“You busy?” asked the guy in the line next to me at Menards yesterday morning…
“As busy as I want to be,” I said with a smirk.
It was a Friday morning.
A work day no less , and yet, here I was, taking the day off to play catch up.
I had 3 stops on my list yesterday, this was my first.
‘It’s all about pacing myself,” I said to him.
He looked like a contractor. Had on a t-shirt with construction logo. He also had this rushed, hunted look in his eyes. Funny how much you can observe in others when you look in their eyes.
I has taken me years to find that sweet spot between being busy and having nothing to do.
I don’t advertise.
99.5% of our work comes via word of mouth or repeat business, and I have a rule…I do not chase work. If someone tells me, “So and so, is looking to do, such and such, I will suggest that if that person is interested, have them give me a call.
I leave enough margin in my schedule to answer the phone when it’s ringing (unless I’m 2 stories up, setting trusses.)
There is even enough margin in my life to initiate phone calls with current customers, rather than have them call me, wondering when I’m at.
Recent action photo from a window installation:
The guy on the right is starting to look like his grandpa.
It took me until I was almost 30 to figure out, busy does not automatically equal progress…
See photo I hung on the wall in front of my desk at the time:
I LOATH, absolutely LOATH not having enough time in my schedule to stay on top of current commitments.
Right now, I have the house to myself.
Had a full morning delivering eggs, and mentoring our grandson in the fine art of bee keeping.
I’d invited him to come out this morning, because I was going to fire up an egg incubator. Have only done it once or maybe twice before in my life, I figured it was too good of a learning opportunity to keep it to myself.
After he left, I needed a nap.
That’s another thing, I grew up in a home where taking a nap didn’t happen. It would have been unheard of.
It was a shameful thing for years to admit to my parents I needed a nap in the middle of the day on the weekend. “You can sleep when you’re dead,” I was told.
I am a loud and proud napper, I sleep like a baby most nights, and I get stuff done.
Snippets: A small piece of news, information or conversation.
(That title sounded familiar to me, so I scrolled back through the archives of this blog, sure enough, had one by the same title May of 2023)
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My phone rang last night while I was soaking in the tub. (There is just something about being in the tub, talking on the phone that just doesn’t seem right.)
I saw it was my sister…..She doesn’t normally call just to visit, so what the heck, I answered…. (she had no idea where I was)
Sister : “Say, this is really random, but last week when I was talking to mom, she mentioned you got a black turkey? Is that right? Can you tell me more about it?” (Her son/ my nephew, is thinking about getting some black chickens)
We spent the next 10 minutes talking about all things fowl…..
I mentioned I’d ordered 25 Jumbo Cornish chicks, and picked them up on Thursday.
When I got to the hatchery, Marie, the young woman who was checking me out, asked if I needed any turkeys?
That would be a “No” I said,…..
but tell me a little more…“
“I can give you a heck of a deal…
I have black ones, bronze, white….“
My mind went back to the last time I’d raised a few turkeys…..
Me trying to butcher a 40 pound Tom all by myself……
I could still see my wife, waving at me as she drove out of our driveway that Saturday morning.
The last time I was thinking about getting a few turkeys, she said to me, “I don’t care if you get some, but just so you know…I am not going to help when it comes time to butcher…”
That was 10 years ago.
The biggest issue for me, when Marie asked if I “Wanted any turkeys?” was, where to put them?
You’re not supposed to mix chickens and turkey (I remember hearing somewhere) Something about lice…I think chickens tend to have lice, and they can get into the turkey’s ears.
Then I had and idea…there was an area of our barn, that would not take much to convert into a raccoon tight room for a few turkeys….
An acquaintance of our recently passed away. Came as a complete shock when I heard she had died. June (not her real name), and I go way back. She was a bartender I knew back in the day, (we’re talking close to 50 years ago/ that’s scary just seeing that in print……
close to 50 years ago?????
No way…
Over the years, June would call me up every spring and fall, to clean out the gutters on her house….
Twice a year, we’d catch up on life…
As we were walking in the door to her celebration of life, another local carpenter I barely know, was coming in the door at the same time….
We talked about June, roofing, keeping help busy, and finally, (somehow) we landed on the topic of our fathers….
He shared with me, he could not ever remember having a conversation of any depth with his dad….
I asked him, if his dad “barked?” (mine did). By bark, I mean, a tone and intensity in his voice. My dad managed men all of his working years. When he was in his late 20’s dad became the manager of a local lumberyard. I guess back in the mid 60’s managing several rough and tumble men required a certain style… (barking is the first word that comes to my mind). Hate to say it, but that would also describe 99% of my interactions with my dad.
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Yesterday was session 3 of a 4 session workshop I’m hosting at our property.
It is called an Introduction to gardening/ micro-homesteading.
We meet for an hour and 1/2, once a month, for 4 months.
I have been “puttering” in the garden, for 40 years. My favorite approach to gardening continues to be the no-till/ heavy mulch method, although we have decided to do some container gardening this season. Well, this book ties together, several of the gardening lessons I have learned the hard way. Lots of great diagrams, pictures, and written in such a way, someone with absolutely no gardening experience will feel empowered to give it a whirl. This book just begs to be used as a textbook for anyone aspiring to grow more of their own food…
I put out some feelers on our Orchard and Farmacy page on Facebook, back in January, and had over a dozen people express an interest in coming to these workshops, yesterday was session 3 of group #1. ( I broke it up into two groups, wanted to keep them small)
There will be the 4th and final workshops, in early May.
