Category Archives: Daily life

February 8, 2013 · 1:21 pm

Winter Days

As winter plods along, I find myself gazing out at our screen porch often. It is such a lovely space to enjoy the outdoors in the spring, summer and fall. We frequently eat meals out here, enjoy our morning coffee, and curl up on the couch after dark to listen to the crazy sounds of the wildlife along the river.

Even in the doldrums of winter, this space is inviting when the sun is shining.

As a good Minnesotan, I can’t resist commenting on our weather…that is just what we do. While the east coast is expecting a “historic” storm and the national media is all abuzz, we are expecting anywhere from 9-15 inches of snow here on Sunday…just another wintery Minnesota day.

For now, I will have to be content with admiring our screen porch from indoors.

–Lynell

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Tagged as chandelier, Minnesota winter, screen porch, snow storms, winter

January 31, 2013 · 9:47 am

Stay Warm!

It was -4F outside this morning, with wind chills around -25F. Even colder temperatures are forecasted for this evening and into tomorrow morning. Brrrrrrr!!!!

Our robin continues to visit the crabapple tree every day for a snack and to just hang out. Poor fellow must be cold, don’t you think?

Wherever you are today, I hope you can stay warm!

–Lynell

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Tagged as Photography, robin, robins wintering in minnesota, snow bird

January 25, 2013 · 2:10 pm

Back to Blogging?

Here I am again, with six months passing and no posts. Time goes by so fast and life just seems to get in the way of sitting down at the computer to keep our blog updated. It isn’t because nothing has gone on around here…our summer was just as busy as past ones. So, since the holiday chaos has passed and the cold temperatures have me trapped indoors, I am feeling inspired to finish some posts about some of our projects around the farm last summer.

The funny thing about blogging is that it is easy to get hung up on putting together the perfect post with great pictures and clever writing. I have to remind myself that the reason I started this blog was simply to share our experiences and to connect with others who have similar interests, and to create a history of our projects and improvements. Keeping that in mind, I will just plow forward and try not to worry too much about the details, so bear with me. 🙂

We are well into winter here in Minnesota. We have had several subzero days in the last week. Even with the cold temperature and snow on the ground, there are some pretty sights to behold on the farm.

Have I mentioned how much I love our barn??? No matter the time of year, it is one of the most charming parts of our landscape.

But anyhow…back to last summer. We enjoyed three separate home visits by our oldest, the West Point cadet. He came home during his breaks from his summer military training and it was such a treat to have him around. As you will see in upcoming posts, we put him to work and he helped us complete some fun projects.

We also had a roller-coaster of a summer with our bees. After being so thrilled that we had successfully wintered our bees for the first time since starting beekeeping, we were devastated to discover that they had swarmed in May because we waited too long to divide the hives and they became too crowded. The early spring and warm temperatures moved everything ahead and in our inexperience, we missed the signs that they were preparing to swarm.

All was not lost however, because when bees swarm they leave behind a portion of the worker bees along with new queen cells, one of which eventually becomes the new queen. We observed the hives over the next few months and it appeared that things were back on track, they had a new queen, and were rebuilding their population. Of course, the hives were not nearly as strong as they would have been had they not swarmed, but we knew we would still get a honey harvest.

The honey started flowing and the bees had built up a good amount of supers of honey. Once again, our optimism for our honey harvest was shattered in October when Jesse went out to the hives to check on them and discovered they had been robbed! Yes, hives can be robbed by feral bees. All the frames that the bees had worked so hard to fill all summer long were stripped completely clean, as if they had never had a bit of honey in them. The other unfortunate effect from robbing, is that the honeybees usually die in the process of defending their hive against the invaders.

Needless to say, we lost both hives of bees and only ended up with a very small amount of honey to harvest…another year of learning about all the things that can go wrong beekeeping. We have just put in our order for two nucs of bees this spring. We are not giving up; we’re just starting over again.

