Cuberdons

F.Y.I.: This is a quick addendum to the previous post which mentioned the cone-shaped candy included in the box of gifts kindly sent to me by Regis of Waterloo, Belgium. By email this morning, Regis informed me that these candies are called "Cuberdons", and he sent the link. Cuberdons are a favorite sweet treat in Belgium, but I had certainly never heard of them before! (The photo above came from here.) Thank you for the information, Regis!

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Gifts From Waterloo, Belgium!

It seems I somehow fell off the blog wagon, bumped my head, and fell unconscious for awhile. I’ve suddenly revived enough to post a quick update here, though.

Seriously, everything is fine here…..just overwhelmingly busy.

We finished up with hay baling yesterday; two of my son’s friends were here to help. As I was fixing dinner for them, the mailman’s vehicle drove in, honking……and, I knew he must be delivering a box too large to leave at the mailbox. And, yes, that absolutely was the case……it was a boxful of gifts from one of my blog readers, Regis of Waterloo, Belgium! The above photo shows the items he sent…….a card and kind message; a very nice pottery “WATERLOO” 1815 Belgian Beer mug and wooden lid; a travel book and brochures from his home area near Waterloo, Belgium; a bar of “Cote D’Or Mousse Intense Expresso” dark chocolate (M-m-m-m); a package of yummy cone-shaped candies of which I don’t know the name (They are fruity and sweet…..Regis, please let us know the name of them in a comment, if you have time!).

Thank you so much, Regis, for your kindness! I’ve enjoyed looking through the interesting photos in the travel book. Especially, I’m fascinated by the Lion Mound at the Waterloo Battlefield where Napoleon was defeated. Here’s some photos of it on Flickr.

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Now I suddenly have the song, Waterloo---sung by ABBA---running through my head. Well, I met my “Waterloo” on today’s date, 31 years ago. That’s right, today is my wedding anniversary. And, I live near Waterloo, Iowa! How about that! Pretty cool coincidence, eh?

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Ah, isn’t marriage great? It is, though my attitude about it tends to zig-zag back and forth. On some Sundays when I peruse the engagement and wedding photos in the newspaper, I think, “Oh, isn’t love great! Hooray for these couples!”……and then, again on other Sundays, I think, “Why on earth do these couples want to get married? Ack.”

Whenever I think of marriage, I think of Tevye and Golde singing Do You Love Me? in Fiddler on the Roof:

“It doesn’t change a thing”……that’s my favorite line of the song. Once you’re married…..haha…..guess what…..you’ve made a commitment, and love or not doesn’t change that. Some days you feel the love, some days you just do the things that add up to love, as Golde points out.

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Here’s one more view of the Waterloo 1815 Belgium Beer Mug:

Once again.....Thank you, Regis!

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A toast to a great day for all of you blog readers and a toast to Husband and me on our 31 years of wedded "bliss"!

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Weekend Baling Saga

Here’s a quick run-down of our weekend: By mid-afternoon on Saturday, overcast skies and dampness had fled, giving us the chance to bale some hay. (Buster is excited and happy to take part in any job, any hour of the day!)

I was driving the baler, while my husband and son unloaded the baskets and stacked the bales in the haymow. All was going fine until KA-THUNK…….whir-r-r, and the baler apparatus quit working. Drat. Sighing, I quickly yanked the PTO lever back and climbed out of the tractor, knowing full well what had transpired.

Yup…….the flywheel pin had sheared……..

Believe it or not, this is one fix-it job I can handle. Insert a new pin and tighten it with a wrench and vise-grip. No problem. We should then be good to go, although there’s always the chance that the shearing of the pin is only a symptom of a more complicated problem…..and, unfortunately, in this case, that was the case.

Husband spent the rest of Saturday trying to figure out what was wrong. He phoned a baler expert who works at an implement dealership to get some advice, and even went to the extreme of consulting the baler operator’s manual. In the next scene, the consternation continues on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to church…..Husband’s obsession with fixing the baler overrode everything else.

Take a gander at some baler innards, parts of which are similar to a sewing machine. Here is one of the two needles……complete with an eye through which the twine is threaded:

The needles move upwards into these knotting mechanisms (sort of like bobbins) to tie knots in the twine which is wrapped around compacted portions of hay, forming the bale.

Ho-hum. Buster and Betsy are bored right into dreamland. I was very nearly in a similar state, sitting in the tractor cab listening for Husband’s shouted instructions to turn the PTO on and off.

