Hopefully by Monday it will be dry enough for my dirt to be delivered for the raised beds.  I still need to finish bed #2 and then place and assemble beds #3 & #4; maybe tomorrow that can be done.

First we spread our manure all around the 30 acres. In a single layer it dries quickly and doesn’t provide those nasty flies with mini-manure honeymoon suites. How do we do this? Easy. As we pick the manure out of the stalls we put it in a Newer Spreader. Newer Spreaders are the best thing since sliced bread when you have a lot of horse dooky to deal with.

The next level of attack against the evil flies are fly predators, a completely natural, chemical free solution; I get mine from Spalding Labs in monthly shipments (March – October) of 20,000 predators per shipment (two or three shipments are doubled for a total of 40,000 predators.. these double shipments are for starting off and for July, the height of fly season).

Since the predators’ eggs (the eggs are what are shipped to me) are like cavier to ants I can’t just set them on the ground or sprinkle them around in the stalls or around the barns. Not that there are ants IN my barn, but they would think they were invited to a Rave and take the place over if I didn’t *hang* my predators up. Since I just received my first shipment of the year the other day I had the sealed container in the house until I started seeing the little buggers hatch out and crawling around; which happened this morning. So, I took them out to the barn to release them.

First I found 3 empty plastic tub containers (in this case Electrodex, electrolyte additive we put in the horses feed) and using my handy dandy knife with the box cutter blade

My Handy Dandy Knife

I cut a window on two sides of the tub. Then poked holes on the sides (near the top) between the two windows.

Tub with 'windows' cut

Next I stole… errr borrowed …… some of my husbands bright colored string we use for setting our fence rows or when we need to set out an area for a new out-building, and ran it through the two holes and tied it back to the main line above the plastic tub. And put about one-third of the predator packet into the tub.

Predator Eggs in Tub

Tub with String (look at all those predators that hatched!)

Next, I tossed the spool of string up over one of the cross beams

String over beam

and then tied it off to one of the stall front panels

My fancy tie job

I hung three up sort of evenly spaced down the center of the barn.

Three Tubs Hanging

The predators ‘spread’ by themselves to do what they do…. eat nasty fly larvae.

And now I have my next project to finish which I’ll cover in another posting!

Posted in Horses Tagged: Fly Control, Fly Predators, Horses, Manure, Newer Spreader, Spalding Labs ]]> http://eq4bits.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/that-time-of-year-fly-season/feed/ 0 eq4bits dooky1 knife windows in tub tieback beam tieoff fini http://eq4bits.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/for-a-good-time/ http://eq4bits.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/for-a-good-time/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:34:25 +0000 eq4bits http://eq4bits.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/for-a-good-time/ ]]>

Clay was an enjoyable medium, nice and squishy, but, again none of the ashtrays, little bowls or figurines (that all seem to look like blobby things more fitting for examples in the evolutionary chain) will ever be on display anywhere; and I definitely never had any experiences at the potters wheel a la the movie Ghost. In fact, I never had Unchained Melody playing in the background when I worked. Maybe that’s why. Well, discounting the fact I’m *not* Demi Moore…

I’ve designed and made the outfits my daughters wore when they competed at horse shows; took up basket weaving for a while, but, one can only have so many baskets sitting around; counted cross-stitch pieces are framed and hanging about the house, but, when I started having to wear glasses/contacts the cross-stitching fell by the wayside. Cooking is a bit creative, I suppose, but the end results don’t stay around long…. if I’m lucky. These days about the only thing I ‘make’ are web pages and php/sql driven forums.

Quite honestly, I don’t really have a ‘creative’ bone in my body. But recently, after reconnecting with old friends on Facebook and reminiscing about the past, I realised I did have something I had created that I’m quite proud of; the wood bowl I made in shop class in high school.

When faced with the prospect of early graduation, that meaning I wouldn’t be able to compete in Gymnastics, which wasn’t until the Spring Quarter, I proceeded to fill my schedule for Winter & Spring with every elective the school offered. Drafting, Co-ed PE, Drama, Home Economics, and Wood Shop. Yes, Wood Shop. I guess I was lucky not to have been born five years earlier, because before my sophmore year girls weren’t ‘allowed’ to take courses in ‘the manly arts’. Of course with Title IX and the Women’s Rights Movement many avenues opened for females, well males too because before then they weren’t allowed to take Home Ec. Fair’s fair, turn about, and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Despite the new opportunities female participation in the Wood Shop classes was low enough that there would only be two or three at most in the classes each Quarter.

