I know a Guy

The internet isn't all it is cracked up to be. The old "I know a guy" word of mouth is so much faster and interesting.

I don't know how to explain it.

Frank, the plow guy said, "I know some guys." 

This was when I was exploring a way to get rid of my MIL's old Buick LeSabre [2005] that had been parked in my yard since 2018. We took it from her when she was told that she could no longer drive. She had dementia and other health issues. So we parked it in our yard so she wouldn't kill someone on the road. We paid a heavy price of anger for that, but she soon forgot she had a car.

My husband wouldn't let go of the vehicle so it sat there in the weeds being a home to mice and other varmints since March of 2018. It became a fixture like you find in  many rural farms. 

Hubby often said he wanted to make sure that nothing of value was left in the car. He never went out to check. 

There might be some Romance Novels and many mouse nests, but nothing of real value. We argued about it often. But I relented as it was something he couldn't let go of even after her death in 2020.

Some young guys showed up today and said that Frank [the plow guy] had alerted them to a car they might be interested in. They wanted to buy it for a Demo Derby car.  

I told them that this would be a fantastic legacy for my MIL who was a speed demon and daredevil driver even in her 80's. She had a lead foot and a penchant for reckless driving. The gents explained how they would modify the vehicle for a Demolition Derby. They didn't even need a title or keys. 

I sold it for a paltry $100. It will be out of our 'junk' yard in the next two weeks.

Frank had asked me earlier in the winter about Rich's truck. It had been sitting in another part of the yard since 2018 also. I said I'd trade it for some plowing. 

In our area a barter deal is a good deal. Frank is dependable and honest.

Frank is going to use parts of this truck to rejuvenate one of his trucks which apparently is the same model and make.

I think I've gotten my money's worth this winter out of that truck. We've had a lot of storms and Frank has cleaned our place up.

Pat came out just before the blizzard and gave me an estimate for some work I was looking to have done. 

I hired Pat a few years ago to fix some electrical issues we were having. He has done work for us a few times. He is dependable, reasonable, and does not talk down to females. 

Pat expanded his business to include Excavating, Brush Hogging, and Forest Mulching. 

When we walked back from the summer pasture, he looked around and  asked if I was looking to clean up and get rid of the scrap from my sheds and busted garage. 

"I know a guy," he told me. Of course. Everyone knows a guy....it seems.

That guy -- Don, called me the following week. He and his brother came out to our place and had a 'looksee' around.

Scrappers. They collect metal and take it to the scrap yard for $$. 

Don and his brother took the free farm tour with me. 

They are two elderly guys who do this as a supplement to their retirement. They often go in after an auction and clean up the 'junk' left behind. The auction companies hire them for clean up.

My husband collected 'stuff'. He had piles of stuff to take for scrap. He had piles of stuff for fabricating items for tractors and skid steers. He was a welder who could fix most anything. 

He was a creative welder. I never knew him when he had a welding shop, but apparently he was legendary. 

Outside the machine shed is one of his piles of 'stuff' and leftovers from projects.

He knew every piece of metal and its location. IF I moved anything, he could tell.

I couldn't ever approach him with the idea of having someone come in to clean things up. Pictured below is the crushed garage [full of stuff] and the scrap pile around it. 

He used old hay racks to make attachments for his skid steer. Other long pieces of metal were used to cut and create other things. He was the guy who could take an Oliver loader arm and bucket and modify it to fit an Allis Chalmer tractor. 

Below is the entrance to our huge shed. We built it for an indoor arena and round pen for my mule training. He was able to fill it with a lot of 'stuff'. I'm sort of embarrassed to show this photo. 

However Don the scrap dude was impressed. He was amazed at the amount of 'stuff' that was in the shed, the garage, and in the little red shed.

The next shot is also just outside our large machine shed. He complimented me on the amount of stuff Rich had collected. Don was also happy that it was somewhat organized [to his eyes????] and not in one big pile.

In the shed there is a 1980's vintage Toyota 4X4 pick up. The scrap guys said ... You guessed it: I know a guy.

The guy would take the old truck and give me some $$ for it. I wonder ... if he knows a guy.

Honestly. There is no way in heck that I am going through all of the buildings and scrapping stuff out on my own. It is dirty, and it would take me years to haul and sort the stuff. I would even have to purchase a running truck and a trailer. --> that is not going to happen!

It will be more efficient for me to have the scrappers pay me a fee and for them to do the work. I could hire a company to come in and clean things up. That would cost me over $2,500. 

