Palate cleanser

The background music was very easy to listen to.

Large, young family in Russia Ukraine harvesting root vegetables. "Work must be organized!"

I used a link instead of an icon to pop you into the video because I want you to start at a certain place. The girl (maybe seven years-old) is SKIPPING as she works. You can go back to the beginning if you want or you can continue to watch from where I ported you in.

Turn on "Subtitles" (which will be in Russian). Then turn on auto-translate and select English.

Why, yes my child. We found you beneath a radish leaf.

Muscles hurt, some people carping about everything

I did almost nothing yesterday. My muscles ached. Mrs ERJ was OK with my playing hooky.

Mostly my traps and delts

I did order some grapevines for this spring. I picture an arbor for Southern Belle. The exact location is not nailed down but good nurseries run out of choice selections quickly.

Fishing (Jonesing for springtime) 

Source

I was watching a bunch of fishing videos on Youtube. It never really registered for me, but carp must go into a feeding frenzy before the spring spawn. 

The guy in the video is fishing April 21, 2025 and the bank vegetation looks like he is at a latitude similar to southern Michigan or perhaps a little farther north.

There can be a lot of gardening "dead time" after a heavy rain. The soil is too wet to work without destroying its structure (especially if it has a high clay content).

Carp are bottom-feeders and eat a lot of dead material that is carried by the current. They also live a long time. That means that they are at risk of carrying higher loading of mercury and PBC-alphabet soup chemicals than sunfish.

I have one river drainage system in my operating area that is still listed as "clean". The hardest part of fishing it is to find a safe place to park the truck while fishing. The roads are narrow and the river is surrounded by private property.

Maybe I will be able to talk my Polish neighbor into going with me and we can work as a team.

If I get time, I might replace the line on my spinning reels today. There! Saying it makes it more likely to happen. 

Bull cookies?

AI generated content

The average U.S. citizen manages about 168 personal passwords, while for work-related accounts, the average is around 87, bringing the total to approximately 255 passwords. This number has increased significantly due to the rise in digital services and online accounts.

Our dentist is transitioning from humans to software. We are being pressured to funnel all of our transactions and communications with his office through "the portal".

Our dentist is in Ingham county, in the city of Lansing.

I like my dentist a lot. I understand about cost pressure. I also know that businesses that put the customer/client/patient third-in-line are walking the plank toward insolvency.

At some point my dentist will retire. Maybe it makes sense to make the jump BEFORE driving to Lansing becomes totally intolerable. 

Who said 3 year-olds don't have a sense of humor

Actually, before we had kids, Mrs ERJ said that.

"Row, row, row your boat..."

Quicksilver surprised me by asking to play "Row, row, row your boat..." where I sing the song and she sits on my knees facing me. She holds my thumbs and I make rowing motions.

I was confused as she melted into uncontrollable, hysterical laughter near the end of every stanza. She shrieked with delight and gabbled away in the blurred enunciation of a three year-old (+ 8 months).

Finally it dawned on me.

"Row, row row your boat,
gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily
life is butt a dream." 

Yes, gentle readers. She was melting into uncontrollable laughter because she had tricked "Grandpa" into saying the forbidden word "Butt" (British interpretation "Arse" or "Buttocks") 

Bonus image

I got even when she was looking for her stuffed bunny. 

Bonus lyrics

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile,
Don't forget to scream

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream.
Ha, ha, fooled you
I'm a submarine. 

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Grab an oar, jokes on you,
I'm out of gasoline 

I am always looking to expand my repertoire. Any other G-rated lyrics will be appreciated.

Not unexpected

Minneapolis

The housing market has become an unexpected casualty of Minneapolis’s political turmoil. 

Home sales in the city plunged nearly 20 percent in January - the sharpest drop of any major US metro outside the ultra-expensive Bay Area - as buyers and sellers alike pulled back amid mounting political unrest.

(ERJ notes: Markets freezing up before prices drops. Sellers are reluctant to drop prices while buyers stop looking. Oddly enough, some sellers RAISE their asking price so they can "offer the buyer a discount") 

At the same time, home prices have fallen by more than $20,000 since summer, wiping out equity and raising fears that the city’s housing slowdown is only just beginning.       Source

 

Portland

 

Twenty most expensive downtown properties.    Source

Seattle

Rents are at the same rate as 2019 which represents at least a 23% decline when inflation is factored in.

There are rumblings of Amazon and Microsoft pulling their Headquarters out of Seattle. "Impossible!" you declare?  Bezos yanked the rug out from the Washington Post after losing money too many years in a row. He may be a progressive, but a dollar is a dollar and Seattle sees Amazon as a tax-donkey. 

Finding the limits and The Big Thaw

Today's big push was to drag as much wood out of the back-lot as possible while the snow was still firm.

I got a huge boost from Kubota, my youngest son. He had a doctor's appointment at lunch and rather than going back to work he came over and helped me! Yeah family!!!

I put in about four hours and Kubota worked for about two. Frankly, the little nipper did as much in two hours as I managed in four.

I had a proud moment when he latched a hold of one of the larger diameter, 16" long pieces and picked it up. "Holy crap! This is heavy."

Kubota works in construction so he is not a shrinking violet. I have to admit that I secretly puffed out my chest. The secret is on how you grip them. If you get a good grip on them, then you can lift them up close to the centerline of your core. If you get a crappy grip then you are bending over and lifting with your back.

Kubota was NOT impressed with my equipment. "Say dad, I have a buddy and we could have this job knocked out in a few hours."

How do you explain to a "kid" that my priorities are different than those on a commercial job-site where having your trade finish their dance-card and then clear the room so the next trade can come in and start work is not the highest priority.

I am also gathering "intelligence" in terms of how little equipment I need and how many hours it will take. I am also studying the limits of my endurance at the age of 66. I can probably work 2 hours a day at this level three-days-out-of-four and not be hammered into a grease spot on the pavement. At my present level of fitness, four hours a day, three-days-out-of-four would be WAY too much.

The big thaw

German Shepherd-cicles.

I saw some raccoon tracks frozen in the slush yesterday. With the big thaw coming I anticipating some VERY hungry predators around the farmstead, I baited up a live-trap with chicken bones scavenged from a SB party, best-by sale, hot-wings package. Thanks to SNH for the tip.

A thaw is coming, Muscovy ducks

 

It looks like I have until noon tomorrow to make use of the easy sledding.

Blogging might be light.

Muscovy ducks

Muscovy ducks, contrary to what you would assume from their name, are not from Moscow. 

The species is originally from Latin America.

So I am surprised to see this kind of duck show up on almost all of the "Village Life" type videos that originate in eastern Europe. They are easily identified by the fleshy, pink growths around their eyes and on the sides of their heads.

Have any of you readers raised them? Do you have any opinions on why homesteaders and other, lower-technology enterprises value them?