is much smaller than Wyatt’s, I believe Dan will be expanding his collection.  They’re both good and handy guys so Char and I feel pretty lucky in our picks!

I was able to read a couple books this past week: Out of the Woods by Lynn Darling and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.  I’ve now started The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey – can’t believe I haven’t read any of his work until now!  What a character.  I love his description of State Police in his opening paragraphs as it reminds me of the officers at Standing Rock.

The proud tough sensitive flunkies of the rich and powerful.  Armed and dangerous.

As I watch Trump fill his cabinet, I fear, will continue to see the use of government forces in collusion with the goals of the rich and powerful.  And I have a foreboding sadness for those who voted for him in the hopes of finding a better life as I believe they will soon find the same disillusionment I felt when Sanders was ousted.  It’s a bitter pill to swallow and often makes you feel like swallowing many more bitter pills in hopes of ending it all.

Back at the Harn… I have continued putting up trim so the place is looking a bit more finished.  I was also able to get a laundry cabinet hung.  Almost had a major issue with this as I did not thoroughly plan the process before I got started.  I hung a board on the wall on which the top rail of the cabinet back would rest.  Then I put up the cabinet and put one screw in the bottom, not assuring I had a ladder at hand to reach the top screws… When I tried to let go of the cabinet to grab a chair or ladder, the top of the cabinet pulled away from the wall and off the rail.  I realized this before letting go but was left standing there holding the weight of the cabinet and unable to reach for something to get high enough to put in a top screw.  I looked about and ended up pulling over a box of books that was within reach.  I was able to stand on it to get a couple screws in the top rail.  Then I got the chair to finish the rest.  Lucky break!  Looks good and feels sturdy now.  The cabinet was a $30 find at the ReStore.  I decoupaged the exposed end and hung a picture on it and I think it looks pretty good.

I was able to get down to Alex for my U-Group meeting and it sure was nice to see so many people I love. 🙂  Got to see Momma and Tom and that was great too, though Mom had some disturbing news.  I was able to help her through it to a great degree and that felt good.  I think she was more concerned with how the news would affect me than she realized and, when I took it OK, that helped her relax about it quite a bit.  I will say that some things are just too strange to understand and you have to just let them be and not try too hard to unravel them as there is likely to be no comprehensible explanation.  It did help to talk with my good friends Steph & Lee about it and I am grateful that I have them.  They have lived through similar circumstance in their own lives and empathy is the greatest of soothers.  Of course Danny was his steadfast self in keeping me on track about it all.  In the end, I’m just moving on, doing my best to be myself and loving everyone.  I have a peace about it all.  While in town, I did get a chance to sneak by Cherry Street Books to see Shawn and KP and I stopped by ABE @ ATCC to spend a bit of time with Minerva which was delightful.  I have missed our ESL time each week and am hopeful that we’ll be able to connect on Skype sometime soon.  I gave her a book we can use to practice pronunciation and a bar of the homemade soap I made and she astounded me with a lovely red, white, and green beaded bracelet and a pair of earrings with Frida Kahlo on them!  That I would receive a gift depicting an artist is such an inspiration to me.

I had some mail delivered to the door – three packages!!  I was on the phone with Steph when the driveway alarm went off so I kept her on the phone as I wasn’t sure who it would be.  Was exciting to meet Chad, the fill-in mail dude, but when I checked the packages after getting off the phone with Steph several minutes later, I realized they were not for me!  The address wasn’t even close!  Actually, there were two different addresses for the same recipient.  Oh, geez.  Another round of weirdness with the Post Office.  I left the flag up with a note to let them know but have not seen them yet.  When I got to the mailbox today, the flag was down, more mail was in the box – this time for me! – and the note was gone.  I dropped off the packages when I headed south today.

