Horse Manure Park

A quick update here, for those who still stop in to check my blog.  As you can see, Farm Fest 9 has been set.  It was a challenge to find a weekend that worked for the majority.  Nothing in June, nothing in July.  The first weekend in August was about our only choice.  Everyone is so busy these days, every year seems to be more and more of a challenge. Even this first weekend of August has its drawbacks.  The biggest is that it's WE Fest weekend; but what can ya do?  If anything, Farm Fest is a lot more affordable.  And the company is better, right? Well, we are all starting to get healthy again around here.  It has taken forever, but the coughing, sniffles, runny noses and hacking are all starting to subside.  It all started on Thanksgiving.  I'd say we've paid our dues. Well, this is just a quick update.  I will update again next week.  Until then, stay healthy!

It's been two weeks since I updated things around here.  It seems blogging just creeps further down the priority list, but the kids are tucked in bed and sleeping (for now), so I'll take advantage of it. Disposal Blues Let's see, back on the 19th, the Wednesday we were set to leave for Farm Fest, we had a plumber here snaking things out and accessing pipes I didn't know existed in my house.  I had a bad experience with the food disposal - hey, I've never had one before, it's a learning process.  (When I was kid, the food disposal was called "Pepper," my dalmatian/black lab mix).  Anyway, long story short, I learned my lesson about putting too much down the disposal and I plugged things up good and proper (if you're going to screw things up, you might as well kick ass, right?).  The plumber came out and 3.5 hours and $300 later it was fixed.  Ouch. Farm Fest Another Farm Fest is now in the books.  A good time was had and for the first time in ...

It's taken a while to get all the kinks worked out, but it is worth the wait... The official Farm Fest 8 invitation has been posted right here: Farm Fest 8 - August 20, 2011 We'll see you in August!

I seem to be on a blogging roll here.  I've nearly made as many entries this month as I've made in January and February combined.  That's okay, that's what a blog is for... blogging.  Right? Beth is feeling better.  Amazing what antibiotics can do for a person.  And she managed not to miss a single day of work. I've been working on a lot of Farm Fest stuff lately.  I'm not sure what I'll do with myself if we ever stop doing Farm Fest.  It occupies a lot of my time in late winter/early spring. Some of my recent projects include: Designing invitations and a t-shirt order form in a blog format, so that everything will be available in one place.   Finishing the "Prom" music for Thursday night (a mix of pretty much everything - 60's, disco, 80's, country... and more).  Fun party music! The biggest accomplishment is that I finished the 2011 t-shirt design already.  I think it turned out very nice (but what do you expect me to say...

Haven't updated in a while.  But here I am. My brothers and sisters-in-law were here over the weekend.  We had lots of good food and drink and had a good visit.  We were able to put Farm Fest 8 on the calendar, even though it didn't quite work out for everyone.  The weekend went fast and now it is Monday again.  Today I booked a couple of camping weekends this summer (without consulting the Mrs. first, so I'm living on the edge).  We only went camping a couple of times last year.  We now have no less than four camping weekends planned.  That's 1/3 of the summer devoted to camping.  Sounds fun to me! We narrowly avoided a big snow storm yesterday (a good old fashioned blizzard, actually).  We ended up with a few inches of snow, but nothing compared to what southern Minnesota got.  We've really gotten lucky this winter at avoiding the big stuff - at least this area has. My sister-in-law shared this on Facebook and I thought it...

It seems to be Monday - so I think I should update a bit.  Farm Fest 7 is in the books and what a terrific weekend.  I was absolutely exhausted when I got home yesterday afternoon.  How tired was I?  I didn't even stay up to watch the end of the Vikings game last night.  That is nearly unheard of, but three nights of staying up way too late, imbibing in too many cocktails and getting way too little sleep will do that to a guy.  I am so thankful that Beth and I had the foresight to take today off.  Some times I'm smarter than I look. But as I said during our performance Saturday night, I think this was the most fun I've ever had at any Farm Fest.  There were many special moments during the weekend which made it especially memorable. The first special moment was right away on Thursday after getting to the farm.  Our good friend Scott ("Scooter") is serving in Iraq and he came home on two week leave just to be at Farm Fest, so it was fantast...

I got a very unexpected night off last night.  I signed up to stay home if the patient census was low and I got that magical phone call asking me if I wanted to do just that.  Oh happy day night!  It worked out well because Beth picked up today for a co-worker whose father is very sick, so I would have gone on little sleep today.  I guess everything has a way of working itself out. I downloaded Brian Ray's new album "This Way Up" last night.  It is excellent !  I posted a comment on Facebook telling him so and he actually took the time to respond to it.  How cool is that?  I took a screenshot to share with you: That's pretty awesome, if you ask me.  You can find the album right here .  I would highly recommend it as well as his first release "Mondo Magneto."  Both are terrific, guitars and drums rock-n-roll.  Real people playing real instruments; musicians who have worked their way through the trenches to get where they ar...