I do not consider myself an expert, what I am is a life long learner who has a string of failures under my belt when it comes to homesteading skills.
I see the acreage I live on as a giant laboratory.
Here’s a couple of excerpts from the book:
“I don’t believe in brown thumbs; I believe that people give up prematurely. I have been gardening for 20 years. worked as a landscaper for 8 years, studied plant and soil science in college, and have been teaching gardening for the better part of 9 years. Do you know what I do every single year? I screw something up and then ha e to wait an entire year to try again….
and this one….
“I get it; you’re eager to fill your table and pantry with fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from your own garden. How hard can it possibly be? You see no reason to start small! Yet no one ever picks up a musical instrument for the first time and expects to play a complex melody. Why would we assume that gardening is any different? We first learn the foundational skills, work to master the easy stuff, then expand when we’re ready.”
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OK, so now it’s your turn. I would love to hear a few snippets from your life. Gardening lessons you learned the hard way? A little bit about your relationship with your parents growing up, Maybe you’ve lost someone recently that took you by surprise… (or something else entirely). And if you don’t want to post your stuff here on the comment, thread, shoot me an e-mail. Thanks! DM
I have decided to call 2024 “The Year Of The Onion”
In terms of time and energy, my focus is to learn how to finally grow a large onion in my garden.
This is not just a passing fancy.
I have actually been on a mission for several years (10 at least?) to consistently grow large onions. And year after year, my best attempts have ended in failure.
I have had multiple one on one conversations with fellow gardeners.
Watched countless YouTube videos… (about how to consistently grow large onions)
And I think this year may be the year that I finally pull it off.
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Tip #1. Know your grow zone.
Onions are either Long day,
Short day,
or Intermediate day (based on where you live.)
Mini quiz : I live in Iowa and according to this map I need which type of onion?
Tip # 2 Plant onion plants/ not bulbs! (Took me quite a while to understand the difference) The onion “bulbs” we see for sale in most garden stores in the spring time are “bulbs”. It (the onion bulb) thinks it’s in its year #2 of life when you put it in the garden. Onions have a 2 year life cycle. It isn’t until the 2nd year, that they produce their seed head which is where it’s energy is going.
An onion plant on the other hand is an onion in it’s 1st season of growth. It has been started from seed and is what you need to plant if you want a large onion. You can either buy the plants or start your onion plants from seed, (in my area, that is sometime in January)
My plan going into this winter was to take a couple of months off and putter.
That didn’t end up happening.
The large addition we were working on this past year (due to circumstances out of my control) ended up not getting finished until 3/6/24.
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Due to ongoing issues with the cataract procedures I had in 2021, I decided as part of my pre-planned down time, to take a road trip to Kansas City to be seen by my wife’s cousin who is an optometrist.
It was eight hours one way road time and worth every minute. I have talked to her a few times on the phone. She put into words what I had been feeling….“I don’t think anyone is really hearing what you’re saying.”
You got it.
I have seen 5 different eye Doctors and none of them really heard me…..so when I was finally in Kansas City, it was such a joy to have someone validate exactly what I had been experiencing. (Massive clusters of floaters, suspended directly in my line of sight (both eyes).
I went to Kansas City, expecting just to have a series of tests . Came home from that trip, having both of my eyes treated with a laser procedure, my vision improving 50% in less than 12 hours. Two weeks later, I had a follow up visit. Everything as well as can be expected, (unless I want to undergo a relatively risky procedure where they remove the fluid from the eyeball and replace it with a saline solution.
No thank you. 🙂
So my couple of months of down time has turned into a few weeks.
Seed starting, bread making, garden prepping, tree grafting, class teaching, lunches with mom, end of the year book keeping…
You know, puttering.
So yesterday, I took a road trip to Cedar Rapids and on the way home, decided to treat myself to a burger and fries at a fast food joint. I rarely stop in those places anymore, unless we’re traveling somewhere (Kansas City).
When the girl @ the counter asked what name to put on the order, I said, “Doug.”
She had the funniest expression on her face…
“Duck? she said.
“Doug”
I think I am losing my mind, I thought I heard “Duck.”
“Works for me,” I said.
5 minutes later, she and a co-worker were finishing my order, I heard my name (or something like it)
 Wasn’t until years later, that I realized just how much it had shaped my life.
Guessing I was about 9 or 10 in this picture, shortly after we moved to the farm.
I have this thing about mean roosters.
 I LOVE it when one decides to take me on. 
Took this one with my dad before they moved to town. I actually had all three of the little darlings in my hand but gave one to dad for this photo- op.
Blizzard Warning, blizzard conditions expected with snow and blowing snow tonight and Saturday morning. Northwest winds gusting as high as 50 mph by tonight. For the Wind Chill Watch, dangerously cold wind chills possible. Wind chills as low as 40 below zero…..Travel will be very difficult to impossible with significant blowing and drifting snow leading to whiteout conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the evening commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches, which could lead to some power outages.
 I plan to lay low again tomorrow, make a batch of black raspberry jam, and a loaf of sourdough rye. 
I also live on a farm 