So with all the recent cold, I am super happy to be in the 20’s this week.  It’s a heat wave!!  I’m thinking my buddy Plumbob (who moved to MN from IN a couple years before I did) may prove to be right in saying, “26 below ain’t as cold as you think!” as 20 now seems balmy. I needed to gather more wood for the stove so this heat wave came at a good time.  I like seeing a rack of wood that will keep me ahead in the heating game.  I have a wood stash closer to the mandoor to the Harn but my stockpile had gotten quite small!

With the warmer weather, I’ll be burning less but it’s nice to have the wood ready.  I’m guessing this load will get me into the new year.  I’m hoping so but I do plan to get out in the woods this week and gather more wood while the weather is nice.  That’s a nice way to get outside, get a bit of exercise, and also get some much needed work done.  I took a brief walk out the back yesterday and gathered a small handful of sticks for kindling as I went.

The best part of the recent work at the Harn was being able to get some big moving done and the craft room is starting to take shape.  It will be an ongoing job to unpack but I am feeling closer to being able to get crafting again and that will make winter much more productive.  Yippee!

So my Christmas is looking like it will be a happy one.  Though I feel I have done little along the way of presents, I am finding a joy in hearing the Christmas music on the radio – something in years past I would turn off quickly.  Not sure what this means…  but I hope all your Christmas dreams come true.  I believe we are going to have a white Christmas here… 8-12” deep!   Lucky will remain in his new favorite spot on the Rocket Mass Heater.

Vote DFL for Local Offices in 2016

Tags

Democrats, local

At the League of Women Voters Candidate Debate at Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC) on October 18, 2016, Incumbent Mary Franson gave us reason to pause.  The very first question of the debate was from the Echo Press asking about support for a local government funding increase.  Gail immediately agreed to give support to increasing Local Government Aid (LGA) with detailed numbers on her reasons for support.  Mary Franson then also agreed she would support, listing a half dozen towns in her district that rely on these funds.  Gail then asked in rebuttal, if Mary agreed with this increase, why she had voted to freeze LGA.  Mary sat in silence, seeming to not comprehend that she was being asked for a response.  Moderator Ken Howell asked Mary if she’d like to respond and she replied, “No.”

In full disclosure, I report that I am the VAN Administrator for the Gail Kulp campaign.  I do this even though I don’t live in Gail’s district because I believe so thoroughly in her.  That said, I don’t feel like I’ve done much for the campaign – if you’ve read other blogs, I’ve been busy with the Harn!  And certainly no one is working harder than Gail herself.  She and her campaign manager have knocked over 5500 doors this season!  She’s earned every vote with lots of hard work and I trust she will work just as hard if we can get her elected.

So, what exactly was Gail asking on the Mary Franson LGA freeze?  She was asking about House Bill HF 2337, which passed 72-62 on the House floor in 2012, mostly with Republican support.  This bill phased out statewide property tax over 12 years beginning in 2014 (paid for in part through a reduction in the renter’s credit of $70 million), froze LGA at 2012 levels for cities over 2,500 in population, and modified the LGA freeze for cities under 2,500 in population (2013 LGA is the greater of 2012 LGA or 2013 formula LGA).  And yes, Mary voted for these freezes.  https://votesmart.org/bill/votes/40048#.WAtl8_krKM8 This bill also passed in the Senate and Bill Ingebrigtsen supported it as well. https://votesmart.org/bill/votes/40049?s=name#.WAtlLPkrKM8

The most striking question in the second portion of the LWV Debate regarded Minimum Wage.  This debate was between Incumbent Bill Ingebrigtsen (R) and Shawn Olson (D).  Bill fielded this question saying that a higher minimum wage is a bad idea.  What people need to do is “work harder”.   Struggling with bills?  Work a second job.  He’s done it.  This makes me want to ask him how many hours a parent should have to work to support a family of four?  80? 100? And how do they have any family time working these long hours?  And if rent alone eats up 70% of the income, how do they afford food, let alone shoes for the kids?

