No Social Security for me!

On my birthday post in which I mentioned I was now old enough to apply for Social Security benefits, a reader asked, "Was it hard to apply for Social Security?"

Applying was easy. Getting it is something else. Apparently I don't qualify. Why? Because despite paying into this Ponzi scheme for over 40 years, I make too much money.

"Too much money," let it be known, is $22,320 per year. That's the maximum I can earn and receive the benefits I'm due.

The (admittedly very nice) Social Security representative I spoke to this morning said I won't be able to receive my full benefit amount despite any additional income until age 67, or the year 2029. While I would then receive somewhat more per month if I wait until that date, it will long have been offset by increases in inflation. Nor do I have any confidence – as in, none whatsoever – that Social Security will still be around in 2029.

So, despite paying into it for over 40 years, no Social Security for me! Whee!

The blueberry harvest is over

After weeks and weeks of picking blueberries, I can now say the harvest is officially over. This was my last picking:

Law of diminishing returns, y'know? It's no longer worth the effort.

Right now I have bags and bags of blueberries stored in  the freezer. The next step is to haul them all out and weigh them. One thing is certain: This year's harvest FAR outweighs last year's. The question is, by how much? Stand by.

Lest we forget

Never forget.

Rest in peace, James Earl Jones

Today we learned the venerable James Earl Jones has passed away at 93.

Best known as the voice of Darth Vadar, Mr. Jones was the magnificent voice behind endless other characters. His acting and voice acting career spanned six decades.

Rest in peace, Mr. Jones. You will be deeply missed.

Oof. This just hurts to look at

I have a feeling someone lost his job.

Birthday today

Today's my birthday! I'm 62 years old. For the record, I feel much younger. Surely I'm only 45 or so?

"Now you're officially a Social Security pensioner!" Don said, and he's right. I've already applied for Social Security benefits. Wild thought.

At any rate, today is just an ordinary day. I'm working my online job. Don's working in the shop. Older Daughter is working on tankards (though she promises to make a lunch "extra heavy" with broccoli, just for me. I adore broccoli).

My life is blessed.

Clothes-drying racks

Many years ago, I found an antique clothes-drying rack at one of those "Ye Olde Junke Shoppe"-type places. I absolutely stinkin' adore this clothes-drying rack and use it constantly.

Don's had to repair it once or twice when a gust of wind (or a "gust of dog") knocked it over and cracked it...

... but the repairs have held up faithfully and I've continued to use the rack two or three times a week.

I have a second clothes-drying rack, but it's far less sturdy and not as well made. (I got it at a hardware store.) However it's been in the back of my mind that get a couple of spare clothes-drying racks because, well, because.

But I couldn't find anything to match the sturdiness of my antique rack. I found something online at Home Depot that seemed interesting, but frankly it looked flimsy.

Finally I had a head-clunk moment and decided to look on Etsy. Why give money to a huge corporation for an inferior product when I could buy a better item and support a small family business? I know there are hordes of clever people making all kinds of clever clothes racks. Perhaps I could find one similar to my beloved antique rack?

Well, I found it. A business called Pennsylvania Woodworks had just what I was looking for.

I ordered two racks similar in size to my existing rack. They arrived yesterday.

I'm thrilled! They're beautifully made of solid maple and are actually sturdier than my antique rack. They're also wider and a touch taller.

The configuration is similar to my old rack too.

This is the tag that came attached to each unit.

Service from Pennsylvania Woodworks was prompt and efficient, and the workmanship of the racks is superb. I anticipate many years of heavy use from these racks. If anyone is in need of an excellent-quality laundry product, I can highly recommend these.

New woodshed!

Since moving to our new home, we've made do with a makeshift woodshed.

For the most part it worked fine, but there was always an element of uncertainty whether the cobbled-together roof and tied-down tarp would survive blasts of wind and snow.

So Don disassembled the old woodshed and used the parts to build a better, more permanent shelter. This shed is the first of what will eventually be two woodsheds in two different locations. This smaller one is closer to the house; the future larger one will be closer to the barn.

The new woodshed is literally right next door to the old. Why not build it in the same location, you may ask? Aside from the logistics of having to remove the entire pile of wood before starting construction, we actually have other plans for the location where the old woodshed was.

Similar to the last woodshed, we used horse panels for the sides.

But now it has a sturdy tin roof.

The floor is pallets covered with hardware cloth, and the back has deer netting across it so wood doesn't fall through.

I'm gradually transporting the wood from the old location to the new.

We estimate this shed will hold three cords of wood, and we intend to fill it to the brim before the snow flies.

The second (future) woodshed will have double the capacity; but for now, this shed will hold enough firewood to see us through even the harshest winter. Making progress!

Lost the battle, won the war

According to the caption, this rhythmic gymnastics champion couldn't perform calmly after hearing her daughter cry, so she pulled the toddler on stage with her instead. "She lost the competition, but in the eyes of millions of viewers, she was the real winner."

Brava! Watch and enjoy at this link or click the link below.