Don and his brother will pay me a fee I set which should pay for my next winter's LP for heat [unless of course the war -- not war leaves our country without heating fuel].

I like the "I know a guy" network. It surely is better than going on FB marketplace and getting all sorts of crazy yahoos coming to our remote farm. 

Word of mouth is still valuable even in this age of the internet. 

I love the

Good ol' Boy Network

Porch Puppies

Another doggone post.

Picture below: we were working on recall and Hannah comes to me when I bend down and whistle or clap my hands.

She knows that 2 out of 3 times there is a kibble in my hand for her when she gets to me. She has to sit for it [I don't do that on command, we start with positioning the kibble above her nose. She sits and she gets it. I am starting to add the vocal 'sit' but she won't get it for a while yet.]

 

Recall is one of the most important things to teach a dog. It literally saved the life of Missy who was a Lab X Samoyed dog I had when my kids were very young. We'd just moved to a farm with a busy highway. Missy saw kids in the yard across the highway and went to greet them just as a Kemps Semi was barreling down the road.

I called out her name and yelled the only thing that came to mind. "Down!" Missy dropped to her chest mid stride and lay in the ditch as the semi blew its horn as it passed.

"Free!" and "Come" were my next commands and she ran as hard as she could to me and sat on my left side. 

She was an incredible dog. I had taken a 10 week course in Obedience with her in the 1980's. Training methods were much different then.

When I got my first Terrier [Fiest], I had no clue as to how to train something that was only 10 inches tall and full of crazy and attitude.

Xena had her own mind and was aggressive and nuts. She hunted on her own once in a while and would return to our place when she felt like it. She was beautiful and loyal to me. She definitely had a mind of her own though.

She was the longest lived of her litter mates who were all extremely aggressive. Her temperament with me was fine. She didn't tolerate other humans even though I tried socializing her. 

She lived until she was 4. We surmise that she got into a barn and ate rats that had been poisoned.

Xena, the warrior princess. 

Morris was the next Terrier I got in 2005. Crazy us, we decided to try again....

He came from very quiet and well behaved Jack Russell parents. 

He was so easy to be with, it was insane.

He went to work with me often and was the official patient greeter.

He literally would do anything for anyone. His biggest love was riding with Badger and I on adventures.

He followed the grandkids around like a little protector. We were so lucky to have him for nearly 15 years.

When he died, I couldn't bare to try another Jack Russell. I came home with Charlie [Daschsund X Pekinese]. He is totally different in temperament and demeanor. He is reserved, stoic, gentle, and is a Velcro dog. 

He's never met a person he didn't love through and through.

So .. I strayed quite a bit. Hannah Belle. 

So far she is a quick study. She is afraid of noises, a me too dog, and energetic.

I hope I can maintain her recall and continue to work on her manners along with all the other things she needs to learn. 

Yesterday, she and Charlie were porch puppies. She was content to be tied up to stay on the porch while I cleaned mule tails and groomed them.

When I put her up on the bench with Charlie later on, this happened:

Being a 3 month old [on the 24th] is hard work. So much to learn and absorb!

I went back to a Terrier mix [Terror Mix] because they are so high energy. Now the challenge is to see if I can work with her and we can become a dynamic trio.

So far. So good.

Gone to the dawgs....

We had some digging out to get done. Thankfully Frank did show up late in the afternoon to clear the driveway so I didn't have to go through 8 inches of snow. I let Hannah help me clean the back step. I figured she would have wanted to go in with Charlie but she wanted to follow me around.


She stepped off the back step and went plop face first off the step and into a snow pile. It didn't seem to faze her one bit. She kept attacking the snow I tossed with the shovel. It was a great game for her.

 

After warming back up, we decided to go for a walk to the creek. I needed to tire Hannah out, she was getting rambunctious after being cooped up during the storm.

Hannah followed Charlie who bounded ahead like a snow plow. I thought they would be smart and follow my tracks since the snow was at least 6 inches or more in places.

When we turned back to go back up the hill Hannah raced up along the broken trail. Charlie was more than content not to have her following him so close.

The look I get once in a while from Hannah. I really wonder what she thinks about all of this. Probably not much since dogs live for the moment.

The intended result was what I wanted. Sleepy puppy and sleepy Charlie.

Well 'the kids' were resting up from their afternoon adventure, I thought I'd take a few more shots of the flowers from the old bouquet I still have that is hanging on.