What is MN current Minimum Wage and how much does that mean someone can count on to support their family?  Well, it first depends on how big an employer you have.  Your wage will be either $7.75/hour or, if a bigger company, $9.50/hour.  And how much do you bring home?  Anywhere from about $14,500 to $17,500 (Gross of $16,120 & $19,760, respectively).  Let’s say we have two full-time minimum wage jobs, one at the higher rate and one at the lower, so we’re bringing home $32K for our family of four.

So what does it cost to live here in Douglas County?  How much do you need to make to live?  Well here’s a good website to figure it.  https://mn.gov/deed/data/data-tools/col/  Their definition of Cost of Living (COL) is that it represents neither a poverty-level living nor a middle-class living but rather a living that meets basic needs for health and safety. Based on this data, a family of four with two full-time wage earners will require almost $60K.  Almost twice as much as we’re going to bring home with our minimum wage jobs!  Costs include $10,800 for housing, $9600 for transportation, $7500 for child care, $11,800 for food, $5000 for health care, and $7000 for other expenses.  Well, we blew the budget at child care so we only have $4100 for food and no health care, let alone deodorant, toothpaste, clothes and shoes.

What if one parent stays home while the other works?  No child care costs, right?  But we’d need to make $22.97/hour to make it work here in Douglas County with our $47,776 income.  How about a full-time and a part-time worker?  Mom can work nights while Dad’s home with the kids, right?  Well, that might work, though any kind of family time with Mom and Dad splitting shifts is negligible. There are only so many hours in the day, Bill!  Yet, this is often how many of the working poor make due.

Even someone young and single would need to bring home a wage of $12.21/hour to live in Douglas County based on the Cost of Living calculator.  So, “work harder”?!?  Sounds at best uninformed… and at worst, frankly quite cold-hearted.   In addition, Bill acknowledged that he had free college at ATCC… but he doesn’t think it’s feasible for today’s young people to get that same advantage.  How many times has a Republican used “government services” to find success in adulthood only to go into politics and work to cut those same services for the next generation?  What hypocrites.

I was too tired to stay around for the third debate between Westrom and Hinrichs but I hear Russ did well.  I’ve already voted and, though Gail is not in my district, I am hopeful she will bring home a win for the DFL this year.

One of the most damning pieces of information about Representative Franson comes from her own reports.  Here’s what State Reps are paid:

State legislators
Salary	Per diem
$31,141/year	$86/day for senators and $66/day for representatives, per approval of the committee chair or leadership. Set by the legislature.

Well, apparently Franson cost us more than twice her salary in 2015 as her expenses and per diem charges were $36,993.62.  This is even more than the Speaker of the House!  https://cbsminnesota.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/2015_minnesotahouseexpensereport.pdf Where on Earth is she spending all these funds?  Her spending is the fourth highest of the 134 Representatives.  Yet many of these Representatives live farther from St. Paul than she does.  How do they do it on less?  I’m sure Gail Kulp can do better.  I’m betting Jay McNamar can give her some tips.  His 2015 expenses?  $227.12.  No, I didn’t leave out a zero.  That’s less than 250 dollars!  And if you look at the spending as I did, you find that most of the lowest expenses are for DFL Representatives.  I bet we could knock quite a lot off this $2.2M+ line item if we put more DFLers into office.

It’s time for a change in our representation in St. Paul.  Let’s send in a team of people who will stand up for working people and local businesses, not big corporations and the wealthy.  Representatives that will bring new ideas and non-partisanship to our Legislature. Vote Gail Kulp, Russ Hinrichs, Jay McNamar, and Shawn Olson in 2016.

Photo Credit: Echo Press on top photo http://www.echopress.com/news/4141195-candidates-legislature-vie-votes

Grieving

Tags

books, fun, local, sustainability, Time, Volunteering

Already I am grieving the town, the job, the daily activities in Alexandria.  Weeks away from my move, I feel the pull to the Harn more each day.  I stand at the counter in Cherry Street Books and think how much I’ll miss the books, the people, the quiet moments, the conversations with co-workers and book buyers, and the many books to add to my To Read pile as people share their favorites.

