Category: da rez blog

even in this 105 heat index i had to make drying screens. we need the screens to spread our Indian corn on to dry. we will be picking our corn real soon. probably right after our summer dance. i was working in the shade inside the garage. my  t shirt still got soaked with sweat. i had to change my shirt a coupla times.

i used wood screws to assemble the screens. nails tend to pull loose after a while. next i have to finish painting them. the lumber place didnt have the amount of treated furring strips i wanted. i got regular pine furring strips instead.  i am painting them so they last longer.

once they are painted i will staple on the screen. i have a whole roll of it. the roll is 30 inches wide by 100 feet long. i got that roll on-line. it was sold as used but in new condition so it was cheaper. i will save a few bucks not having to buy the 7 foot sections they sell at walmarks. i will store these in my tool shed. again to make them last longer. i will dry corn and squash every year most likely.

i made 8 screens. each screen holds about 2 gallons of corn. it dries down to less than that. i have some more furring strips left over. if we have more than 16 gallons of corn i will gladly make some more screens. it is hard telling how much corn we have in the field.

i will have to make some more saw horses. i will use them to hold some screens. i use chairs, tables or whatever to hold the screens. they take up a good part of the yard when our corn is drying. the screens allow the air to circulate around the corn as it is drying.

last night my sister, niece and niece in law stopped by. my niece made a set of indian dice. they brought some quarters. mary and i got ours out too. the game was on. we had fun playing for awhile. it took me a while to win a coupla games. i think i came out ahead.

i gave my niece a buffalo rib bone to make another set of dice with. she thanked me for that. i accumulated a few rib bones. i wanted them to make indian dice with. i havent made a set lately. after i am caught up with all my work i will get busy and make some indian dice.

as i was working on the screens i thought about when i worked on bridges. there were quite a few indians that work there. turn over was high because it was hard work and low pay. one day the foreman had to pass along a warning to all. he told me ‘if you dont come in, dont come back’. i replied if i dont come in, i aint coming back. he didnt know what to say. i was one of the hardest workers on the crews.

gotta get to painting.

one time some one was complaining about the heat. i said this is just the way i like it. got a weird look on that. i explained that there is nothing i could do about the heat so i accept it. complaining its hot doesnt make it more bearable.

one year my corn was about ready. then we had about 3 weeks of rainy, cloudy weather. the corn was stunted. we gotta have the heat too for things to grow. too much heat and not enough rain can stunt the corn too. we are lucky we got rain this past weekend.

i woke up a few times saturday night. i could hear the rain on the roof.  i was half asleep but gave thanks for the rain. it filled up 3 of my rain barrels. i just watered my tomatoes from the other barrel. tomatoes take a lot of water. i will use the water from the three full ones to irrigate when the heat comes.

i borrowed my sons pick-up last night. i had to pick up furring strips to make drying screens. they didnt have treated ones so these wont last as long. they threw in a few crooked boards. i wouldnt have chose them. i will have enough good boards to make my screens though.

i could have ordered treated furring strips but i would have had to wait for them. i didnt know if i had the time. i will be drying corn real soon. i didnt want to take a chance my screens wouldnt be ready.

i remember when i was young, having to climb up on the porch roof and spread the corn onto sheets. now and then i would have to get back up there to turn the corn with my hand to help it dry on other sides. screens work better because the air gets to it from both sides. its easier than climbing on the roof too.

i havent built my new raised beds yet. i will make the drying screens first. what i need is a table saw. i have been checking out auctions and craigslist for one. i know some one has one but havent touched it since they bought it. kinda like exercise bikes.

this thursday i have 10 loose eagle feathers coming from the fish and wild life department. i requested them a coupla years ago. usually it only takes 6 months to get them. now there is a high demand for them. thats why i had to wait.

i have ordered feathers before. i donated some of them for use in ceremonial objects. when items have to be fixed, it is hard to find someone that is willing to part with them.

i ordered more face masks off the internet. i should get them this week. i have to wear one when i go to the hospital for cardiac rehab. i kinda have a feeling that other places may soon require them again. that delta variant of covid is causing a big spike in infections.

gotta get busy.