The guilty culprit was finally found. Don’t ask me to explain it, but the baler’s predicament was caused by one of the parts in this next photo.

An extrication and some welding was called for…..

FINALLY, after all that, and following a quick noon lunch, the baler was taken to the field for a trial run. A kink or two was smoothed out and then we were back in the baling business.

And, thank goodness for that! The afternoon’s weather was perfect---sunny and breezy---and Husband would have been fit to be tied (or knotted, or compacted, or whatever) if he was unable to bale on such a nice day.

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I drove the baler for six hours today, then came in and threw food on the table for the guys---easy stuff, don’t worry---turkey sandwiches, store-bought potato salad, watermelon, brownies. Then I tossed this post together. I’m still in my itchy hay-filled clothes and must do something about that. THANK YOU for the many kind comments that past few days! I will get back to responding to comments soon……it just hasn’t been possible this weekend. There’s a few more loads of hay to bale tomorrow and then second crop will be done……HOORAY!

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Coneflowers & No Baling

Earlier this evening, I went to and fro watching steaks sizzle on the grill and coneflower heads glow in the rays of twilight.  I don’t have macro capabilities, but using the flash in the first photo seemed to help bring out the details.  Especially, I wanted to try and show you the tiny golden-yellow blossoms encircling the coneflower heads right now.

 

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In hopes that baling would work later in the day, my son raked hay all morning……and an unseasonably chilly morning it was, I might add. (The bird in the photo is a barn swallow.)  The overcast skies, cool temps, and damp air combined to prevent any baling from happening.  Hopefully, that will change tomorrow!

I had been all psyched up to drive the baler this afternoon, but ended up being forced to mow the lawn for several hours instead.  Boo-hoo-hoo!  And, yeah…..I nearly froze!  Had to wear long sleeves, a jacket, gloves, and a head covering…….in the middle of July!!

This evening I moped around feeding bottles to my 22 calves;  I happened to glance up one time and there was the first sunshine of the day, setting the cornfield aglow in green.  It didn’t last long, either!

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Hey, here’s some encouraging news on the healthcare reform front:  Wendell Potter, a former health insurance exec, has turned whistle-blower.  Good for him! 

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SkyWatch #53

Greetings from northeast Iowa, USA!  These photos were taken a few days ago.   Swaths of freshly-cut alfalfa hay are visible in the first one, beneath a sky of cheerful, fluffy clouds.

Blackbirds and cowbirds begin flocking together in midsummer, as shown in the photo below.  I’m not sure of the reason for the timing of the gathering together…..perhaps it is prompted by the young ones learning to fly proficiently.  These birds on the wire were the first grouping I’d noticed so far this summer.

Thank you for visiting this SkyWatch Friday post!  You can find all the other sky photo links at Skyley.com.   Happy first birthday to SWF, too!

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Bales of the Evening

 

Hot off the memory card……..these photos were taken 30 minutes ago, at around 7:45 p.m.  We were blessed with a sunny, breezy afternoon and evening, though at noontime the skies were somewhat overcast.  At that time, Husband checked the weather forecast on the internet---it said there was a 20% chance of showers this afternoon.  He sat there for a few minutes, pondering over what course to take……rake a portion of the hay, or just let it lie.  It would be better to leave it alone if rain was coming.  But, then he decided to go ahead with raking, anyway…….and, as you can see, the gamble paid off. 

Rarely does it happen that hay can be baled in this late in the day.  Usually, moisture from the evening dew settles in, making the hay too damp to be baled.

Betsy and I simply watched and listened to the hustle and bustle of the tractors…..

  Then I suddenly remembered…….supper needs fixing!  See ya later!

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A Different Coneflower Style

THIS and THAT and THAT and THIS……the subtitle in this blog’s header should be sufficient warning that I can’t stay focused on one subject for very long.  Maybe its an adult form of ADD and probably most bloggers are afflicted with it to some degree.  Anyhow…..let’s take a leap away from thoughts of the dairy crisis…..over to a flower blooming in my garden.  Yeah, why not!

The above photo shows a “Pink Double Delight” coneflower.  The botanical name for coneflower is echinacea.  You may recognize that name from herbal remedies; in the past I have taken Echinacea in the wintertime to try and ward off colds and sore throats.  Here’s an article about this double coneflower:  A Coneflower Rebelling Against Its Parents Or Just Having A Bad Hair Day?

