Out

 Houses.   The farm where I grew up had no indoor plumbing. We had an outhouse.  We got indoor plumbing when I was 9 years old in 1960.  Having a bathroom inside the house was such a treat.  Especially since my Mom did not allow any of those covered enamel buckets in the house...she called them "piss pots."  I recall my cousins had "piss pots" and did not have to go outside to the outhouse on bitterly cold nights. 

Here is an old photo of the outhouses in Osage all painted up for the centennial a number of years ago.  They have since been demolished. 

We had two sets of outhouses at our old resort.  They came in handy if you were outside and needed to go  and one time our septic system had problems and the outhouses were a blessing.

Far Side

Uffda x2

 I had the high dose flu shot on Monday afternoon...3 days later I am still feeling like death warmed over. BUT it must be better than the flu. Right? 

To make things even more difficult...our septic system water sensor alarm started beeping Monday night...the phone was ringing and the alarm was going off...the alarm company wanted to make sure we were aware..."yes I know it is going off we are dealing with the situation"   Far Guy said "Something is plugged."  I called my other baby brother and his phone went to voice mail...it was 10 PM ...I called she who sees robins first and she answered right away.  She woke up my other baby brother and he and our Great Nephew Mason came right over...they decided it was tree roots...got it partially unplugged enough so that water would drain out...and they would fix it in the morning.  

So the next morning nephew Josh, Ryan and David came to dig up the tree root clogged septic line. 

They replaced the pipe and hopefully it will take another 26 years to become clogged with tree roots again.   My brother says it is normal for tree roots to seek water and cause problems over time. 

Luckily my other baby brother lives right next door and he owns a Construction Company that does septic systems and all kinds of dirt work.   How lucky are we??  Very lucky to have someone you can call late at night and will put you on his list for repairs the next morning!  

Living in the boonies has it's challenges. 

Far Side

Ants

 Not the kind you find at a picnic wanting a free lunch...the mound building kind that pinch your skin and then spit a poison onto the pinch that stings. I know this.  It is painful and maddening! 

Ants are driving me nuts....or maybe more nuts.  

Field Ants start their infestation like this.  Looks harmless...some holes in the ground. 

 Pretty soon a mound appears and gets larger and larger. 

You can see one of my jars filled with borax and powdered sugar getting buried.   Buggers.  I have some new "stuff" to try...but I am not holding out hope. 

Then there are Corn Field Ants...maybe I will introduce you to them another day. 

Far Side

Fields

Last evening we took a ride around “the block” to see what was happening in the fields.

We had a late afternoon nap because of the rain…yet another inch plus that will make our grass grow.  Soon we should be coming into the dry part of summer.

 

A bean field…two deer were way way out there feasting.

Irrigators working real hard even though it just rained and low areas of the field are filled with water which become mosquito breeding areas.

Hay field with deer and no irrigation.

Corn field no irrigation.

Irrigation again on a small grain of some sort field.   The grain looks like it is getting close to harvest.

We saw seven deer on our little trip around the block.  Chance enjoyed the outing. During the summer he rarely goes with us during the day because it is too warm.  Evening rides are his outing.

Wild Ride

Yesterday we had a wild ride.  We had not moved the three wheeler for at least a week.  I wanted to go down to my baby brother’s lake place…Far Guy went along…as he unhitched the trailer from the three wheeler he noticed a few bees.  He said “I wonder where the bees are coming from maybe under the trailer?”  I hopped on and we moseyed down the road…I was driving slow all of a sudden Far Guy  said “Bees!”  I slowed down a bit more…he said “Punch it” well we out ran them…got to my brothers without getting stung or crashing into a tree.  Far Guy dislodged the Yellowjacket nest from under the fender and took care of it.  The ride back home was much calmer.

Good thing too as I am allergic to most bee stings…we have Epi Pens in the house and in my backpack.  Those yellowjackets can sting you more than once and the stings are quite painful.

The yellow flowers are beginning to open. I like yellow flowers better than yellowjackets.

Deer Sign

We have been walking on the deer trails in the afternoon, the trails in the woods are not icy like the road is.  Our property is posted so we feel safe wandering out on our own property during the day.  Deer Hunting ends this weekend.  The main hunting area that my family uses is way north of our property. Three deer have been harvested up there.

 

It is very quiet in the woods.  No birds or squirrels except near our home.  It is good exercise for a Border Collie’s nose…he often has to be called back to the main trail.  His hearing is getting worse…and sometimes he thinks he is the leader and picks a more brushy trail.

There are a few widowmakers hanging near the trails.  (The branch stuck up in a tree.)

These are spots where deer have bedded down for the night. There were three spots in this area.  Probably a doe and two fawns or maybe the triplet fawns.

And deer sign is all along the trail.  ( Just incase you city folk don’t know what deer poop looks like.)

I take my small fit in your pocket camera.  I must have it on a setting to take square photos!

It snowed again after our walk yesterday. But next week it may warm up! It isn’t so bad, there are no skeeters, ticks, flies or snakes.

New Corners

We are getting a new corner in the neighborhood, the neighboring township must have some bucks to spend to fix the old township road.

This is a traffic jam at the corner.  Potato digging machines were hogging the road.

The corner in progress on day one.  This corner is on our usual route when we go for a evening drive.  We usually see deer in the hayfield that is just up yonder and is all green. Previously this corner was full of Jack Pines and Milkweed.

 

We drove down again yesterday to see how it is coming along. Day two.

Old road on the left the new one on the right.

My other baby brother’s construction company is doing the work.  It is not done yet…maybe next week.  I wonder how the snow will blow…probably off the road.

