Last weekend was my first experience on the seller’s end of a garage sale. I was pretty enthusiastic about having a garage sale. While I was pregnant, I swore I’d give myself a year to shrink back to my college-size body. Unfortunately, that deadline passed and I’m still a size over. Not to mention, some of the stuff was more of a “out with the girls” style than “chasing a one-year old” appropriate. A lot of clothes I pawned off on my sisters. Some they wear, but I have a suspicion most are clogging up their closets now. Oh well. Better theirs than mine.
When I did spring cleaning in March, I made three piles ( ala “Clean Sweep” on TLC). My “keep” pile contained the things I could still wear, things still useful or items of real sentimental value. A few old favorites, like a pair of jeans now too tight, made their way into the pile. I guess we all need goals.
Next, I picked out a big box left over from moving eight times and made it my “sell” pile. Most were items I thought were cool in college, gifts I didn’t need, stuff I bought and didn’t use, and other things that I just didn’t need anymore. I tried to pick items to sell that were still good enough that someone else might find them useful...for the right price. Lastly, I made a big “toss” pile: old boxes, college papers, brochures I’d collected on vacation and other miscellaneous junk. My plan was to roast marshmallows with it, but spring got away from me. Sadly, it still takes up one corner of my garage.
Originally, my mother-in-law, her sister and I had planned to have a garage sale in June. But summer sort of got away from us and then it was August. Last weekend was the last chance before school started again.So Thursday, I hauled my big garage sale box, along with several smaller boxes I collected, to my aunt-in-law’s garage.
Then it was time to price, something I was dreading. As much as I wanted some of it gone, I didn’t want to just give it away. I used a formula based on what I thought it was worth combined with how much I wanted to sell it. If I wasn’t 100 percent sure I wanted to send it to a new home, I priced it a little on the high side.
The first day of garage sale was while I was at work, so I was eager to check it out that afternoon to see the progress. Traffic was slow, and Saturday wasn’t much better. I guess people are just garage-saled out for the year. I met my goal of $20, but a set of dishes I really don’t want to bring home is still sitting out. We decided to try again this weekend and maybe catch some of the Labor Day crowd. We’ve still got nearly a whole garage full of random knick-knacks, but hopefully more will sell. If anyone needs to know where to get a Toronto Blue Jays stadium cup, I'll direct you my way.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Mud puddle monster
I can't get photos to upload here, so here's some links to my facebook site.
Mud puddle pictures:
http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016555&l=84c47&id=184904887
Wedding pictures are available here:
http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016289&l=5105e&id=18490488
Mud puddle pictures:
http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016555&l=84c47&id=184904887
Wedding pictures are available here:
http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016289&l=5105e&id=18490488
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Another wedding weekend
Due to a space and time crunch last week, I got the week off from writing a column. So far, the only one who missed it was my mother. Thanks Mom!
It was a busy week last week, but luckily I had a little time saved up from attending the community picnic the weekend before. That gave me a little free time to prepare for the weekend. Unfortunately, two big events fell on the same weekend: Athens Fair and my college sorority sister’s wedding.
I had a special interest in the wedding since Jacob was the ringbearer. Luckily, he started walking six weeks ago just in time to head down the aisle. Last week was full of last minute preparations for both. Luckily, there was no tux rental for Jacob. Instead, I had to get him black pants, shoes and socks. Luckily, the white shirt and tie were already in his closet from Easter.
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to find black pants in a size 18 months. All I could find was brown, navy or olive green. I bought navy and prayed it wouldn’t show in the pictures. The socks I found at the second store I went to. The shoes I tracked down at the fourth, but in a size too big. I bought them anyway, then my mom found the right size last week.
Also in the rush was preparing for the Athens Fair. Since I missed my 4-H days, I decided to enter a few things. I used to fill several sheets of paper with my entries in the peak of my 4-H years. Since this was my first year, I went easy, entering some flowers and garden produce. I resisted the temptation of a few baked goods and crafts. I wouldn’t have had time to do those anyway.
I also got the boys involved in the friendly competition this year. My brother-in-law, Ryan, entered some field crops. Nate also entered some of his bagged silage and a stalk in the tallest corn contest. I left the boys Thursday morning with instructions to gather their entries so I could take them in that evening. When I came back about 6 p.m., almost nothing was ready. Ryan did cut his three stalks of corn, bless his heart.
While Nate went in search of a tall corn stalk, I gathered my garden crops. Then I headed to the barn and dug through the silage bags in my flip flops to fill the ice cream pails, the size sample needed for judging. I squeezed in a flower arrangement too. I made it to town in plenty of time. It was actually good timing since I found two helpers to haul all the stuff inside.
Then it was off to the wedding the next day. Lo and behold, on a quick run to a River Falls store, I found the elusive black pants. They came with a girlish sweater (it was in the boys section), but I was just excited to have them. It was a good, smooth wedding that accomplished its purpose: they got married. Jacob even walked down the aisle holding my hand.