The curriculum included safety practices, instruction on what woods were best for different projects, as well as ‘horror’ stories of who cut off a finger the previous year, or that the former instructor had worn a tie to class and got it caught in the big planer and ended up planing himself into pieces. Scare tactics, maybe, but it did make one act a bit more responsibly and safely around the equipment, even teenagers. Well, for the *most* part…..

The required cutting board, candlestick/spindle and whale wall hanging completed; and having learned the basics of glueing, cutting and sanding, useing band, jig, and scroll saws, and the lathe, we moved on to the ‘final exam’ project. A bowl. This project entailed combing through the inventory of wood in the back of the shop; looking for not too big pieces of various woods. Once the pieces were collected the glueing together began. Several layers and widths later, one ended up with a big square block of glued together wood. Then it was on to the lathe. I won’t go into detail, but, you eventually ended up with a big *round* block of wood. Which you then proceeded to hollow out the middle of, again, using the lathe. Sanding, polishing and flocking the bottom of the bowl completed the project. And hopefully an ‘A’ received for the finished product.

My bowl has survived the last thirty-four years despite many moves, children and a husband that just doesn’t understand his wife’s pack-rat tendencies. During the holidays it’s used to hold walnuts, almonds, and other nuts for cracking, and has become a tradition of sorts. The rest of the year it’s where pens, pencils and spare change accumulate. The bottom needs re-flocking and I’ll get around to it eventually… but, there’s this recipe I want to try….

Stephanie replied ‘Dude! Rightious Idea! I want to go too!’

Lindsay: ‘Dude! Let’s go together! We could meet at the Rapid City Airport!”

Stephanie: “No Dude, You fly to Sioux Falls and I’ll pick you up and we’ll DRIVE to Deadwood!”

Lindsay: “That’s brilliant, rightious and awesome!”

What followed was each of us getting our ducks in a row; Lindsay getting plane ticket, Stephanie making sure her hubby was going to be in town; etc. Both of them emailing Dustin The Wind (Laura’s hubby) for hotel ideas, arranging for him to take her to lunch that Friday at Diamond Lil’s to find a table all ready occupied with 2 of her fellow DSW nerds. :p

For a month they each squirmed in eager anticipation of their brilliantly rightous surprise plan and finally the week arrived!

And guess what? Mother Nature decided to make it more interesting…..

Phone conversation:

Lindsay: “Dude! It’s supposed to start snowing up there Thursday night!”

Stephanie: “No probl-em-o! My car is all wheel drive and I’ll put the ‘snow box’ in the back! And we can check with Dustin from the Corn Palace and elsewhere along the way to see how bad it is there. If we get as far as Wall Drug that’s over half-way so if it’s okay that far we should be able to make it the rest of the way, if not, we can always get a hotel room and get up early the next morning for the last part of the drive and still make it in time for lunch!”

Lindsay: “Sounds Awesome! Then let’s play it by ear. Worse comes to worse we have to turn around and go to your house and we’ll just have a good visit and do some fun stuff there.”

Stephanie: “Yeah, or one night in a hotel on the road and then on to Deadwood!”

Mother Nature wasn’t the only adverse condition the two adventurer’s would face. Mechanical problems next ensued.

Phone Conversation Wednesday afternoon (4/30)

Stephanie: Hi, It’s me. I’m in a rental. I took my car in to be checked and the brakes, calipers and pads have to be replaced and it won’t be ready for a couple of days! Good news is I have the rental which I’ll leave with Marc and we can take his SUV, but it’s front wheel drive, but we should be okay.

Lindsay: Alrighty then! See you tomorrow afternoon!

And so the adventure began…………

Stephanie picked Lindsay up at the Sioux Falls Airport Thursday (5/1) and the two were quickly on their way westward on I-90.

Seventy-Two miles later they stopped at the Corn Palace to let Zoom II have some fun, take some pics, stretch their own legs and grab a Subway sandwich/wrap. Zoom tried to eat some of the corn off the palace but Stephanie prudently restrained him.

Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

Corn Palace, Mitchel,l SD

Corn Palace Mural, Mitchell, SD

Stephanie & Zoom, Mitchell, SD

Phone Conversation:

Lindsay: Dustin? Lindsay. We’ just left the Corn Palace….How’s the weather there?

Dustin: It’s bad, but not stopping anyone. You should be fine.

Lindsay: Awesome! We’ll check back when we get near Wall, SD.

about a hundred miles later…….

Lindsay: You want me to drive? I don’t mind the rain….

Stephanie: That’s snow too.

Lindsay: No way!