I certainly appreciate all the thoughtful comments coming in from you blogger friends.  Thank you!  I hope to reply to more of them later this evening.  An afternoon and evening road trip yesterday prevented me from responding to comments last night and today has just been one of those days.  Besides barn chores, snapping the coneflower photo, doing dishes and a couple loads of laundry, I’ve accomplished nothing today…..people kept randomly stopping by and I would fall into conversations with them and pretty soon the day was shot and now its time for evening chores.  Argghh!

Yesterday’s road trip was very pleasant, though, because my older daughter was with me.  She’s the art teacher/coach; her life is busy and its always fun to hear about what her current activities are.  Right now its summer basketball camps, spending time with her husband and friends, and making plans for the upcoming school year.

My husband is in a hay-making tizzy right now and his anxiety and nervousness rubs off on the rest of us.  We have over 40 acres of hay down…..meaning it has been cut and is lying down on the ground waiting to be baled when it is dry enough.  We are hoping for cooperative weather……if only one could just place an order for several consecutive days of low humidity, sunny skies, and warm breezes!

Have a nice evening!

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Human Side of Dairy Crisis

A fellow Iowan, Sherry, author of A Feather Adrift blog, sent me this link to a dairy-related article on the Iowa Independent website: Psychological Attachments Make Hard Times Even Harder on Dairy Farms. Thank you, Sherry!

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Here's a paragraph from the article:

“Consumers have become disconnected from the food supply…….They look at rural as a recreation area, as a place to tour for beauty. We have some fairly good indications that once we are more than three generations removed from the farm, we lose the emotional connections to the land. Our understanding of where food comes from deteriorates because we kind of take it for granted.”

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Quite possibly that is true. The vast majority of Americans live in urban settings; time continually marches onward, and, yes, many people no longer have a connection to the land......no rural grandparents or aunts and uncles, etc., to visit out on “the farm". An entire world of comprehension is lost.

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Each of us modern Americans lives in our own insulated little bubble......we are quite knowledgeable about our own lifestyle, but that's about it. We look to the mass media for information about the world at large. We watch brief scenes on the evening news and listen to the accompanying sound bytes and blurbs and then consider ourselves "informed". I, a rural person, might watch a news report about big-city crime and conclude that cities are dangerous places. A city dweller may see a news report originating from a large factory-style dairy operation and conclude that all dairy farms are like that. Both conclusions are erroneous, of course.

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I'll bore you by stating once again that the dairy farm I live on is small......we milk 70-80 cows and have 200 acres of land. My husband grew up on this farm; it was and remains a family-owned and operated business, plus it is our home. We can't just "take this job and shove it" when times are tough. We're talking about our whole life here, not a 40-hour/week job with time clocks to punch and weekends off. We dairy farmers needn't be concerned about “taking our job home with us” because our home and our “job” are entirely intertwined.

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And, yes, dairy farmers do become very attached to their animals, as the article states. The cows become like family, though, at a different level than human family members, of course. The concept shouldn’t be difficult for city dwellers to understand…..think of how attached you are to your pet dog or cat!

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Maybe no one cares anymore how their food is produced. That very well may be the case. People, being people, want cheap food and plenty of it. Who cares if the small farmers are forced out of business in favor of large factory farms.....as long as the grocery store shelves remain well-stocked. Many farmers believe the government would like to see small farmers throw in the towel......I don't know if that's the case, but I've heard farmers voice that opinion many times over the years, no matter which party is in power in Washington.

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In my own very simplistic view of things, I see the trend toward very large dairy operations (particularly as they move into the Midwest, a region with a traditional base of small family-owned and operated dairy farms) as a factor in the current dairy crisis. There is too much milk flooding the market, causing the milk prices to plummet. (Expenses never plummet, that's for sure.....they continually rise!) The same thing is happening in the pork industry. Its like when big box chain stores crammed full of stuff move into a town and put the small stores out of business. Of course, city fathers welcome the big stores for tax revenue purposes. That's the good, old American way.....investors getting together and building a business, sometimes even when there isn't a genuine need for it. Glut and overkill......definitely that's the American way of doing business.

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Anyway......enough of my sour bellyaching......please read the article linked to above if you have time. (The photo shows a renegade Canadian thistle in residence in our oat field, which is nearing harvest, as evidenced by the golden color of the grain heads.)

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Have a great day!