the yard looks good after i mowed. it takes years to make a lawn look nice.  i try to keep things picked up so i dont have to stop when i mow. i  trimmed some branches that were hanging low. they made me duck under them as i passed to mow. not any more.

we are anxious to dry our indian corn. it should be ready real soon, possibly in a week or two. i am glad the critters didnt wipe out alot of my corn like they did last year. now to keep them out of it until harvest time. we might have a good crop this year.

i need to make some new screens to dry our corn on.  i trashed the old ones. the wood had weathered the boards and some of the screens ripped. i ordered some pressure treated 2 inch by 2 inch by 8 foot boards to make the screens. i will use them to dry squash too. these screens should last  years.

i raise chickens because i have to have fresh eggs for breakfast. their taste is worth the work i have to put in to get them. i dont mind feeding and watering the chickens every day.  i have to bring the eggs in every day too. we sell our surplus eggs. we dont want any to go to waste. we have found a market to ensure this doesnt happen. 

a few days ago i decided i wanted to pickle some eggs. i got together the ingredients. mary boiled and peeled a dozen eggs. i made the brine to cover the hard boiled eggs. i also diced up some jalapenos and onions i grew. i put them all in a glass jar yesterday with other spices. i will try them after a week. i remember bars from my alky days that had jars of pickled eggs.

cleveland is gonna change the name of their baseball team from indians to guardians. i didnt find the term indians offensive. after all we are not from india. i consider myself potawatomi not indian. what i find more offensive is the treatment of our people by the federal government over past coupla centuries.

washington didnt have any bad effect dropping ‘redskins’ as their football teams’ name. they became the washington football team. the sun still came up. some fans didnt want to change the name but they stayed fans of the team after the name change.

a few people asked me about the name of my site. i reply that i lived thru the racism of being called a ‘f#$%*@g injun’.  i even got into fights over being called that. i taught a few to never use that term again. i guess people cant appreciate the sarcasm i have when i use that name.

i went to the vote counting this morning. there werent a lot of people. i got to visit with most there. thats why i went over. this indian gotta get off the rez now and then.

three of my kids were in las vegas. they were on separate business trips for their work. any time i hear of some one going to vegas makes me think of placing bets. i asked if any would be near a sports booking place. if so i wanted to know the odds of K U winning the ncaa national basketball championship this season.

one of my sons said the odds were 18 to 1 right now. i like those odds and know they will only go down by the time the tourney comes around. i told my son to put down $40 for me. most years i think the jayhawks will be in the running to be national  champs. i think that again this year. if they win,  i win $720 for believing in them. i will take that.

there hasnt been much to cheer about in KU football for the past decade or so.  when i was in high school they used to take our football team to KU  games. i had season tickets the short time i was a student at KU. it is one of the best schools i was kicked out of or that i dropped out of eh.

i have gone to other KU football games over the years. once i seen wilt chamberlain at a game. another time i seen gale sayers. i went up to gale and asked him to autograph my program. he did. i gave that to my brother gary who kept sports memobilia.

i have been following KU football. i hope this new coach can do what others didnt. our football program needs to turn into winners. we had some good players transfer out and some good ones transfer in. it will be a challenging year. i will support them.

i bought tickets to KU’s first football game of the season. we will play south dakota. that will be a good game. i hope for a win. not many even give this team a chance to win any this year. i will take the grandsons to watch the game. andrew plays football now. he will enjoy seeing that.

it looks like it is time to mow the yard again.  the rain we got makes it grow. seems like we got more moisture this year than we have been getting. my corn looks good as a result of that. and no critters have eaten any of my corn. maybe the deterrents i used this year have worked. who knows.

i ate another one of my cucumbers. it sure tasted good. i derive satisfaction out of knowing i can grow better than what is sold in most stores. the taste is so much better. at stores it cost more to buy organic or healthy foods. i can’t afford to buy healthy but i can grow it.

i am still editing my pictures. i have many good pictures of lotsa people. i remember a history workshop i went to at the smithsonian in d.c.. one of the instructors said if you want to record your history do the present. some day it will be history. i have thousands of pictures of todays rez life. good thing i took photography in college. i didnt just party all the time. my pictures will be a time capsule of todays rez.

got chores to do.

