The Royce Files

Cold dry winter is mostly over since calendar spring arrived. Still cold despite the crazy high temps the week before spring arrived. Snow threatens but hardly shows itself. At spring's arrival the planting of the garden is in my mind- also taxes but I refuse to blog about them. So I have begun the seedlings for this year's edition of the garden. Thus far we have peppers- bell and Hungarian wax- and an assortment of tomatoes- Delicious, San Marzano, Cherokee Purple. Last season I planted Brandywine, Orange Queen, Roma, Cherry, and an smaller pear shaped golden tomato. I think I may have had a Manitoba too but my seedling markings got separated so I am unsure. It was an average harvest due in part to cooler temperatures. The cherry produced the most. Orange Queen provided the largest specimens.  I also had some really hot peppers in the garden called Burning Bush. Sadly we were unable to find a use for them as they were extremely hot. Hence  I am going with bells and Hungar...

It has been a full to the brim fall with lots of work to do. And now with Halloween over we are heading downhill into the new year and Christmas. Well this year I did not make it to the Great Minnesota Get Together.   Painting of Sky Ride at MN State Fair by my MFS Instead my mostly Finnish spouse and I (and the Boe) went to a reunion- the West Central Minnesota Steam Thresher's reunion in Rollag, MN. Though neither of us were steam threshers, we were allowed to go if we paid the admission price (I think it was $12 but it might have been $10). Anyways this event is incredible in that it helps us revisit an older age- the age when hard work and the brawn of steam engines ruled the land. Steam shovel at Rollag We saw lots of steam powered agricultural equipment in operation. But that is not all. There were 2 steam powered sawmills, a parade of tractors, lots of small motors, and an authentic steam locomotive that circled the entire grounds of this event....

Finally! I can catch some rest and some fish. Some great catches Labor Day cometh and I can rest from my corporate labors. It has been an extremely busy time for me at the multi-national company for which I work. Fortunately I was able to add 3 more support staff this summer to help when the going gets tough. It has been nearly 2 and a half months since the last post so and I guess it looked like an unexpected hiatus. Well, it was expected  but definitely unintentional. Let me count all the adventures I've had since we wrapped up the Fargo Marathon. I planted a vegetable garden and volunteered at the Growing Together Community Garden. A separate post is forthcoming about gardening. I returned to the Back to 50s Car Show in St. Paul after missing last year due to the wedding bumper crop. June just flew by at lightning speed. In July I had a considerable amount of stuff. On Independence Day I visited Bonanzaville with my MFS and the Boe, a new character in the Royce Fil...

From The Royce Files Though I've known about the White House vegetable garden for some time, it made some news and trumpeted pleas to eat healthy and local. The article  describes how the garden has been made a good return on a $200 investment. Apparently the garden is even known to foreign dignitaries who visit the President and provide plenty of fresh food for the White House kitchen staff to make delicious and healthy meals for the First Family. Like the Obamas, I was gardening this past year. Not sure if I got as good a return on my investment but it was fun and refreshing. I am planning on doing it again and hope to get a good return from the investment.

It has been about 2 weeks since I last updated you on what's happening in my part of the world. With such a full August, September should be reserved for resting. It could be a great national mandate to go to a 25 hour work week. But, alas, the government is more interested in paying for our health care which mean we need to work, and work possibly more. A State Fair post is in the future. And the long promised finale to the bike adventure should go up soon. For now enjoy what I have to say in this digest. In this digest- The Place Where Dylan Slept, BisonTurf Soccer, Melrose Place, Deal Update, Gardening. The Place Where Dylan Slept Bob probably slept many places in his journeys around the globe. Those of us in the northland know the place where he grew up was not Poughkeepsie but Hibbing, Minnesota. I last stopped in Hibbing over a decade ago and found it a decent place. Last month I had the opportunity to stop through the city on Minnesota's Iron Range a month ago. Although ...