I leave you all with this. Something that should make us chuckle in these strange times.

Snow-bliz-magedon?

These photos were from yesterday. It is snowing and blowing right now and I've been out to check my animals and they are all doing fine. I still have electricity so I think we are good!

 

This is where you can hear the sleet pounding our house while the windblown snow obliterates the view of the shed. I live in a hollow, so imagine what it was like on the ridge in the open!

Sunday was wild. I woke up when I heard thunder, saw lightening, and heard what sounded like glass hitting the house.

It wasn't glass. It was sleet. I've heard of Thundersnow so I posted that we had Thundersleet on the NOAA local site and a lot of folks replied they had the same...at 4:30am.

Here the mule gals choose to rest while eating with their butts to the wind. By afternoon they'd taken snow baths and rolled off the snow blankets they had. Yes, they were warm and dry under that snow. I know because I go out and put my hands on them.

I am pleased to say that Hannah had no qualms about going out with Charlie yesterday to do dog stuff. Eventually the sleet turned to snow, then to rain, then to snow, and then we had a lull in the weather.

During the lull I took the two 'kids' out for a walk. They actually did great in the crystalized snow/sleet that covered everything. 

They ran, they chased and they played. 

They wore themselves out. We headed back home for supper and some quiet time.

With the dogs asleep, I was able to take out stuff from my 'creative' boxes and do some toy photography indoors. 

I was in the mood for dinosaurs. I did use a spray bottle to imitate rain but it just made the T Rex angry, so I used an overlay of rain to keep things from getting out of hand.

Maybe that's how I felt about the weather and why I chose and angry looking T Rex.

😂

This morning our gravel road is impassable even after the town grader came through. The drifts on the roads and around buildings are at least 3 feet or so.

I wonder what the day will bring.

Pups! by Charlie

Charlieeeee, when do I get my own personal chair? Huh Huh Huh???

Charlie: Never. Never, ever.

But, but, but. Pleeease?

Nope. Speaking of butts, why do you poke your nose in mine?

Um. Because now.

Because what?

Because now. I don't know, I'm just making sure you are you. 

You offend my dignity, little girl.

Oh. What's a diggn it tee. 

[Huge sigh and a roll of eyes]

I don't want you putting your face in my personal parts. Especially when I pee. Mom got mad at me for peeing on your head.

Oh. That. It was yucky.

Let's talk couch manners.

What's manners?

Oh you. I forget, you are just a pup.

Yup. Pup Pup Pup. I am Hannah a pup. But mom taught me a trick, is that manners?

Sit is manners not a trick.

How come you don't sit when she says so.

Simple, my little pup friend. I am man of the house now.

Okay. Whatever that means. Will you be my brother too?

Hannah. Go take a nap in your crate.

Okay.

So...

Mother Nature is really having a hissy fit.

Thursday, the pups and I risked using some precious gasoline to go on an adventure to Goose Island in Lacrosse County. The weather was supposed to turn very ugly Thursday night with a major whup-a$$ storm coming in on Saturday through Monday.

We took this lollipop loop that goes around what seems to be backwater ponds of the Mississippi River and other spots where we could stand on the banks of the river and gaze across the wide expanse of water.

Hannah got her first lesson in 'leash walking'. She sure didn't like it at first. However, by the time we got back to the car, she was mostly walking alongside Charlie.

With both hands occupied, I had a hard time taking any shots at all.

I did tie Hannah up to a sapling to I could try a couple of photos and only really got one with my regular camera. Moments later, she lunged forward and her cat breakaway collar came off.

Well, we both learned from that! 

After chores and more outside play time, the two of them called a truce and fell asleep on the couch. In the old days pets were never allowed on the furniture. Hannah can't get there on her own, but she does ask to get up there and she does settle down quickly.

She was looking at me with her tongue sticking out! Charlie was guarding the squeaky ball and all was calm.

Around midnight, as predicted, the winds arrived. And they howled and howled. I live in a hollow of sorts and it sounded as if a C-130 was revving its engines above the house. I woke up around 2AM because of noises I heard. It literally sounded as if the large metal shed had been hit by a tree. 

I looked out into the living room and noticed that the heater light was off. I knew I wasn't getting back to bed so I put long johns on under my sweats and added an extra warm layer over my t-shirt. Of course Hannah woke up while I was hunting up my electric candle lights and headlamp.

We went outside in the dark [with my headlamp to light the way]. The dogs did their thing and we bundled up on the couch while I sat down with them to worry. Seriously, what else was there to do? The two little dogs snuggled in close and we kept each other warm.