one of my tomatoes is ripening. should be more to follow. this one is growing in my raised beds. these tomatoes are bigger than the ones in the field  because i  transplanted them earlier. they were gimmes from the dpp program. the ones in the field were gimmes from the daycare.

i only have 3 tomato plants in the raised beds. i am hoping for a bigger crop from the ones in the field. i have 20 plants there. they have flowered and will produce fruit soon. if i get enough we will do our canning with those tomatoes.

my pepper plants have flowered too. i have bell peppers, jalapenos, habaneros and anaheim peppers growing. we use them as seasonings when we cook. we roast and dice up the anaheims. we used them as green chiles. my green beans are flowering. i have an 80 foot row of them. that will give me plenty of green beans.

the ears on my corn stalks are forming. it should be ready soon. it looks like maybe a lot of corn if most of it makes it to maturity. i will be happy with whatever i get. indian corn is precious to me. i will have to line up help with my relatives. my niece has helped us dry it a few times.  same with my sister. my sons and grandson usually help too. if we get much corn we need all the help we can get. its a good family get together.

the new pups are adjusted to living here. they have made themselves at home. they were jumping up on people. they wont jump on me though. i made them stop. i can see that these pups will be big dogs. thats okay. they are meant to be guard dogs for our chickens and playmates for our grand kids.

i have about 50 pages left in the new book i have. usually i read faster. i can knock out a book in one sitting some times. this author has a different writing style. kinda circular. like what the hell did he say and i have to go back and read some things again. i dont care for that kind of writing. i prefer someone get to the point. so far i havent been shocked by anything. people abusing power is nothing new.

the new voting laws proposed around the country have caught my interest. they say it is for safe guards. yeah really like you cant give anyone water that has stood in line for hours to vote. it reminds me of a sign at worlds of fun rides. the sign says ‘if you arent this tall (and it has a mark on the sign) then you cant ride. maybe at the voting polls they can hang up a blank sheet of paper. and put up a sign ‘if you are darker than this, you cant vote’.

my cardiac rehab is coming along fine. one nurse said i may have to change my goal of walking 2 miles. i told her i walked a mile an a half on sunday. another nurse suggested that i work out on my own at home. so i did. i will walk on the tread mill again today.

we took our daughter to the airport outside of kansas city yesterday afternoon. she was back for some board meetings. our trip to the airport is the main time i get to visit with her. one evening we did go out to eat at her favorite thai restaurant.  its always nice to see her when she is home. she travels all over this country in her work.

we like to eat at this cajun restaurant in a mall. i usually order the blackened catfish, dirty rice and gumbo every time because i like it. we stopped there on the way to the airport. it was packed. there were people waiting for a table. i was told it was at least a 25 minute wait. i said we would come back another time.

we decided to take wabeno to the airport and eat after that. i mentioned gates bbq.  we like their food. we did a search for it in the maps app on the phone. there are about 4 gates bbqs but it took us to a place they vacated. i was still psyched to have bbq. we typed arthur bryants bbq into the app. it took us there.

there was a short line. it was already getting a bit late for supper so we just got in line. i seen pictures of danny glover and president obama on the wall. it was nice to know we ate at the same place. we havent hung out together though.

i had burnt ends with fries and ordered a full slab of ribs to go. i asked for bbq sauce on the side. some say its sacrilegious to put sauce on bbq. i like to dip my fries in the sauce. we ate the burnt ends at a nearby park. they were good. i had a coupla the ribs when i got home. they too were good.

i dont say that one of the bbq places is the best. i like all of kansas citys barbeque places i eat at. good food is good food. no sense in saying one is better than the other. i will eat at all of them again.

on the turnpike it started to pour down rain. it cleared up after a few miles. it started to rain again just as we were getting to the rez. the rain let up and we seen this rainbow. it was visible from our hayfield as we pulled into our driveway.

friday the tribes hemp program had an open house. i was curious so i went over to see the operation. i signed in and got a free sample of gummies made with cbd oil. i walked down to the field. one of the workers said they had 14 thousand plants. i seen their irrigation system. i was impressed by the operation . the hemp had its own smell.

i was reminded of my hippie days when i used to hitch hike around. i lived in humboldt county for several months.  we werent growing hemp but were involved in an agricultural pursuit eh.

