One Day More...: August 2020

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Hot Dry Spell

It's been blistering hot here on the farm.

Even the nice neighbor farmer's cows are staying in the shade.

Since we've been on the farm we have planted over 100 trees. A few years back we planted a new species of tree called "Dakota Birch." It actually originated at the North Dakota State University in Fargo (incidentally where I grew up). They have done well, so we picked up three more last week.

Baby trees need daily watering, especially during this hot dry spell.

Another plant we have had success with is the Cheyenne Privet hedge.

It tolerates most conditions and makes for a nice hedge along the fence line. We added more a couple of years ago to run the entire fence line and even though they are heat tolerant, they do need help in these conditions. Adding a drip line will make sure they survive until this hot dry spell is over.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Save This Barn

Here on the farm we have a barn that is in fairly good shape.

Over the years it was used as a cattle and livestock building. It took a bit of work and we added overhead doors, as well as a cement floor to make it more functional.

Over time the corrugated tin is showing wear, especially the roof. When the barn was built they nailed the tin on and some sections are now coming loose. In order to replace the tin with new all the old tin has to be removed. Unfortunately when they nailed the tin on they bent over the nails on the inside. LOTS of nails. A couple of contractors have looked at it and given very high quotes because of the labor cost to bend all the nails in order to remove the tin (and no, it's not a job I can tackle for safety reasons).

The only alternative might be using sheet metal screws to secure the existing tin and then applying a roofing spray to fill the gaps. The next step is getting a cost estimate on that idea. Hopefully we can make the repairs necessary to save this barn.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Bay Area Fire

Our nephew is with the Riverside County Fire Department near Temecula, California.

He has been sent to the Bay Area fire near San Francisco.

He's a good kid and our thoughts are with him.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Look And Act Presidential

How to look and act presidential.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Devastation 75 Years Ago

On this date seventy-five years ago - August 6, 1945 - the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima

The bombing of Hiroshima was justified as a necessity of war and to force an end to the war. It wasn’t until a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later that the Japanese government surrendered.

Nagasaki

No one knows if the war would have languished on, but the devastation and shocking deaths showed the horror of atomic weapons.

The real mortality of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan will never be known. The destruction and overwhelming chaos made orderly counting impossible. It is not unlikely that the estimates of killed and wounded in Hiroshima (150,000) and Nagasaki (75,000) are over conservative. UCLA study

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a sorrowful part of world history.

The devastation and lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be forgotten.