Grab bag

Flour corn on the left, hazelnut bush on the right.

The raspberries are almost done fruiting.

The single apricot tree that I never got around to cutting down is almost done. 

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry has been a dud due to the dry weather. Since it excels nine-years-out-of-ten it gets a mulligan.

I am starting to get fire-blight strikes on my quince. I cut them out.

I had two apple trees die. I spread the limbs of the Gros Romanesc plum tree that had been shlepping along in their shade. It had a few blossoms this spring but did not set any fruit.

I cut black-knot out of the Seneca plum and the Gros Romanesc. It seems to be easier to stay ahead of than fire-blight on quince.

We got 0.1" of rain today. We need 0.2" per day to keep up with evaporation.

I am behind on weeding the garden. I have other responsibilities, ones I am not at liberty to discuss on the blog, sucking up my time. If the fertilizer ever impacts the impeller, those issues will vaporize.

Tomorrow's agenda looks like un-discussable responsibilities (2 hours), hardening the new paddock the cattle are in, burning wood scraps, continuing to empty out Mom and Dad's garage and barbecuing meat for our Friday feast.

Counting the minutes

God willing, Mrs ERJ, Southern Belle and Quicksilver will be landing in Detroit Metro in about a week. 

Handsome Hombre and I miss them a great deal. It is like a pianist playing a favorite piece of music and three of the keys don't work.

Things that are better today than when we were kids.

Shoes (they come off the shelf blister-free now)

Electronics (no explanation needed)

Small gas motors (They start more easily and generally last longer)

Fuel injection in automobiles (fiddling with carburetors used to be a regular thing)

Dentistry (Night and day difference. The only thing I miss about the old days is being able to spit)

Prescription eyeglasses ($25 a pair instead of hundreds of dollars)

Drugs for mental/emotional illness (still not great but better than a lobotomy)

Price of meat (after adjusting for inflation)

Range of foods at common grocery stores (even after Covid. Many exotic products)

Sweet corn, apples (Red Delicious has almost disappeared off of the shelves)

Amazon or its clones (the closest thing was the Sears catalog)

Access to like-minded people (the internet and the universe of bloggers and video producers beats the crap out of the three major networks on TV) 

Flashlights (better batteries, LED bulbs, headlights)

Canteens (disposable bottles for soda-pop and sports drink are better than the canteens available when I was a kid)

Please feel free to add to the list!