How in the world can it be August 9th already?  It seems like I just updated my blog and here it is 11 days later.  We had some good days off - we stayed close to home since one or both of us are not going to be around for our next three weekends off (the next six calendar weeks).  We finally finished up our landscaping projects around here.  Beth put some more touches on "Sanity Square."  Sara and the kids visited.  I got the farm mowed, and I pushed mowed about 80% of it.  The riding mower at the farm, which my dad bought in 1990, doesn't back up and doesn't turn to the left very well (or is it the right?).  Anyway, you can only go one direction and turn one direction - makes you feel like a NASCAR driver.  So, I brought my own push mower...  Ya know, when I was 17 years old and in shape, pushing-mowing the farm didn't seem like a big deal.  Twenty-three years and 60 pounds later, I can honestly say it sucked didn't seem as e...

My cousin Connie posted these pictures on Facebook.  I "stole" them from her, because I wanted to share them with my family who doesn't do Facebook... These are the twins, Connie and Bonnie... or Bonnie and Connie... I'm not quite sure.  My mom is playing the accordion to the left.  My brother Dale is playing saxophone and my aunt Sandy is playing the clarinet.  This was taken a few years later, Connie and Bonnie doing the polka.  There is some question who the man is to the left.  Some say David Booen... I am almost 100% certain it is my dad.  My brother Bob is playing the clarinet, Mom is playing the accordion and Wilma Chase is to the extreme right.  She appears to be playing some type of slide guitar. As you can see, music has always been a central part of our family gatherings.  That is one of the main reasons we started Farm Fest seven years ago.  Thanks to Connie for sharing these wonderful treasures!

Hello out there bloggerland.  Yes, I'm am still alive.  Haven't found a lot of time to sit and write much.  Kids do that to you.  Keeping an eye on the sky tonight - tornado warnings all around.  We are fine, but the folks in Wadena were hit hard.  Two people were killed in Almora, which is just a few miles from Oak Valley Township.  ...I wonder if the farm is still standing?  I'll be heading out that direction early next week to finally mow the place.  I've been waiting for a dry day when I'm not working.  That's been easier said than done. Meanwhile, I posted this on Facebook, but I will post it here too.  We had our first rehearsal for Farm Fest 7 and things went really well.  Here's most of the band as we rehearse our break....

Just dropped Ava off at school, Neil is still sleeping, so I've got a narrow window of opportunity to update things. What a week of work.  One of the crappiest I can remember.  I can't go into details due to HIPPA, but trust me... it pretty much sucked. There was one bright spot this week.  If you read my last entry ( click here ) I talked about Brian Ray of Paul McCartney's band.  It appears that Mr. Ray personally commented on my blog.  Now, it could very well be that one of my friends is pulling a fast one on me, but I have reason to believe it is for real.  All he'd have to do is look at my profile to get the link to my blog  ...hey, you have to admit it doesn't get much cooler than that, right?! Here is a great three part interview that Mr. Ray recently gave the Milwaukee Examiner. Anyway, just in case Mr. Ray comes back to my blog again, I'd like to personally invite him and the rest of McCartney's band -- as well as that one guy who use...

As you can see, Farm Fest 2010 now has a date.  We tossed a few dates around and the third weekend in August is what worked out best for the "band."  Hopefully we have the date set far enough in advance so people can get it on their calendars and get vacation requested. Gosh, the warm days of summer, camping and Farm Fest seem like a long way off right now.  Christmas is over and now we begin the "rut," as I call it -- the period of time between late December and late March. That's a long rut. It sounds like Friday through Monday we are going into the deep freeze around here, with lows around -20 each night.  At least that's what I heard on the radio on my way home from work this morning.  Actually, -20 is colder than a deep freeze. That's just stupid. The end of the year is tomorrow.  Over the past year I have had over 5,300 hits on my blog.   That's pretty cool.  It certainly gives me incentive to keep on writing.  Thanks for re...