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P.S. - Here another article.....from The Dairy Star newspaper out of Minnesota: Taking No Bull

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Unidentified Flying Bug

This photo---taken yesterday---of Swamp Milkweed contains a surprise bonus........a UFB! Yup, that's right.....an Unidentified Flying Bug, aiming straight for the unsuspecting rose-pink blossoms.

Things are busy on the farm right now and you may ask why I have time for the frivolousness of photographing wildflowers. Good question. The answer is that I habitually tote my camera along while walking to the mailbox each morning, and can I help it if photo opportunities show up along the way?

My son was cutting a new field of hay:

Husband was raking hay in a field which had been cut last week:

This alfalfa was cut last Wednesday, and then received a drenching by heavy rains the next day, which certainly did nothing to improve the quality of the hay to be baled. I think most of the dust is from white mold which formed under the winrows in the days following the rain.

In the scene above the rake is bringing two winrows of hay together to make one larger row (like the larger winrows which are visible in the left portion of the photo).

It was late morning when this raking was going on. After lunch, Husband took the baler to the field and began making the big round bales.

This final photo shows the baler opening up to allow a fully-formed bale to roll out:

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As I stated above, things are pretty busy right now around here, making me feel like I'm in a log jam. Its midsummer, with weather is very warm and humid, prompting the lawn to grow steadily like a creeping green monster. Weeds have erupted everywhere......what opportunists they are! I don't like to use sprays, so the weeds either get pulled or cut or allowed to live out a happy, natural lifespan.

On the calf-feeding front, I've been inundated by newborns, and now have 21 calves on bottles. Back in the good old days of about a month ago, there were only 5 calves to feed. That spoils a person really fast! More calves means more carrying of pails of milk bottles, pails of grain, pails of water, and more spreading of straw for bedding. My upper back is reminding me of that tonight with a painful tightening of muscles between my shoulder blades. Dang.....I don't really want to go back to the massage therapist, but may have to.

I'm also aware of what a poor blogging friend I am right now and sincerely apologize. The log jam will pass eventually, once we get the hay made and once the lawn and weeds stop growing at such a virulent rate. That will depend on the weather, of course, and right now it shows little sign of veering from the humid, rainy path its been on. Other places are in the grips of worse weather patterns, though, so I really shouldn't complain. I'm looking forward to weaning some of those bottle calves in a couple weeks, too.

Have a pleasant day!

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P.S. - Almost forgot to mention.....my daughter did call yesterday. She excitedly told me about her weekend in Paris! The Eiffel Tower.....Notre Dame Cathedral.....Arc de Triomphe..... The Louvre.....oh, my!

She and her companions stood on the top level of The Eiffel Tower at midnight, watching the the amazing light show. They stood on top of the Arc de Triomphe. They toured the crypt below Notre Dame.....it contains ruins of Roman structures which existed in that location before the cathedral was built. They gazed upon Da Vinci's Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and in the same room was a large painting called The Wedding Feast at Cana. Other Louvre highlights she mentioned include The Seated Scribe and Napoleon's Apartments.

Daughter exclaimed over the phone, "Oh, Mom......you just have to go to Paris someday!" But, you know what......I have no burning desire to go to Paris, or Rome, or......anywhere, really. Do you?? I blew it.....should have traveled to exciting places back when I was young and unencumbered, like my daughter is. If there ever was such a time......

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Miscellany of a Sunday

 

Yesterday morning, instead of being sensible and readying myself for church in a timely fashion, I shot a few shots…….

 

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Look out, its the Fluffy the Cable Sparrow…..

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There’s nothing like a newly-emptied barn lime sack to relax on…….

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Or, a fresh, green pasture to graze in…….

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We had pleasant company all afternoon, in honor of my husband’s birthday.  We all yacked up a storm, with me even spouting some of my political views to a rather opinionated person (like that doesn’t describe me, too).  Later in the day, old friends stopped by with one of their grandsons, who seemed to enjoy his close-up encounter with this inquisitive calf…..

I’ve known the boy’s grandfather since kindergarten.  He’s a farmer and mechanic and also digs graves……by hand in several rural cemeteries that don’t allow the use of backhoes.  He told us that business has been slow since last year, though……apparently the depressed economy is prompting people to postpone not only vacation traveling, but also that infamous final journey of life!

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My daughter was in Paris this weekend.  She left this message on Facebook last evening:  "Hi momma!!! Guess what, I just got back from Paris!!!!!!!  Oh, my land, was it gorgeous!  I loved it so much!!!  I hope dad had a great birthday.   I'll call tomorrow hopefully!  Love you all and I'm happy to hear you got my postcards!"