Other road news concerns our State Hwy 225 that was given to the County along with 9 million dollars for a new road…either that or four way stops at all of the many corners that this stair step road has…it’s new name will be County 26…that will take some getting used to as it has been State 225 ever since I can remember.  The County is calling it a dangerous road because you have to slow down for the corners…duh…their other solution is to make it a 40 mph road with 40 mph corners….right now the corners are about 25-30 mph corners…been that way ever since I can remember…and a few were 10 mph corners but great fun on a bike.

Here is an old 1924-1925 Road Map.  Can you find the stair steps? The road back then was built on section lines and you had to go through Ponsford to get to Detroit Lakes.  Later a new road would bypass Ponsford in effect killing the town…the new road would go from Osage straight west to Detroit Lakes.

Perseids

Every August the Perseids are visible.  They are left overs from a comet..the pieces that race across the sky are the size of a grain of sand  sometimes getting as large as a marble.  The earth crosses this path of comet leftovers once a year.  They light up the sky in August every year, if the skies are clear.

Sunday night we all discussed the Perseids..Noah, Andy, Jen and I.  Noah said he would go out if he was awake.  Andy said he wasn’t going, Jen said she might wake up and go out and have a look. I told Jen to wake me up. 

I checked them out from our yard about 3 AM.  Then I let the dogs out to do a little business.  I woke Noah up and asked him if he wanted to go to the cemetery with me?  “No Grandma.”  A few minutes later Jen came downstairs and we took off.

The local cemetery is a great place to watch the night sky.  I brought some blankets, Jen brought her camera.  I left mine at home.  It was chilly..but we were entertained by the Perseids.  It is a guess exactly when and where they will appear.  We saw quite a few.  It was too chilly for bugs, they must have all been sleeping to stay warm.

At one point we thought we heard dogs barking, Jen said “Sounds like our dogs.”  We heard an Owl and the nearby irrigator made funny noises as it worked it’s way around the field.  The cemetery itself was silent…three cars came by on the highway.

Back at home, Chance decided that I had left forever and started to howl, which in turn set off Little Elvis and Miney.  A dog chorus!  Far Guy had no idea where I went or for what.  He was worried, as soon as we got home he said “Where have you been in your jammies?”  “Well at the cemetery looking at Perseids with Jen.”  Apparently he missed the conversation we had earlier in the evening.

This is a photo Jen took of the night sky as dawn approached.

The light on the ground on the left is a solar light on a grave.  The light at tree level on the right is an irrigator light.

I love to watch the night sky.  How about you?  :)

She and he and what I see

She walks to work every morning, head bent as she walks.  I can tell if I am running late by where I see her on the opposite side of the road. Last week she wore her red rain coat and her head was bent down even further..she must like to watch her feet. She doesn’t look very happy..but then most mornings I probably don’t either.  I know where she goes and I know what she does when she gets there.

On to “Adonis” who rides his bike on good days, shirtless.  As the summer progresses he will bronze just like a statue.  I think “I wonder when he will get skin cancer?”  I watched him all last summer.  Some days he walks..his shirt dragging along on the ground like a runway model.  He is easy on the eyes. Sometimes as I approach him he runs his fingers through his long hair.  I wonder where he goes and what he does when he gets there.

I see the new foal that was born last spring.  Most mornings he/she is all stretched out snoozing in the pasture.  He/she has really long legs. He/she makes me smile.

I watched a field of trees become farmland, first they ripped out the trees and stacked them up to burn, then they removed the stumps..and tilled the soil.  Soil that had not been turned in 50 years. Big farmers getting bigger..small farmers disappearing.

I watch the garage sale signs go up at the end of each week.  One lady has a perpetual sale going on..and has nothing but junk that no one wants..perhaps she is senile.

I see the spot in the road where a drunk driver burned to death in his car a few years ago.  The asphalt got so warm it melted and it created an everlasting reminder… slow down and for goodness sake call for a ride home if you insist on drinking.   He struck another car and screamed all the while he burned to death…the young man he collided with also died.

On an average I meet 33 vehicles on my way into work every morning.  I have 14 miles to drive, that is 2.3 vehicles per mile on an average.  Most mornings I can drive the first four miles without meeting a vehicle.  The only traffic jams we have is when a farmer is moving a tractor from field to field:)

Painted Daisy

In a Pickle

Well, I think I might be in a pickle. Sometimes I get myself into the darnedest situations. You see I needed a photograph..yes needed, there is a difference between a want and a need. The little pigs are already ten days old.. and do you know how fast little pigs grow? Very Fast.. I was sure they were going to lose their cuteness any day. Pigs you know go from cute little buggers to handsome brutes practically before your eyes. This was the last litter too. Well, this all would not be a problem..except that the farmers wife is gone on a trip..and her hubby is all alone. Far Guy wasn't feeling good, so Chance and I went all alone..well wouldn't you know it..Mrs. Gossip was just turning onto our road when I was at the stop sign..she drives slow..so I followed her..and she saw where I turned. Darn. I should have just kept on following her and doubled back after she turned off at her place. I Imagine that my visit was timed..she may have driven by several times..she probably knows more about my visit than I do. Then to top it all off the neighbor has Canadian Geese and Swans eating in his corn fields every night..and he invited me back at five to take more photos..I think I will wait till next week, when his lovely wife is home.

I am sure Mrs. Gossip will be reporting my whereabouts to my Mother and Father within 24 hours. Far Guy says if he hears any gossip..he is just going to say .. "I knew she was up to no good, whining about some photos of little pigs, and all the while she was secretly cavorting in the hog barns with the neighbor, and she took the dog with her too."
Chance had a blast with his friend..and I got my photographs! :)