People say I won’t have enough social interaction at the Harn and, while I will have less, it may surprise many that I can be quite the homebody.  I can entertain myself for hours moving things, reading, organizing, cooking, sleeping.  I’ll have the cats to keep me company along with the critters of the woods.  And there will be plenty to do, at least initially.  There is much to organize and arrange and learn as we embark on this homestead adventure.  But I also enjoy the times chatting with customers in the bookstore and I will miss not having as much of that.  Though I am hopeful to be able to occasionally fill in so I can get little pieces of bookstore time in the coming months. 🙂

I remember leaving Indiana not so long ago.  The goodbyes were really just “so longs” as I have been able to make a few trips back south over the last couple years.  I realized Wednesday that it had been two years to the day since I’d moved to Alexandria.  Time sneaks up on you, I guess.  It doesn’t seem that long at all. The Harn progress was not as quick as we’d thought, with the addition of my part-time (sometimes lots of hours) job and all the extra-curricular activities I’ve added.  I was immersed in the Bernie Revolution until it fizzled, which ate up many hours, though was exciting and full of interesting conversations.  I worked the DFL office’s GOTV program, volunteered at the schools, shared crafting ideas, taught Community Ed classes and ESL, started a Non-Fiction Book Club, joined several others, and met loads of fun people.  It’s been a lot of fun stuff.  And I was cheered at the most recent Non-Fiction Book Club to have people excited about continuing it after I have gone.  I have gotten so much from the books and the discussion and it seems others have as well.  I’ll have to come back and join them as I can!  But I also think I’m ready for this move.  I’m feeling a strong pull to begin to live a more sustainable life.  It’s been a much longer time getting to this point than we originally planned so it’s time to make the leap.

The Harn work has really moved into
overdrive this summer and we’ve spent a ton of money investing (thanks for that word, Vonnie!) in our place.  We’ve added cisterns, expanded the Harn with a water room, contracted for a graywater pit, spray foamed the external rooms, wired it all, cleared trees for garden areas, dug a river, had gutters put up and installed a water catchment system, added more mass to our Rocket Mass Heater, cut more wood for our heating, and also had lots of fun.  We work our butts off when we’re at the Harn but we also take time to enjoy the quiet of nature and eat good food.  We come home most weekends with some aches and pains but we feel quite calmed by the time in the woods.

And we have laughs.  We added a gable wall in the garage to close off the larger portion of the attic and Dan joked that we’d “built a wall”, we’re “Making America Great Again!” Hopefully we’ll keep out those mice and chipmunks. There is a big window in our wall that we’ll cut out for a foam door to access that area should we have need.  But so far, it doesn’t look like we have had anyone intruding through the foamed area… though we did find some mouse turds inside. We’re guessing someone is getting in though we haven’t yet seen them.  Still, the poop is not a good sign.  It’s getting cold enough that the mice will be looking for a warm winter home.  Guess that may give something for Shirley and Lucky to do when they arrive.  Outdoors is cold for us too.  The porch is still great but eventually will be too cold for much more than a quick poop!

This weekend we had our first snow – little sprinkle showers – and we added Snow Bars (to keep the snow on the roof preventing it from sliding off and ripping off the new gutters).  We got some more mass on the stove too, though this is slow going on the vertical work.  You have to let the cob set before adding the next course.  Plus I’m working on finishing in some places while still building mass in other areas.  It’s a giant art project!  We’re also preparing for a final (?) concrete slab in the garage.  This will give a concrete floor space for our freezer, dryer, entry door, and utility room addition.  I’m hopeful to have that poured soon so we can build the room for our water heater.  We’ve got most of the spending done with just the plumbing work and concrete pour pending for this year.  Hopefully next year will be a less expensive year though we will be looking at the chicken coop (hopefully a pallet building) and garden additions.