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Coneflowers, Untouched

Upon awakening this morning, I promised myself not to blog until I’d caught up on reading other blogs.  But, later in the morning, I saw the coneflowers.  Their long-lasting blooms are just beginning to form.

No touch-ups were done on these photos.  They could probably use some, but I like them the way are.  I’m finally learning to step back further and then zoom in to get better fake close-up shots with my Canon PowerShot SX100.

After my father-in-law passed away, we inherited his ornamental windmill.  This poor coneflower is rather caught up in it…..

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Have a happy weekend!

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Postcards From Munich & Switzerland

Yesterday’s mail contained not one, but TWO postcards from our college daughter who is spending the summer in Germany. The above card depicts scenes from Munich. On the back, Daughter wrote: Hello, Family! As you can see there’s tons to see here in Munich. I saw everything on the top half of this card. Our small clan took a city tour and saw many beautiful historic sites. We walked the cobbled streets, ate the one-of-a-kind food, and drank that heavy German beer (within reason, of course).

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Alpine scenes from Switzerland grace this next card. Daughter’s jottings on the back include: Hello Family! Greetings from one of the most beautiful places on this planet, The Swiss Alps! Amazing, huh! And, yes, there are herds of cattle along the sides of the mountains like in the picture! Look on the bigger picture and you can see the green pasture area…..I hiked up that area and collected flowers in my journal. It was phenomenal! I’ll be in Italy over the 4th! So excited for that!

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I have no postcards from Italy yet, but did receive a report via telephone call early Monday morning. Daughter and her companions had just arrived back in Germany after an overnight train ride from Italy. She excitedly gave me an overview of their whirlwind tour of Rome…..the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Castle St. Angelo, the Trevi Fountain, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, etc. Daughter said, “Mom, I was down where all the popes are.” (The crypt below St. Peter’s). She also enjoyed viewing the Sistene Chapel. She and I are fans of the movie, Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, thus Daughter was thrilled to see recognizable sights from that movie’s setting, too. Here’s a YouTube clip if you have the time.

On the evening of the 4th of July, she and her companions watched the sun set over Florence, sipping champagne and toasting their homeland’s birthday. They also toured the watery city of Venice, Italy, enjoying a gondola ride and a chance to gaze upon the Mediterranean Sea there. Daughter said, “Mom, I ran down some steps to stand next to the sea and I almost fell in.”

By the time the travelers got settled in their train compartments to head back to Germany, they were exhausted and ready for sleep. Somehow, though, my daughter and one other girl ended up alone in a compartment with a man from Argentina. After one of the train’s stops, two more men came into the compartment. My daughter said, “Mom…..those two men made us very nervous and I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep as long as they were there. I prayed the whole time and imagined that God was sitting in the empty seat next to me.” She said one of the men kept staring right into her eyes, and she said, “Mom, I just glared right back at him the whole time.” Gulp. Yeah…..that’s my girl. Maybe I’m glad now that she’s always---and I do mean ALWAYS---had a rather defiant, back-talking nature. Over the years, it was at times a consternation to her parents, but perhaps the trait will serve her well in life.

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This is unrelated, but here is Kathleen Parker’s column from yesterday……about Sarah Palin. A And---so I won't be considered completely unbalanced concerning her, here is a link to a differing view, the author being an agnostic, oddly enough. Its good to be aware of what's being said on both sides. Oh, if only Sarah would have just said "NO" to John McCain, we wouldn't have any of this to deal with! The race for 2012 will start heating up soon.......yesterday I, yes, I, received a phone call from Mike Huckabee. He was conducting a survey, but being suddenly rendered speechless over a famous person contacting me personally, I was forced to hang up.

Have a great day!

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SkyWatch #52

Welcome to northeast Iowa, USA! Earlier this week, a line of storm clouds rolled in from the west during the morning hours. The situation looked ominous……we prepared mentally and otherwise for the possibility of trouble.

Remember those theorems and postulates from back in high school geometry class? The if’s and then’s. IF you’re alive, THEN possibility of a storm rolling into your life is always present. You must hunker down and hope to ride it out. Put your faith where your fears are.

I hope you safely ride out the storms in your life!

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Thank you for visiting this SkyWatch Friday post. Please visit Skyley.com to find the list of other links.

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