In the garden, we added two raised beds with blueberry plants, something we have wanted to do for some time. More on that later…

My perennial garden, particularly my Echinacea (coneflower) plants were hit with yellow asters and I decided to pull every one of them out in trying to rid my garden of the disease. I was a very sad gardener.

Our vegetable garden was very productive and we enjoyed fresh veggies for months on end. We decided to forego any preserving this year and to just enjoy the bounty as it ripened. Now that we are in the depths of winter, I am questioning that decision. I think we will take the time to do at least a minimal amount this coming season.

Around the first of the year, the seed catalogs started arriving. I have started pouring over them, marking pages, and making my wish list. I plan to expand my winter sowing into some annuals and vegetables this spring and am anxious to get started.

Like every other gardening nut out there, I cannot wait to get back out into the gardens and start digging in the dirt. In the meantime, I will share some of the projects we accomplished last summer. To be continued…

–Lynell

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Tagged as Bees, blogging, gardening

June 12, 2012 · 11:12 am

Outdoor Living: Our Patio and Fire-pit Project

We are constantly fixing, changing, and adding things here around the farm. The big project that we wanted to tackle this spring was the addition of a free-standing patio and fire-pit area. After a little brainstorming with my uncle over a design, we decided to get started.

We staked out the area and I started by peeling the sod off and getting the space to the proper grade. Of course, any excuse to use power equipment always makes the job more fun.

A layer of gravel gives a good base for leveling and packing to just the right depth. Together with my uncle, we framed up the patio area and prepared it by laying out the re-bar, which helps to strengthen the concrete. We also dug in a drain tile to provide drainage for the fire-pit.

There have been so many advances made in the world of concrete. No longer are you limited to just the standard gray color of concrete. After perusing the available color palate, we decided on a clay color.

Once the concrete arrives, the hard work really begins. I left that part to the professionals, but I did try to look busy the whole time. The concrete was poured and leveled.

After the concrete is all in place, the bull float is used to create a better finish and fill the smaller voids.

The edger is used to separate the framing from the slab and to give a nice rounded corner.

An additional wet cut is made to create a border pattern around the entire slab.

The concrete is now cured far enough to do the finish float work, which takes some real expertise to create a nice even finish.

Not finished yet! Now begins the stamping part of the process to create an amazing natural slate appearance.

It’s a bit like a jig-saw puzzle, working back and forth across the slab, racing against the fast curing concrete.

Additional random cuts along the border give a real hand-built artisan look that only a true master can achieve.

Color was added to the border for an additional accent, and somehow the fire-pit magically appears (after another few days of expert work by my uncle)!

Look at that nice view towards to river and the mosquito breeding grounds.

Absolutely an amazing transformation, but looks a little barren.

Boulders are on order and will be placed with the help of a little extra muscle. Notice that from beginning to end the trees have somehow managed to fully leaf out.

Time to start a fire and roast some marshmallows!

–Jesse

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Tagged as concrete stamping, fire-pit, outdoor living, outdoor spaces, patio

January 16, 2012 · 4:20 pm

A Winter Walk

Over winter break, I took my camera along on a walk we took down behind our house. We own some acreage down in the river bottom that we rarely have the opportunity to explore. In the spring, the river is usually flooded for several weeks, or even months, and the land is inaccessible. Once the temperatures warm up, the mosquitoes hatch and it becomes unbearable to venture down there. If we have a dry fall, we usually enjoy some walks before hunting season begins. Once the snow falls – at least during a normal winter – it once again becomes difficult to enjoy a walk because of the deep snow.

We are not having a “normal” winter though, so the land is still accessible and we are trying to take advantage of it.

Despite the flood waters that come every spring, we have some enormous old trees among all the smaller saplings and brush. This one looks like it may not be standing too much longer.

We came across the monster tree below, as well. I cannot imagine how many years it has stood there, and all the spring floods it has seen come and go.