Now we’re just awaiting the election year to finalize.  That should be interesting.  I’m just glad it’s almost over.  I don’t know what everyone will do without their HRC/Trump daily fix!  I guess it will be the daily fix of how terrible things are now that “whoever” is in the White House.  I’ll be glad to avoid most of it as I enjoy the peace and quiet of the Harn.

 

Is there really anything to do?

Tags

Finding Fulfillment, local, local art, local food, local music, spirituality

Oh, Lord!  I will NEVER AGAIN ask someone who’s retiring “How on earth are you going to keep busy?”  It’s EASY!  There are a million things to fill your days.  And since people tell me, “Don’t tell people you’re retired!  They’ll hate you!” I’m going to share a weekend of info that those of you still working can incorporate should you be looking for some fun.  (BTW, I think folks hate me less now that I work part-time!! 😉 ) And for those of you who are retired and looking for ways to fill the time and find fulfillment, here’s a taste of my last weekend.

Saturday morning, I got up relatively early since I had a Citizen’s Climate Lobby Meeting that morning.  I had to finish up the apron with the CCL logo that I made for the group leader since it’s the 5-year anniversary of the group and I wanted to recognize her hard work in getting us started and keeping us going these last 5 years.  I also scheduled bills to be paid and played a couple games of Candy Crush – a horrible addiction, don’t ever start… it’s like cigarettes, just mildly less harmful to your health.  I also checked e-mails and made some breakfast.  I read a bit of my latest book.  I’m finishing Bettyville, a memoir by George Hodgman ~ a great read with insight on the trauma of growing up gay in the Southern US, dealing with an aging parent with dementia and quieting your personal demons.

After the CCL meeting, I swung past the corn stand and picked up some MN sweet corn.  (It’s not nearly as sweet as My Dad’s in Indiana, but it is quite creamy.) Since it’s an unmanned stand and I had only a $10, with corn being $6.50 for a baker’s dozen, I got enough for weeks… so I planned to give some to the local musician I was going to see.  Anthony Miltich was playing from 2:30-6:30 PM at Carlos Creek Winery.  They have a lovely outdoor stage and it’s a joy to spend an afternoon on the sun dappled patio listening to a talented person entertain you.  And lucky me, I ran into the Etniers at the CCL and they were going to hold me a spot at their table.  We had a blast chatting away until they had to leave for a birthday party.  I had brought my computer along, so I typed up some notes from the meeting while I enjoyed Anthony’s songs.  He of course played the David Gray, especially for me. 🙂

I headed out after Anthony’s second set as I had a date with Danny who was sleeping at home after his third shift Friday.  We went to Theatre L’Homme Dieu to see Ring of Fire, a show about Johnny Cash.  And I was thrilled to see my name in the program!!

The show was great and I ran into a friend there and met someone new.  On the way home, we caught sight of the newly waning moon rising over Lake L’Homme Dieu so we stopped to watch her rise.  Then we headed home, had a snack and headed to bed.

So here’s the list of things I can recommend… and this is just Saturday!

• Become part of a Civic Group. I am loving being a co-leader of the local CCL chapter whose mission is near and dear to my heart.  Here’s more info if you want to get involved. http://citizensclimatelobby.org/
• Create things – sew or craft or do woodworking or stained glass, find your creative side. Creating gives us purpose and keeps our brain active as well as our bodies. Some hobbies are more physical and some more mental but when you find yourself in that “flow”, there is nothing better.
• Stay on top of finances and communications. It’s a good thing to pay your bills and even though we are blessed to not have very many, with Dan back to work, it’s back on me to manage the finances.
• Games, whether online or with friends, are a good way to spend some time.  Though I encourage you to NOT join Candy Crush.  (My son and his friends say this is how the NSA is tracking me. 😉 )
• Cook some food! Everyone has to eat and it’s often more economical and healthy to cook for yourself.  And with my gluten, soy and dairy sensitivities, it’s just easier.  And more delicious!  I’m a pretty good cook most days.
• Enjoy local music. Like Anthony!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anthony-Miltich/195824980783        Pretty sure the headline photo is a Tom Obert shot from Arrowwood Deck.
• Talk with friends.  You may never know what an impact they get from sharing time with you.  And, if you get a boost from them, I suggest you let them know how important they are to you.  It means a lot to voice our love and appreciation.
• Volunteer your time to a good cause… like taking notes for your local Civic Group.  It makes me feel good to know I’m helping and it feels good to be a part of something bigger than me.
• Enjoy culture.  Here are a couple of our local links.  http://www.tlhd.org/  http://www.alexandriaareaarts.org/ I’m sure you’ve got something similar where you live.
• Enjoy nature.