The temps dropped to 48 degrees in the house by 7:30 when the power came back on. I'd done chores and checked our buildings. Everything was still standing. The mules were out of the winds and standing quietly. The fences were still up and despite the roar above, things were rather peaceful.

We survived! No damage. I was relieved.

At 9:30 my 'date' arrived. Not really a date, but a young man who is the son of one of my good friends. I've know Briar since he was born.

Briar was off school and had asked if he could come over to learn about photography.

He is a Lego Fan and so I told him that we would work on some Toy Photography and some Macro photography. He wanted to learn more about digital cameras. I showed him how to use his cell phone to to practice with. He doesn't have a digital camera. His older sister has a Nikon that I gave to the family a few years ago.

We set up a scene together and talked about composing photos to tell a story. The time flew by and we had a blast. He enjoyed composing scenes with some of my pieces of cardboard and 'junk'.

It was quite fun imagining a scene together and hunting around for parts to build it and analyzing it from different angles. The first scene was one he totally built. The rose shot was a quick lesson in how 'easy' it is to set up a macro shot even with a dried up old flower.

We had fun with the storm troopers and worked on the set up for that together. Briar learned some very basic lessons about depth of field and operation of my digital camera.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to stock up on water and get some food that I don't have to cook to make a meals if the power goes out again.

We may or may not be in for a doozy starting Saturday evening.

 

Takin' Care of Business....

To say that I have been engaged and busy is kind of an understatement. Though, it mostly has been positive.

We had two nice warm and sunny days before the weather changed. I caught this under our Hickory tree when I sat in the grass with my canine pals.

I finally got in for my annual 'Medicare' checkup. It has been a year and a half since I've been to one.

I walked into the clinic and ran into a lady pushing a cart of treats and coffee for a meeting downstairs. I held the elevator door for her and  gasped at the treats she had.  I told her that I'd steal her tray and take it with me upstairs to munch on after my fasting lab. She laughed and offered me a cookie.

The lab gal and I go wayyyy back to when I did an internship at the clinic. We saw each other at 7:30am and had time to catch up. We agreed, getting a cookie was awesome for after the blood letting.

I know there are a lot of complaints about Medical care all over the place at this time. But I have to say kudos to the PA I've seen for 30 years. I got her as my doc when I moved to the area and she was fresh out of school. 

The nurse I saw first took her time in doing her part of the assessment. She was attentive, empathetic, and put me at ease. I took their survey and explained my 'stress related' answers. The Medicare questionnaire asks how often a person is stressed. 

Mine were related to the loss of Rich and of course the events that follow a spousal death.  Paige, was kind and not condescending. We went through my med list. She sat back and stared at me. 

"Tylenol as needed? That's is IT?"

Then she looked at my age and repeated her question. I said I took a multivitamin and that was it.

Anne was pleased to see me. She hadn't known about Rich, but it wasn't in my file either. She did comment that my *numbers* were good. In fact, my numbers were better than the past two years.

Anne must have notes in her file to remember to ask about photography, hiking, and my critters. Either that, or she knows me as the crazy lady.

The physical exam was fine and I had no issues other than 'grief insomnia'. Basically, it means I have trouble getting to sleep many nights because my brain is working on the next thing I need to get taken care of at our farm and of course missing my pal. Today marks 6 months.

When I got home I met up with Pat, an electrician who had done jobs here for us before. He has expanded to Excavating, pasture mowing, forest mulching, and other work. We walked around in the snowfall and I pointed out things I had hoped to accomplish. He made suggestions and he said he'd get his estimate worked up and emailed to me.

He stopped when we got by one of Rich's scrap piles. "I know a guy," he said. "A lot of what you have right now is pretty sought after with the war. I am pretty sure that my friend would be interested in dealing with you. You could make some money."

I had to chuckle out loud. I replied, "You know, I was always peeved when Rich brought home junk and piles of stuff. But he always said that when he died, I'd make money of from his junk piles." 

Pat laughed. "He wasn't far off. This stuff is worth money."

Funny, Rich's method of saving for the future with scrap and junk might have been crazy, but also might work for paying for all the work I have planned for our place.

Pat and I chatted in the falling snow and shook hands. I've always liked that about him. He doesn't talk down to me. Respectful. Plus he knows I'll pass out his cards and refer him to others.

I'll mark my calendar as a really good day.

And if you need a dose of cuteness, here you go.