Taking a closer look, you can see a small area of daylight through the trunk of this tree. I wonder how long it will take for the critters and the weather to chisel away at the heart of the tree until it finally succumbs to gravity.

Sofie, our Golden Retriever, is always beyond excited when we head towards the river bottom. There are so many things to explore. She was particularly excited about this hollowed out log. Fearful of the possibility that a skunk could be residing within, we quickly encouraged her to move along.

Our goofy cat, Nina, also followed us on our walk. She seemed annoyed the entire time and was meowing loudly as she trotted behind us. She eventually gave up on us and turned around. We met up with her again when we reached the house porch.

The warm temperatures of December have left the river open in most areas. The open water certainly must make life easier for the wildlife that roams the river bottom.

Since we took this walk a few weeks ago, all the snow has melted. We need to get back down there soon to enjoy the peace and tranquility while we can.

–Lynell

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Tagged as river, walk in the woods, winter

January 1, 2012 · 5:27 pm

Blown Away by 2012

Winter finally arrived here in Minnesota last night. It snowed a few inches before midnight and the wind continued to intensify all evening. Throughout the night, the wind howled and sometimes rattled our bedroom windows.

We woke up this morning to a very windy and gusty 2012.

With sustained winds of over 30 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph, we are under a wind advisory.

The high winds are not unique to Minnesota, as much of the Midwest is experiencing the whipping wind. It is forecasted to continue through Monday for much of the country.

Thankfully, the temperatures are not our typical January frigid ones. Although I usually complain a lot about Minnesota winters, I actually don’t mind finally having some snow on the ground. I will be just fine however, if our usual cold temperatures never show up.

The good news is that it is already January 1st, and no matter what happens, winter here in Minnesota is going to seem shorter than usual because of the mild fall we have enjoyed. And because of that, 2012 is already looking good to me!

Happy New Year!

–Lynell

Waiting for Winter

The weather has treated us pretty well here in Minnesota during the month of November and into early December. No significant snow has fallen in our neck of the woods and while the temperatures have been cold at times, they have been tolerable by Minnesota standards. With Christmas only a few weeks away, we are now anxiously waiting for winter to arrive.

In preparation for winter, we have the farm all buttoned up and ready for the snow.

The vegetable garden is tilled and ready for spring planting.

We are going to attempt to winter our bees again this year. The hives have their black cardboard covers on to help absorb some of those rays from the sun. We have failed the last two years and have hopefully learned a few things along the way. We are hoping they make it to spring!

Each fall we put white plastic protectors on the young trees that line our driveway. Our main reason for doing so is to protect the tender bark from the deer that like to rub their antlers on them in the fall.

Although we have managed to deter the deer from our trees, this year they targeted my little lilac bushes that I planted two years ago.

The deer systematically went down the row and stripped the bark and in many cases, broke off the lilac. They spared a few of the plants, but most will need replacing in the spring.

We have talked about putting up a flag pole for several years, but just never get around to doing it. With our oldest leaving for West Point at the end of June, we decided to finally tackle this project before the ground froze. Knowing that we would be putting up a flag pole, we picked up a West Point flag on our trip out to visit in August. We realize that we are not entirely following proper flag etiquette by not having the U.S. flag larger, but we do it anyhow, justifying it to ourselves because our intentions are good.

We located the flag pole so that we can easily look out the kitchen window and see the flags flapping in the wind.

My perennial gardens have also been trimmed up and put to sleep for winter.

The wood pile behind the house has been replenished and is ready to supply our fireplace all winter long. There is nothing quite like a roaring wood fire on a subzero day in Minnesota to warm your home and heart.

And with everything ready for winter around here, now all we can do is just wait. For those of you who need to prepare for winter in your part of the country, I wish you good luck!