what will this week bring?

this morning there was a light fog out.  i would guess visibility was about an eighth of a mile. i took a picture of our hay field and couldnt see the timber by the crick.  i could see the renters finally cut and baled up the hay. i already spent my rent money for the hay long ago.

i started to read a new book i ordered. i get tired of the news some times. seems like the rich or ones in power can get away with anything. then they can lie about it and many will still believe them. they dont have to follow the rules the rest of us have to. and they wonder why people dont like them.

i do like to read. i would prefer an in depth look at something instead of a 60 second news clip on tv. my brothers and i always had piles of books. later we all had our own personal libraries. i read a lot but i wouldnt say i am well read. there are whole categories on jeopardy i dont have a clue about.

i am not a fanatic about either of the political parties. i would rather do my own thinking instead of following party lines. i think most politicians are pretty much the same. they just wear different colored hats. now and then a few good ones come along. those ones are run out of town. not many trust an honest politician.

i have cardiac rehab again today. i am almost half way thru it. i am scheduled for 12 weeks. i hope i dont have to go all that time. i was told i have already met 2/3rds of my goals. each session i am pushed to do a little more. i do it. i think i can continue working out on my own at home.

i do wish i had an exercise bike though. i use different muscles when i am on one of those. riding an exercise bike in addition to walking on the tread mill gives me a better workout. i went to a sporting goods store and priced bikes. i found the prices are a bit more than i want to pay at the moment. some are cheaper but then i would have cheaper. i dont want that, i want a good one.

i bet there is someone out there who has an one that was rarely used. they  got on it a few times and that was it.  probably didnt get wash board abs in two weeks. i am hoping i can find a good used exercise bike in good condition. if not, i will do more walking.

the temps will be in the eighties for about a week. that is the temperature when tomatoes ripen. i have tomatoes on some vines. i hope i can eat some fresh tomatoes. the 20 plants i have in the field are flowering. i will continue to water them. we want to can many of them. i still have a few jars of hot sauce left from last years canning.

gotta do my chores.

my indian corn is tasseling and ears are forming. i can see the silk of the corn ears. we are suppose to get rain for a few days. it is needed for growth when the corn is forming. there were years when the silk was on the corn and we didnt get any rain. the heat stunted the corn. we didnt get much corn that year.

right now our corn looks healthy. deer and raccoons havent bothered it so far this year. i am hoping for a good crop this year. harvesting is still a few weeks away.  much can happen between now and then.  we need rain and sun shine. one year it was cloudy a few weeks when the corn was forming. lack of sunshine stunted it too. i have learned to depend on nature.

i will have to build some new screens to dry my corn on. i tossed the old ones. the wood on them kinda rotted out from being exposed to the weather. i bought a whole roll of screen from on line. it was in new condition but sold as used. i got a good deal on it. i will use 2 by 2s to staple the screen to. that will be stronger.

the tomato plants in my grow boxes have green tomatoes. they look good. the tomato plants in the field garden are flowering. they look good too. i weeded those and staked them. i have watered them with my drip irrigation system i have connected to my rain barrels.

i picked the onions in my strawberry boxes. they are big enough to eat now. i have them in a box curing out. we can use them any time we need. i have more onions in various stages. some i just planted recently from bulbs. i have others that i started from plants earlier.

today is the last day we have the dumpster. they will come after it tomorrow. i will be busy trying to fill it up today. i am glad we had it for the past week. we got rid of things that were taking up room. its good to do spring cleaning. an old guy said your life aint right if where you live is all messy and cluttered. i always remembered that and try to keep our place clean.

i havent mowed the yard yet. i have been busy. i will get to it this evening after it cools down. or maybe tomorrow morning. the grass isnt that high. i try to keep the lawn mowed. i dont view it as a chore. i like how the yard looks when it is mowed.

we still getting a dozen eggs a day. we havent had a problem selling the surplus eggs. there are people like us who prefer fresh eggs. ours are cage free but not range free. the chickens have a big house i built and a big yard to roam in. we feed them grain, table scraps and fresh grasses. they also get bugs from the rain barrels when i water them. the eggs taste good.

gotta get busy.