Sunday morning it was back to Athens for the parade and to see how my entries did. The boys did pretty well with the crops, although Nate’s corn was second tallest by a few inches. That blow was softened by a blue ribbon with his haylage. My tomatoes won a second and fourth, and the flowers got a third. I guess I’m just missing a blue, but there’s always next year.
It was a busy week last week, but luckily I had a little time saved up from attending the community picnic the weekend before. That gave me a little free time to prepare for the weekend. Unfortunately, two big events fell on the same weekend: Athens Fair and my college sorority sister’s wedding.
I had a special interest in the wedding since Jacob was the ringbearer. Luckily, he started walking six weeks ago just in time to head down the aisle. Last week was full of last minute preparations for both. Luckily, there was no tux rental for Jacob. Instead, I had to get him black pants, shoes and socks. Luckily, the white shirt and tie were already in his closet from Easter.
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to find black pants in a size 18 months. All I could find was brown, navy or olive green. I bought navy and prayed it wouldn’t show in the pictures. The socks I found at the second store I went to. The shoes I tracked down at the fourth, but in a size too big. I bought them anyway, then my mom found the right size last week.
Also in the rush was preparing for the Athens Fair. Since I missed my 4-H days, I decided to enter a few things. I used to fill several sheets of paper with my entries in the peak of my 4-H years. Since this was my first year, I went easy, entering some flowers and garden produce. I resisted the temptation of a few baked goods and crafts. I wouldn’t have had time to do those anyway.
I also got the boys involved in the friendly competition this year. My brother-in-law, Ryan, entered some field crops. Nate also entered some of his bagged silage and a stalk in the tallest corn contest. I left the boys Thursday morning with instructions to gather their entries so I could take them in that evening. When I came back about 6 p.m., almost nothing was ready. Ryan did cut his three stalks of corn, bless his heart.
While Nate went in search of a tall corn stalk, I gathered my garden crops. Then I headed to the barn and dug through the silage bags in my flip flops to fill the ice cream pails, the size sample needed for judging. I squeezed in a flower arrangement too. I made it to town in plenty of time. It was actually good timing since I found two helpers to haul all the stuff inside.
Then it was off to the wedding the next day. Lo and behold, on a quick run to a River Falls store, I found the elusive black pants. They came with a girlish sweater (it was in the boys section), but I was just excited to have them. It was a good, smooth wedding that accomplished its purpose: they got married. Jacob even walked down the aisle holding my hand.
Sunday morning it was back to Athens for the parade and to see how my entries did. The boys did pretty well with the crops, although Nate’s corn was second tallest by a few inches. That blow was softened by a blue ribbon with his haylage. My tomatoes won a second and fourth, and the flowers got a third. I guess I’m just missing a blue, but there’s always next year.
Friday, August 11, 2006
I think I married Captain Planet?
Nate came home one night not too long ago and offered a few scary words.
“Karyn,” he said. “I have a million dollar idea.”
I’m probably exaggerating slightly. Although his ideas can be a little off the mainstream, he’s batting about .500 in his money-saving ideas. He built his own sprinkler system last summer for the cows that impressed me, but the deer corn business flopped a few falls ago.
“Here we go again,” I told Nate as I closed my book to give him my full attention. Now I will admit, I sort of hesitate to talk about this because it’s very preliminary, but I do believe it’s a good idea that has the potential to help farmers a lot. For that reason, it’s important enough to discuss even if some of you farmers out there borrow his idea. Actually, his idea is already on loan. He showed me an article in The Country Today about farmers in Barron County who are growing their own diesel fuel.
There farmers are growing canola and sunflowers, both high oil crops, and pressing them to extract the magic juice. That oil is then mixed with a few other ingredients to make biodiesel. Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel. It burns cleaner than traditional diesel, and actually helps clean all the gunk from the lines. That’s why plugged fuel filters are common the first few weeks of use. From the research I’ve done, it doesn’t look like any modifications are needed to our existing farm equipment to use it. Nate’s been doing a lot of reading on the subject since that fateful day a few weeks ago. He’d like to grow a small amount of sunflowers next year to test. We’re a little worried about bird damage and harvesting it, but not enough to deter Nate’s enthusiasm.
The processing will be the challenging part. Before all you farmers get all gung-ho and start spreading sunflower seeds on your corn fields, consider a press and mixing equipment costs well over $20,000, from what we’ve learned so far. Also, it takes a chunk of land. An acre of sunflowers yields about 90-100 gallons of oil, if it’s the high-oil variety. But we use over 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year. It’s pretty likely farm fuel is going to hit $3 a gallon. At that price, payback for the equipment will be less than two years. And we’ll have by-products. The leftover solids from pressing seeds can be fed to the cows. Biodiesel production also produces glycerin, the same ingredient as in soap. Nate has read glycerin can also be spread on fields to alter the pH of the soil like lime.