–Lynell

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August 30, 2011 · 9:58 pm

Summer Days

The days of summer are quickly coming to an end. I don’t feel like I’ve had much of a summer this year with all the craziness, but we have nonetheless managed to enjoy some fresh produce from the garden along the way. Our usual efforts at preserving some of our summer bounty to enjoy during the winter have however, been seriously lacking this year. In total, we have managed to preserve about 10 half pints of raspberry jam and a few bags of frozen raspberries.

It is not too late though! We do have big plans to actually can some salsa and make some applesauce in the next few days. We’ll see how that goes for us. 🙂

In the meantime, here is a photo I took as I was wandering around my garden one morning in late June.

Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5 – 5.6
Focal Length: 240 mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500

I hope everyone is having a productive summer in the gardens!

-Lynell

A Field of Ice

We were enjoying warmer spring-like temperatures a week ago here in Minnesota and our ridiculously large piles of snow finally started melting. All that melting snow meant that a LOT of water was trying to make its way from our hay-field down towards the river.

The water was still backed up in the field when the temperatures plunged to below freezing once again over this past week. As a result, our hay-field turned into a giant ice rink. With a free day on the calendar yesterday, the kids decided to take advantage of the ice.

They grabbed their ice skates, some hockey sticks and a tennis ball and headed out to the hay-field.

With their boots in place to mark the goal area, it wasn’t long before they had a lively game of hockey going on.

None of my kids are hockey players, but I think they do pretty well on the ice for only getting their skates on a couple of times a year.

I thought they were a little crazy at first when they decided to head out to play on the ice. The latest winter storm was rolling in and the wind was really whipping out of the east.

I was freezing when I went out to take pictures of them. As I glanced out the window later, I noticed they had taken their jackets off and were skating around in sweatshirts! These kids are hardy Minnesotans!

Sofie was trying to figure out what we were all doing out in the hay-field. She went out to watch the kids play and when I showed up to take pictures she looked over at me inquisitively.

Everyone eventually came inside to warm up and enjoy our Sunday brunch.

The predicted snow finally started to arrive in the afternoon and the kids talked their dad into going out on the ice before the snow covered it up.

I went out to take pictures again. I didn’t last long. I’m a Minnesota girl, but am definitely not as hardy as my husband and kids.

Each year around this time, I tell myself that I am better suited to live where it is always warm and they have palm trees and sandy beaches. I always get over it…you have to when you live here.

It snowed the rest of the day and through most of today. We now have about a foot of fresh snow! The recent teasing of a spring thaw is just a distant memory, as we are now buried in snow once again. And so is the ice rink in the hay-field.

Hockey in the hay-field. I never would have imagined…

–Lynell

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Tagged as Daily life, Kids, skating

January 23, 2011 · 8:25 pm

Out the Kitchen Window

It’s that time of year where the temperatures have plunged to the sub-zero range and taken us hostage indoors. There is not a lot going on around the farm and not a lot to write about either. I have wandered outside a few times with my camera looking for something interesting to take photos of, only to feel disappointed by the drab colors and lack of life everywhere I look. It exists in such contrast to spring and summer when this place is bursting with life and the possibilities seem endless.

Yesterday, I was standing at the kitchen sink after arriving home from driving my daughter to orchestra when I glanced up and noticed this pileated woodpecker out in the crabapple tree.

Ah! A sign of life!

I fumbled through my camera bag to get my new telephoto lens to snap some close-up pictures.

By the time I got the telephoto lens on the camera, I only had time for a few shots before he flew away back into the woods. I am disappointed that the pictures did not turn out very sharp. It was a good reminder to slow down, get the settings and focus right, and not rushing just to snap a picture.

Even though the pictures did not turn out that great, I was nonetheless thrilled to see this unique bird up close. They really are large birds, about the same size as a crow. I think they have a prehistoric look to them, maybe a bit like a pterodactyl.

And while I have trudged around outdoors recently in search of something interesting to photograph, it turns out that the remaining fruit on the crabapple tree right outside my kitchen window is providing some of the best winter subjects. Even better is that in the dead of winter, there are signs of life around here. You just have to be paying attention.