After hearing her daughter cry, the multiple-time champion couldn’t perform calmly and decided to share the stage with her daughter instead. She lost the competition, but in the eyes of millions of viewers, she was the real winner. pic.twitter.com/2qtPIryp9r

— Russian Market (@runews) August 31, 2024

Pig-fat patriots

I was talking to my dad the other day about our blueberry harvest, and how I planned to can up all the blueberries (currently in the freezer) when the harvest is complete. I also mentioned how we're going to have to aggressively start using more canned blueberries, since we have so many in the pantry.

"Hmmm, pie," my dad said. "With the piecrust made of lard."

I chuckled over this because I'm a fairly recent convert to lard pie crusts. I had been making pie crusts for decades, but because lard had such a bad reputation, I always used margarine (like that's any healthier?) for the crusts.

But almost exactly ten years ago, I tried using lard for literally the first time, and never looked back. I've used lard for pie crusts ever since.

The lard wars harken back to the attacks on natural fats (lard, butter, tallow, etc.) as being "unhealthy," while their vegetable counterparts were given the green light. However since vegetable fats aren't solid in their natural state, they had to be hydrogenated to create margarine and shortening. Despite this chemical intervention, they were still touted as being healthier than animal fats.

"Lard tragically fell from public favor during the Great War on Monounsaturated Fats in the 20th century," notes this article. "Progressive trans-fats activists launched a bombardment of bad publicity against animal fats starting in the 1950s, often culled from inaccurate sources. Everybody loved lard in the 1960s – yet by the 1980s, nobody dared mention it. Humanity's staple foodstuffs were soon caught in the crossfire: Salt, sugar, eggs, butter and wheat were all savaged as unhealthy over the years. But the times they are a changin'. ... Lard has enjoyed a rebirth in recent years thanks largely to a heroic band of pig-fat patriots who withstood the bad-news blitzkrieg."

Let's hear it for the "heroic band of pig-fat patriots." They make pie crusts SO much better.

Breeding Maggie

When we got our cows, we knew breeding our Jersey heifer Maggie was a top priority. At the time we got her, she was a touch young for breeding, so we decided to wait a few months. We prefer to breed our heifers at about 15 months of age, which means having their first calf when they're about two years old.

Meanwhile, though, we started tracking Maggie's heat cycles. Cows go into heat every three weeks, and we could tell by Maggie's behavior when that time occurred. As Don put it one evening after calling in the cows for the night, "Somebody has pretty bad PMS. She was even chasing Fillet away from the bucket." (Filet, a seven-year-old Angus, is about twice Maggie's size.)

"Don't mess with a teenager on her period," I replied.

At any rate, the time approached when Maggie was ready to be bred. For this task, we utilized the services of a neighbor's young bull, conveniently situated right across the road from us.

Here's Maggie, waiting to get a lead rope on her.

While I had my camera with me, my hands were full dealing with a heifer who didn't necessarily want to get led anywhere. It's one thing to walk an animal around in a corral; it's a whole different thing to walk her down the road into unfamiliar territory. Still, we got it done.

Here's the neighbor's bull. He's a bit over a year old.

The neighbor took Maggie's lead rope and walked her over to the water tank, so she'd know where it was.

It took no time – no time! – for bully-boy to mosey over and investigate the new girl. Look at him speed-walking toward her.

Comically, he seemed a bit shy and unsure. Ah, young love.

We made sure Maggie was doing okay with the neighbor's other cows and his horse, and then left her to her fate. She wasn't in full heat yet (we walked her over on a Tuesday, and her heat cycle was expected on Saturday and/or Sunday), and we planned to leave her there a full week.

Twice a day, morning and evening, as we walked Mr. Darcy, we made sure the peek in on Maggie and see how she was doing. Everything seemed peaceful ... but, crucially, we saw no "activity."

Finally, a week later, we made arrangements to walk her home. "Did you notice anything?" I asked the wife.

"Oh yes!" she replied with enthusiasm. "He was all over her when she was in heat. Now that her cycle is over, she's his new best friend."

So that was good! Hopefully the breeding "took." If not, we'll walk her over again. Meanwhile, if all goes well, we can expect a new baby sometime toward late May of next year, and I'll be back in dairy mode.

Want to learn more about generators?

My friend Lisa Bedford ("The Survival Mom") just underwent a ten-day power outage in Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Needless to say, their generator was a life-saver. They were in a position to help neighbors as well.

Because of the huge spike in interest in the aftermath of a series of natural disasters, Lisa is holding a mini summit about different kinds of generators ... which also happens to be her husband Steven's specialty.

The summit will be comprehensive. "We have a plan for people who can't afford the big standby but still need something semi-permanent to keep their homes energized," she wrote me, "and then we have a lot of other suggestions for different types of generators, including power banks. We will touch on solar a little bit as well."

Additionally, she says participants will "get spreadsheets to help them with calculations, and a private and temporary email address so their questions can go directly to Steven. I have a private Facebook group set up, and then we have a series of four classes coming up on Sunday afternoon. It's all going to be recorded, of course, so people don't need to be there for the live sessions."

If you're interested, please register here.