Nate also hopes to get a partner in the deal and is researching grant opportunities. We have connections in the DATCP and the UW-Extension, so I’m hoping that will pay off. With fuel prices now reaching the sickening level, I encourage all farmers to consider how they can help prevent an energy crisis. With digesters and biodiesel, dairy farmers can make their own clean energy right in this area.
“Karyn,” he said. “I have a million dollar idea.”
I’m probably exaggerating slightly. Although his ideas can be a little off the mainstream, he’s batting about .500 in his money-saving ideas. He built his own sprinkler system last summer for the cows that impressed me, but the deer corn business flopped a few falls ago.
“Here we go again,” I told Nate as I closed my book to give him my full attention. Now I will admit, I sort of hesitate to talk about this because it’s very preliminary, but I do believe it’s a good idea that has the potential to help farmers a lot. For that reason, it’s important enough to discuss even if some of you farmers out there borrow his idea. Actually, his idea is already on loan. He showed me an article in The Country Today about farmers in Barron County who are growing their own diesel fuel.
There farmers are growing canola and sunflowers, both high oil crops, and pressing them to extract the magic juice. That oil is then mixed with a few other ingredients to make biodiesel. Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel. It burns cleaner than traditional diesel, and actually helps clean all the gunk from the lines. That’s why plugged fuel filters are common the first few weeks of use. From the research I’ve done, it doesn’t look like any modifications are needed to our existing farm equipment to use it. Nate’s been doing a lot of reading on the subject since that fateful day a few weeks ago. He’d like to grow a small amount of sunflowers next year to test. We’re a little worried about bird damage and harvesting it, but not enough to deter Nate’s enthusiasm.
The processing will be the challenging part. Before all you farmers get all gung-ho and start spreading sunflower seeds on your corn fields, consider a press and mixing equipment costs well over $20,000, from what we’ve learned so far. Also, it takes a chunk of land. An acre of sunflowers yields about 90-100 gallons of oil, if it’s the high-oil variety. But we use over 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year. It’s pretty likely farm fuel is going to hit $3 a gallon. At that price, payback for the equipment will be less than two years. And we’ll have by-products. The leftover solids from pressing seeds can be fed to the cows. Biodiesel production also produces glycerin, the same ingredient as in soap. Nate has read glycerin can also be spread on fields to alter the pH of the soil like lime.
Nate also hopes to get a partner in the deal and is researching grant opportunities. We have connections in the DATCP and the UW-Extension, so I’m hoping that will pay off. With fuel prices now reaching the sickening level, I encourage all farmers to consider how they can help prevent an energy crisis. With digesters and biodiesel, dairy farmers can make their own clean energy right in this area.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Trip to Miller Park
Ah yes, the Nelson Zoo. It’s what I lovingly (most of the time) refer to my home farm near Spring Green. Why the “Zoo?” Because there’s always something going on, people running in 18 different directions and a menagerie of animals.
This weekend wasn’t too much different, although they were down a few heads. My brother and sister-in-law were out of town, and although they don’t live there, they spend enough time at the farm to add to the chaos. It was a pretty short trip, but an important one. The key purpose was to celebrate my dad’s 51st birthday and Jacob’s 1st birthday. My original goal was to leave early Saturday morning, but a wrench got thrown into the gears when the guys had to sample milk that morning. So an hour or two later than we wanted, Nate, Jacob and I hit the road.
It was early afternoon when we arrived. Once again, Jacob was a little skittish of unfamiliar faces, but it didn’t take him too long to warm up and show off his newly acquired walking skills. My little sister, Kaitlyn, and I took a walking tour of the heifer barns to check out the young stock. My family has been pretty aggressive in infusing top quality genetics into our Holstein herd the last few years. It’s been expensive, but the results are really paying off. They’ve got one of the nicest group of heifers I can ever remember the farm having.
Back at the house, we decided it was time for a dip in the pool. Jacob’s been swimming there one other time, but I think he enjoyed it even more this go-around. He’s a squirmy kid to try and hold onto when wet, especially when he’s splashing water in your face. Later in the evening after chores, we had a family dinner and birthday celebration. Jacob did what every one-year-old is supposed to when presented with birthday cake. He grabbed a handful of frosting and smeared it into his mouth. After the child finally dozed off, us kids (plus one husband and one boyfriend) hit the pool once more for a pretty wild game of Keep Away.
The next morning after the cows were milked, seven of us headed for Milwaukee to take in a Brewers game. After grilling some brats in the parking lot, we headed inside to check out Miller Park. This was the first trip there for half the group. Nate, Mom and Dad had been there before. Kirsten, my aunt and I had been to the old County Stadium, but never to the new park.
The Brewers ended up winning, but not before they almost blew a four run lead in the ninth inning. It looks like the guys they got in exchange for Carlos Lee will do well. One batted in four RBIs, and the other got the save.
Jacob seemed to enjoy the whole experience. He clapped his hands for strikeouts, stared at the flashing scoreboard and almost jumped off my lap when the fireworks exploded for a home run. Then it was back home, but not before a stop at the home of family friends for ice cream cake. We do have priorities.
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