I finally have a little time to sit down and start updating my blog. Farm Fest is over, but what an outstanding weekend of fun. I was the first camper to roll in Wednesday evening and the last one to leave Sunday afternoon. Yeah, I'm still recovering. Farm Fest weekend is best described as too much food, too much beer, too much fun and too little sleep. But it's a once-a-year shindig and we make the most of it. We didn't do too much Wednesday night. Beth and the kids camped at the farm that night, but the remainder of the weekend they stayed overnight at grandma and grandpa Dau's. Dale and Mel rolled in around 8 PM, Ross came that evening too. We sat around the campfire, but went to bed very early (especially compared to the next few nights!). Thursday morning was downright cold -- you could see your breath! After breakfast, we got to work setting up the "big top" and unloaded all the music equipment. Ross, Denton and Jax cutting down dead tree limbs...

Just got back from Bismarck last night. Long trip with a three year old and a two week old -- but it was a fun adventure. My nephew Jacob was baptized and the Baumann's were great hosts. We finally got home last night at about 11:30 PM. Traveling with a breast-feeding infant can be time consuming. But we got home safe and sane . Nothing else really matters, right? Now it is time to gear up for Farm Fest! I've been making a list -- now it's time to open the camper and start filling it up! It's something I look forward to every year (and I know I'm not the only one!). Even though it will be over before I know it, it's one of those weekends where you pack as much fun as you possibly can into three days. I'm up for the challenge. And even though we've hardly rehearsed at all, I've got this feeling that the music will be solid on Saturday night. Don't know why, just one of those feelings... And suddenly, summer will be over. Unbelievable. ...

It's a cloudy, chilly Sunday morning here in central Minnesota. I suppose calling 60 degrees "chilly" is pretty relative. Four months ago this would be tank top and shorts weather. Now it's jacket weather. But it feels great either way. Yesterday was a good day. Dale, Brian, Bob and Kevin came over and we set up in the garage and had our one and only vocal rehearsal for Farm Fest. For not playing together for 11 months, things came together quickly. Plenty of songs had stops and starts, and we had to clarify who sang what on a few, but I don't think we sounded overly terrible. Like Brian said, "It's like riding a bike." That's true. Once you're not afraid of falling off, riding a bike is pretty easy. Our next rehearsal as a full band will be on Friday before Farm Fest. Sheesh, you talk about cutting it as close as you can! But I think we'll be ready. I'm feeling pretty good about it now. On Friday I went out to the farm ...

It's hard to believe the Fourth of July is on Saturday. Once again, I am working the holiday weekend. Same thing happened over Memorial Day -- it just the way the cookie crumbled this time around. I guess I shouldn't bitch and complain too much. First, it's not like we would be able to do much anyway (my bride is very ready to be done being pregnant and we really can't wander too far away from home). Second, the holiday pay is pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to next Saturday (well, to me it's next Saturday... perhaps I should say my next Saturday off ). Dale, Brian, Bob and Kevin are coming to our place to rehearse the Farm Fest music. It will be mostly a vocal rehearsal to brush up on our harmonies and go through a general review of things we've forgotten-- after all, it's been almost a year. It's always fun to sit down and play music together. It's in my blood; always has been. Our only -- ONLY -- rehearsal as a full group will be on...

Time to update. It's been a while. I know it's bad when my wife asks me, "When are you going to update your blog?" I didn't think she read it, or at least not very often. It definitely feels like summer now. It is warm and a little humid today, but I'm not complaining. At least not yet. Give me a couple weeks and I'll start bitching and moaning about how hot it is outside. I'll need to go back and read my blogs about how cold it was during the winter to remind myself that I wished for warm weather a few months ago. It's a no-win situation. Give me any weather and I'll complain about it eventually. Last Wednesday I mowed the old farm near Hewitt (site of Farm Fest, of course). It was a beautiful day to mow and afterward I spent some time just sitting out in the yard enjoying the incredible quiet and peacefulness of the place. I had a couple Diet Dr. Pepper's and a couple Iguanas. I had a good conversation with Mom and Dad. It wa...

A quick update on things in my neck of the woods. For the last few days I've been brainstorming the new Farm Fest t-shirt design. I came up with an idea and sent it to Brandy (who does all of the hard work with the shirts -- I have the fun part!). But then after discussing it with my t-shirt design committee (made up of my wife... and that's pretty much it) and tossing around some different ideas, I came up with something even better than the original idea. So, I've been driving Brandy nuts (I'm sure) sending her new and improved ideas. But I think the final design is going to be enjoyed by all! I've also been creating a Farm Fest blog (it's more of a website than a blog, really) which is how the invitation will be "sent" this year. With stamps at 44 cents a pop, sending out fifty invitations is no longer a feasible! The Postal Service is truly digging their own grave, aren't they? Anyway, the Farm Fest "blog" will be available soon...