Camera Trouble, Burglary, and Cancer

 Sydney has been having some appetite trouble.  She's had x-rays and bloodwork.  Then she had an ultrasound that showed an enlarged spleen, a section of intestine that's thickened and an enlarged lymph node.  Exploratory surgery this week.  Doesn't sound good for my best buddy.

 These two Cuddeback cameras have stopped writing to their sd cards.  I like the image quality from these regular flash cameras but they have become pretty unreliable.  Useless really.

 I stopped at a Field and Stream and saw a new one on sale so I brought it.  I set it up and took it to the field for the first time.  The thumb screw that closes the back door is stripped.  On a brand new camera.  The owners manual says don't take it back to the store - email us at this address.  I compose a nice email with photos and send it.  Rejected by postmaster at cuddeback.com.  Annoying.

 So I have it secured to the tree with an additional strap loop squeezing the camera to keep the back door closed.  Classy.

 This is a picture from the new camera as I'm out bush-hogging.

 This is the way that my luck has been going.

 I made it functional again.

It turns out that our house had been burglarized while we were at the farm this weekend.  The alarm scared them off but they broke a brand new sliding glass door and stole some jewelry.

I tried to do a little cultivating in the pumpkin patch but the weed stalks immediately fouled the machine.

 I did harvest a few squash.

 The old grape arbor is producing.

 The main field is a mess but has a few of the things that I planted in it.  I think that I see a sunflower out there.

 The sunflower field is a little stunted but starting to bloom anyway.

 The clover/chicory fields look great.

 I wish that all my plots were this good.

Tons of butterflies out.  I used to call this plant Indian Paintbrush but I guess that it is really Butterfly weed.

 Persimmons looking good.

The soybean field is spotty.  I spread some brassica seed (Wintergreens) that I hope will fill in.

 My plowed up field for the future prairie planting is growing right back.  I decided to start disking it.

 This is what it looked like before disking.  I measured the field and it came out a little over 3 acres.

 After the first disking.  More work needed.

The orchard field that I sprayed a week ago,

 I gave it a light disking this week.

 The surviving pumpkins are doing well.

There is definitely a struggle with the weeds.

Some areas aren't too bad.

 Some of the rows are really bad even when the area between is ok.

Captain Hook decided to pose in front of several cameras this week.

 He's pretty photogenic.

 The brow beast didn't show up this week.

But the hook did.

 There were others around too.

 Only a few fawn photos.

I start PT for my knee in the morning.  And then Sydney goes to the surgeon.  And then we need to get the broken door fixed.  And deal with the insurance company and the police.  Oh joy.

Post Surgery Farm Visit

 Got my knee scoped for a torn meniscus on Tuesday.  I prevailed upon my bride to drive me out to the farm.  Not supposed to drive for a week.  It feels pretty good.  No pain.  So I fixed the broken atv sprayer.

You don't really use your leg when riding an atv so I went ahead and sprayed this field.

 And as long as I was out, I toured a little bit.  This is the main field that I planted in an annual mix.  The sorghum component is doing quite nicely.  I'm not sure that the rest of the mix is competing very well with the weeds.

There might be some sunflower, beans and peas in there but mostly I see pigweed, lambsquarter, ragweed, Johnson grass, etc.

The future prairie plot is going to need multiple turning and spraying.  When time permits. 

 The soybeans emerged from the killed weeds but the deer tape was blown down.

 Clearly the deer have been enjoying it prematurely.

 My radical weeding of the pumpkin patch by roundup had some success.

 Sometimes entire rows were casualties but there was a fair survival rate.

 Inside the rows, the pumpkins have to grow fast.  I risked another attempt with the roundup.  It rained 4 hours after I sprayed so there may be more casualties.

I also sprinkled a little fertilizer around.  It seemed to really help when I did it last time.

 I'm afraid that I lost my row of Dill Atlantic giant pumpkins.

 There's zucchini in there somewhere.  I hand weeded this row.  Even at 10 am it was almost 90 degrees with 100% humidity.

Can you tell that I weeded here?  I don't like using roundup around the things we eat.

A good row.

 

 It's been a weird year.  No rain in May but June and July have been awash.  Had a big storm again as we were leaving.

 Kristen and Leo are on a family trip to Yellowstone.  Leo sent me this mule deer sighting.  They've also seen elk, bison, and a grizzly bear.  That's a great trip. We did it years ago.

 I haven't sprayed apples but there is some fruit.

 The big old trees are loaded.  There was a major branch down on the remaining cherry tree.

 Chicory clover fields have some weed issues but there is a lot of food available.

 Sunflower field is a little stunted but producing some seed heads.  The tape was down around it too.

 This is the part of the woods that I hinge cut in February. It's also where I twisted my knee.  It had the intended result of creating a lot of cover.

I drove one atv trail and had a tree down.  They are probably all a mess.

 The pond is high and muddy.

The frog pond stays clear.

 We had a number of very interesting cloud formations.  A pretty good squall line came thru as we were leaving on Sunday afternoon.

 That camera is lying - it was 90F.

More like it.

I forgot one camera so ran out for it after my shower.  Knee looks completely functional - right?  I'm driving to work tomorrow.