Sunday, Dan awoke really early and made some eggs.  Since I have a morning pill, I couldn’t enjoy them but I now had breakfast for Monday!  We headed out for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Underwood where my friends Mikko Cowdery & Sally Avant would be performing for the Welcome, Offertory and Postlude.  We were heartily welcomed and introduced to a few people.  Mikko’s wife, Tudy, walked me upstairs to the nave as we enjoyed the many pieces of beautiful art throughout the church.  We received our programs and found a seat up front.  The service was really wonderful; a discussion of Deepak Chopra’s book How to Know God.  The music was terrific and I was impressed with the hymns and readings.  We’ll definitely be back to visit.

After the service, there was coffee and conversation in the basement and we met some wonderful people, including a brother of a friend in Alec and a local author, whose book we bought and had signed.

Getting hungry, we headed out in search of lunch.  But first, we headed back to Battle Lake where we checked out the local art gallery, Art of the Lakes.  This place is full of wonderful work so make it a stop if you’re headed anywhere near Battle Lake, MN.  http://artofthelakes.org/

Along the way back home, we ran into the local town of Clitherall! Found it! 😉 So we had to stop and take some photos of all the signs. (Hey, here’s something to do in a couple weeks!)

We crossed the Hudson Bay/Mississippi Drainage Divide and passed through other small towns.  Found a local bar that served a buffet but there was almost nothing on the menu that I could be sure would be safe (gluten-free and soy-free) so we headed to Mi Mexico for a late lunch.  Enjoyed lunch (with leftovers for my lunch on Monday, how handy) and headed home for a nap.

I woke up and blogged a while, then took a Skype call with my friends Steph & Steve who have a lovely new baby, Rook.  He is SO ADORABLE!!!

I made some popcorn and watched a movie later and just relaxed.  No worries tonight, though I do work a full day tomorrow.  When your bi-monthly paycheck has only 19 hours, it’s not a burden to fit in the fun around work days.

So here are some more things you can do to find fulfillment:

• Visit a new church.  Here’s a link to the UU we visited in Underwood. http://www.ucofu.org/aboutus.php  And here’s a link to Mikko! https://www.facebook.com/michael.cowdery.1?fref=ts
• Share a coffee with some new friends.
• Buy local author’s books.  Here’s the blog from my author: https://lizswedertales.wordpress.com/author/meghanson2014/
• Enjoy a local art gallery.
• Buy local artist’s creations.  I bought some beautiful cards from Jean Harney: http://www.jeanharneyart.com/Jeans_Artwork/My_Paintings/Pages/Note_Cards_with_Envelopes.html#12
• Drive through the countryside.
• Check out local eateries and enjoy food from a non-chain restaurant. https://www.facebook.com/mi.mexico.58?rf=147678511942147
• Take a nap.  I LOVE an afternoon nap.
• Keep in touch with faraway friends.
• Lose yourself in another world. Movies (and for me, more often books) are a great way to get a glimpse of the lives of others, learn something new (I watch a lot of documentaries and read a lot of non-fiction) or just have some laughs.

Over the next few blogs, I’ll talk about some of the other things I’m doing to find fulfillment and some of the bumps I’ve run into along the way too.  It’s been an amazing ride so far and each new day is another passport to adventure.  Hope your life is equally audacious.  And if it’s not, use the ideas above to make an opportunity for a new endeavor!