Stephanie: Yes way. See? It’s just melting right before it hits the windshield. See how it’s different?

Lindsay: Should we turn around and go to Jasper?

Stephanie: I think we’ll be okay, but I better drive since it’s getting on the roads and you aren’t used to driving in snow/ice.

….. about 80 miles later our two adventurers arrive at Wall Drug, famous for it’s free Ice Water (not to mention it’s world-wide weird signs…..)

Wall Drug, Wall, SD

(this pic taken saturday may 3 on return trip cuz it was snowing so bad on thursday that zoom wouldn’t get out of the car to pose)

While inside the store picking up a couple of souvenirs Stephanie calls Laura…

Stephanie: Hey Laura! You guys okay? I’ve been watching the weather channel and you’re getting snow! Are they still having the play?

Laura: As far as I know! We’ve got rehersal still tonight, so we’ll see what happens.

Stephanie: You still have power?

Laura: We didn’t this morning, but we do now. Thanks for checking on me!

Stephanie: No problem. We’re having tornado warnings here in Jasper!

(Stephanie, of course, already knows there was a loss of power. Dustin told her. She just wanted to know if it had come back on. And her hubby, Marc, had already told her about the tornado warnings at home so she was reasonably well0-informed about the weather where she was *supposed* to be)

and at the same time Lindsay calls Dustin for a weather update…….

Lindsay: Dustin? Lindsay…. it’s snowing pretty bad here, what’s it like there?

Dustin: It’s still bad, but you should be fine.

After filling up the SUV the two resume the rapidly deteriorating journey with one thought in mind: Getting to Deadwood!

Nearly 100 miles later they are making excellent time considering the snow and ice and sail through Rapid City and on to the exit for Deadwood. This is when it really becomes fun… it’s a two-lane highway and all up hill………….. and curvey…

The Last 10 miles (Deadwood, SD)1

Up The Mountain Still

Still Going Up The Mountain....

The View On the Passenger Side

this last 10 miles took nearly an hour, our valiant driver (Stephanie) battling the icy road and the continual precipitation………

Finally a successful arrival IN Deadwood, about 7:30pm mountain time, and check in at the hotel. Next bit of a pitfall is that the room is across the road from the main hotel and the parking lot is full. No problem, the guy at the front desk says to park behind the hotel (up a steep hill) next to the public library (the lot entry takes you back down an incline….), which Stephanie does. Then with the help of the front desk guy they move their stuff from the main lobby to their room across the street. An ‘okay’ room, nothing to write home about.

By this point and nearly faint with hunger (despite ‘puppy chow’ and beef jerky nibbled on in the car…) the two bundle up in coats and snow boots (which Stephanie brilliantly brought along) and make their way on foot the block or so to the Martini Bar and Restaurant above the No. 10 Saloon.

Stephanie: I’ll have the Dirty Bitch.

Lindsay: A Warm Apple Crisp for me!

The martoonies half gone and their Buffalo Burgers in front of them , they chow down. Next is the walk back, but wait! The martoonies have our adventurers feeling quite fine, so, they stop at the corner and make a cell call (they have forgotten they are in mountain time zone by this point… and even if they had remembered they wouldn’t have cared….)

Teri: Hellllo????

Lindsay: Teri! Hi! Google South Dakota Webcams *right now* and view the ‘Deadwood’ one! *wild giggling*

Teri: Ok

Lindsay: See us? We’re waving at you!

Teri: All I see is a car.

Lindsay: Go to the other Deadwood Cam! We’re waving!

Teri: I don’t see you!

Lindsay hands phone to Stephanie and takes off up the middle of Main Street in the swirling and building snow wildly waving her arms and doing a jig…

Lindsay: Can she see me now?????

Stephanie chats with Teri, disconnects the call, recaptures Lindsay to the sidewalk and they return to their room and beds.

About 5:30am local time Lindsay gets up to go to the bathroom and hears weird ‘beeping’. Silently and what she thought was with great stealth she parted the drapes to see……..

Lindsay: HOLY SHIT!

Stephanie: What time is it?! It’s so bright!

Lindsay: LOOK!

TO BE CONTINUED……………

First Sight....

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Is that... a TRUCK?!

One Friday last (2007) November I began my weekend western adventure. Unfortunately for a 6am flight the airport/airline ‘requires’ you to be at the airport two hours prior to flight time in order to ‘check’ your baggage you aren’t going to ‘carry-on’. While this is all well and good the least the airline could do is have employees there to actually check said baggage in.