we went south of lawrence to pick blueberries this morning. we picked two buckets full in about 40 minutes. they weighted 10 and a half pounds. these berries will last us awhile. we gonna freeze some. mary is making some wojapi now. i like that.

we had nice cool weather while we picked. the temperature was in the 60s.  after we filled our buckets we left. as we were driving away it started to sprinkle. we got done in time. we rode with my sister. we had a good visit on the way back to the rez.

we have been picking blue berries and strawberries the past few years. i have picked at this place before. we save a few bucks by picking berries our selves. we get satisfaction out of doing that. we benefit by eating more berries too.

yesterday i pulled the weeds in my grow beds. the straw mulch i put in there wasnt enough to stop weeds from growing. i bought a bale of straw. i will add it to the grow boxes. i dont like weeding. and it will get hotter this time of year. the straw will help keep the water in.

we had some strong winds the other night. the wind blew over andrews basket ball goal. it also blew off the cover to the yard light. all that is visible is the light bulb. we had other things blow around too. some of my corn stalks bent over but they are coming out of that. some straightened up.

the corn is tasseling. we need this rain around now. other years we didnt get it and the corn was stunted.  the rest of my garden is okay. i have tomatoes forming. others have flowers on them. i will be getting more cucumbers. my pepper plants look good. i picked two jalapenos.

we are filling up the dumpster thing one of the tribal programs lent us. they will come get it and take it to the dump after we had it a week. it is about over half full now. we have it a few more days to fill. we will do our best to get rid of more junk. then i can go to garage sales, flea markets or auctions.

the yard looks better already. i got rid of things that were taking up space like my broken screens i use to dry corn and pumpkin on. i will make new ones. i also had some old pallets that i got rid of.

i will have to mow again this week. the rains we have been getting is making the lawn grow. it wont take but about an hour to mow the whole yard. that sounds like a lot of time but not really. i put on my headphones and jam out to music until i am done.

our new pups are pretty much adjusted to their new home. they know everyone here. we have been penning them up at night. it wont be long before we can let them go free. the boys are going home today. i will have to keep the pups amused until the boys get back.

what will this week bring.

i found some pups on craigslist. these pups were born on may 4th and had all their first shots. their parents are working dogs. the mother is a border collie mix and the father is an anatolian shepherd mix.  the ad said the pups ‘could be companions or follow in the foot steps of their parents and  guard your flock or herd’.

i want dogs to protect my chickens and corn. raccoons killed most of my chickens a while back. last year deer and raccoons ate much of my corn. my old dog used to chase animals off but is too old to do that anymore.

the grandsons have been asking for pups. that was even one of their christmas wishes. i remember when people gave away dogs. not anymore. many pure breed dogs go for hundreds of dollars.  a red heeler like konugish would sell for $350. at the least. i didnt want to pay that. i just wanted good watch dogs.

i have been watching the ads for the past year or two looking for a good deal. these had a rehoming fee. i emailed the owner and ask what was the best deal i could get. my negotiation saved me $50.

andrew and samuel heard i was going after two pups. they went along for the ride. they wanted to pick the puppy they wanted. i wanted pups so they would grow up loyal to us. we drove south for an hour to pick up our new puppies.  the grand kids played with the puppies all afternoon.  the pups appear to be happy in their new surroundings.

i was worried my old dog konugish would get jealous of the pups. he seemed to accept them too. we had him for over 12 years. we wont get rid of him. he has been a faithful dog. he followed me every where.

some one gave us some huge home raised steaks. we had one of them for supper last night. one was big enough for us. those steaks were real good. i prefer home raised meat to what the grocery chains sell. we get most of our meat from the meat processing plant. it is home raised.

i was reminded of my uncle bud. he used to like to chew fat. when i was eating part of that steak i cut off a piece of the fat and ate it. it tasted good. no wonder my uncle liked it. maybe its an old person thing.

i got an email from the place where i picked blueberries last year. it said that i needed to sign up for a picking time on friday morning starting at 7 am. i signed up this morning for a time. i got one for this sunday at 9:15. that is  before it gets hot. it will take us an hour to get there. we will pick enough to last us awhile.

got rehab again today. one of the nurses said i met 2/3rds of my goals already. i will keep on working.