Since it takes me approximately 1.5 hours to drive from my home to the New Orleans Airport this entailed a home departure of 2:30am for a 4am arrival; which thusly meant a 1:30am wake-up alarm. Ugh. Considering I didn’t actually crawl in bed until about 1am I didn’t get much snooze time before the bells started ringing.

Right on time, at *exactly* 4am I presented myself at the United Ticket counter with my bag I needed to ‘check’, my e-ticket in hand as well as boarding passes printed at home via ‘speedy online check-in’. But what is this? No friendly United Customer Service Agents are manning the counter. A few more passengers trickle in and join me in line. A passing TSA agent is flagged down by one passenger and asked if he knows why no one is attending to business. His reply is “Oh, they start about 4:30.” Ugh.

Promptly at 4:15am two nice looking ladies in United attire manuver their way around the ‘cow lanes’ (you know those roped ‘enter here’ lines), totally ignoring the now 30 or so passengers/customers, step over the baggage scale and behind the counter to disappear though a convenient doorway to ‘the back’. All of us standing in line breath a sigh of relief with the expectation of being attended to soon so that we may suffer the humiliation of barefeet and exposed buttcracks to get through the security checkpoint on time for the flight. These things *do* take a while when a couple of hundred people have to practically strip down to run everything through x-ray machines and step through metal detectors without setting them off.

But, woe. The Agents don’t reappear at 4:30. No. It doesn’t happen. Over the next 45 minutes the line behind me grows substantially, seems United has 3 or 4 flights of airbuses scheduled to depart at 6am, so now the line consists of approximately 300 passengers. At 5am the two ladies reappear from the back, smiling and laughing with their steaming cups of coffee in hand. (They are very lucky I didn’t try to steal it from them, but I was by now deep in the throes of a nicotine fit and unable to perform such a complicated feat). Slowly they begin, one is quite efficient dispatching the First Class passengers, about 6, quickly while the other plods along and hasn’t even begun processing us lowly Coach passengers (the other 284 people standing there, me included). First Class Mama stands there purposely ignoring the fact that she *could* assist the Coach Clown. Ugh.

Needless to say I eventually got my bag checked and headed off to the Security Entry (after having to carry my checked bag to the x-ray machine and dumping it for anyone and his brother to be able to go thru – not the wine! please not the wine! – since you aren’t ‘allowed’ to lock your bag just in case they see something on the x-ray they would like to liberate). Security was another adventure, remove the shoes … no problem, except for the fact that knowing my belt would have to be removed to get through the metal detector I hadn’t bothered to put it on and when i bent/squatted down to get my shoes to put in the tray my jeans nearly fell off – since I put them on (now 3 hours prior) they had stretched a bit – providing my fellow passengers with some entertainment.

All cell phones, laptop, shoes, coat (don’t you love traveling by air in the winter and lugging a coat you can’t fit in your luggage?) purse, laptop bag, and 1 quart ziplock with makeup, eyedrops and perfume in it, in the trays – 3 of them (!) – I proceed to the metal detector with my passport/id and boarding pass between my teeth and my hands clutching the waistband to my jeans to hold them up. New Orleans is seriously understaffed and only had one detector to walk though, but two lines for scanning personal items, and a family of about 8 jumps in front of me. Oh that’s okay go ahead. but…. they didn’t have their id’s and boarding passes… they put them through the scanning machines… oops but each of them then proceeded through the detector only to set it off because of cell phones they were carrying that they didn’t put through the scanner. Doh…..

I finally got through the thing and able to gather my things up and arrive at my gate after the plane had already started boarding. Knowing the aisle would be blocked and no sense in heading down the jetway yet I began re-organizing my bags and donning my belt. When I finally walked up to the agent to scan my boarding pass I was given a dirty look and a mumbled comment about how I should have been there earlier, that that’s why the 2 hour check in prior to flight is required.

Just goes to show you can’t win for losing. I won’t even go into the fact that you can’t have your tweezers in your carry-on but if you are served a meal during your flight that the airline provides you with a serated blade plastic knife…

The radio reports are true.

Seems there’s a Kangaroo hopping around just to the south of me… no one seems to know where this Kangaroo came from. There are no ‘exotic’ ranches or zoo’s down here, and a Kangaroo isn’t exactly your normal ‘missing pet’. There is speculation that Hurricaine Katrina blew the poor beast in and that it’s just now regaining it’s strength to find it’s way back home Down Under.

After pot bellied pigs, emus, buffalo and all sorts of other strange oddities showing up at my place here, I won’t be at all surprised if I happen to look out and see ‘Katrina-roo’ hopping around my pastures, terrorizing the horses.