Watcha Doing? Version 2015.5 Showing 201-250 of 2,846

[Kandice]

That's why I didn't actually post one. ;)

[Janice, Moderator]

Tasha wrote: "Janice wrote: "He didn't have another weekend of imbibing and fell into a ditch?"

hmm...might be? Hopefully he's just been busy. :)"

It's haying season here, so perhaps he's haying too.

[Berit☀️✨]

Janice, I think he commented on the what are you reading and white thread today or yesterday, not quite sure. You might want to check it out to ease your concerns ;-)

[Janice, Moderator]

Thanks Berit.

[Travis]

Still alive and kicking. No worries. Janice is correct. The last 2 weeks I have been fighting mother nature or is it the meteorologists and their horridly wrong weather reports? Trying to do dry 2nd cutting baled hay. Got some nice stuff pit up but enough is enough with this rainy weather the rest of 2nd cutting got mowed today and will be chopped tomorrow. Thanks for the concern though.

[Janice, Moderator]

My son was haying last week and the weather never seems to cooperate, does it?

[Travis]

If we want to do silage then it seems like the hay always tries to get too dry. Wjen we want dry hay seems it never wants to dry. Between rain and the humidity and then add in all the moisture in the ground it is a steuggle this year. Even when it is sunny the hay just sucks in mousture feom the ground. I'm sick of running that tedder around trying to dry it out. If we need a little more dry hay I have good luck getting 3rd cutting dry as there is usually a stretch of hot days just before or after labor day. I don't feed a lot of dry hay but when its super cold in the winter the heifers eatvme out of house and home if they are on all silage. They fill out better with some nice dry hay in the mix. For now square baler is parked until early August whenever the wheat is ready to combine and then bale as straw.

[Janice, Moderator]

Wow! Three cuttings! My son usually gets just one. We have a shorter growing season. He takes the hay off and then lets the cows and horses out to graze. His operation is much smaller. It's more a hobby farm. What is frustrating for him is that he works full time, so can only hay on days off. If the weather doesn't cooperate, it can drag out.

[Travis]

Yup the weekend warrior method. Almost always rains on the weekend seems like. My neighbor used to take the first 2 weeks in July off so he could bale his 150 or so acres of hay. He had beef cows and sold hay but workd full time. You knew about July 4 his property would get mowed regardless of weather report. Most years he made out alright though. Problem was those two weeks was basically gis entire year vacation so that hay had to be done aonehow come hell or high water.

[Janice, Moderator]

This year the grandkids got to do the mowing. They were very impressed! Not. LOL! My son works shift work and often nights. This year, he came off nightshift on the Tuesday morning and had three days off. By mid afternoon, he was bailing. It's a family act. His wife bails on her days off too. July is pretty much work and farm... and cranky.

[Janice, Moderator]

Here's my granddaughter. She made homemade chicken cordon bleu and took it out to the crew working in the field:

[Kandice]

Wow! I am impressed with you "hayers"!

Lovely photo as well.

[Peggy]

Wow that thing is huge!


We came back from Cuba yesterday. It was great! A very interesting country, so different from any other place I've been. I'll post a few pictures once we have sorted them out. It was heaven to be without internet for 2.5 weeks, I already regret turning on the wifi on my phone and computer ;-)

[Sarah]

I know I said it in the other thread but I'll say it again - Welcome back Peggy! Glad you had a great time. Try any interesting food dishes?

Glad you've just been busy with the hay Travis!

I ordered some Poi from ebay and they arrived yesterday so I'm going to go and have a play later today. My old ones I had to throw out.

[Peggy]

Thanks Sarah!

Actually, no, not really. Cuba isn't known for food apparently, and most Cubans (at least the ones who work in restaurants) are not very skilled cooks. Mostly it's just rice and beans, together with dry pork or dry chicken. There were a few exceptions though, especially when we ate in paladars (restaurants not owned by the state, but just a couple of tables in a Cuban's home. This is only allowed since 2011).

[Stephanie]

Welcome back, Peggy!!

[Tasha]

Welcome back, Peggy! Can't wait to see pics.

Travis, good luck.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I'm happy you had a goo time in Cuba, Peggie! Welcome back.

[Travis]

We were doing abouy 1000 round bales a year and wrapping in plastic. Now I hire my cousin to come chop it instead. He can chop my whole farm in 5 hours or less for each cutting which took me days and days of round baling. Still do about same amoubt of dry hay as always have

[KimeyDiann]

Welcome back, Peggy! Glad to hear your trip was great! I look forward to hearing more about it. I quite honestly don't know a whole lot about Cuba and what I do know doesn't make it seem like a friendly place to live or visit. So I'm really excited to hear about your experiences! :)

[Berit☀️✨]

I don't believe Americans are allowed to visit Cuba, or if we are it just changed recently, not quite sure.

[Janice, Moderator]

Welcome back Peggy! Your trip sounds great and just what you needed.

1000 bales will keep you busy, Travis! I like driving down the road and seeing bales wrapped in the white plastic. Looks cool.

[Sarah]

I used to call the plastic wrapped bales giant rabbit droppings as a kid and those without plastic giant weetabix.

[Peggy]

We saw quite some Americans in Cuba actually. I think (well, obviously) they are allowed, but they cannot travel straight from the US to Cuba. Instead, they have to go via Canada for example. And I heard that they should also bring a separate piece of paper for the visa stamp, so it won't be in their actual passport.

Cubans were very friendly in general :) Some tried to scam us, but that's the case in all (developing) countries. It is very different from here though, many things are hard to find and there is nothing like a supermarket as we know here. Cubans receive a monthly allowance of 25 CUC (equal to $25), no matter whether they work as a doctor or hairdresser, and they receive ration cards to get rice, sugar, flower, chicken and other essentials. However, as a pair of shoes easily costs 25 CUC, they need to find other ways to make money, which has been getting easier over the years (for example by the government allowing people to start paladares or casa particulares (renting out rooms in their house to tourists). They still have to pay most of the income to the state, but can keep the rest.

It is definitely one of the most interesting countries I've been to. In some areas it really felt like it was the 1950s or something. Almost no cars, the cars you do see are mostly oldtimers, and roads (even the highways) are used by cyclists, walkers, chickens, dogs, goats, cows, ox wagons, horse carts etc. Quality of a lot of roads is not very good, lots of potholes, so that together with all that uses the roads makes driving quite intense.

We saw some wildlife too, a tarantula (yikes!), hummingbirds, and lots of lizards. They were everywhere.

GPS is not allowed, and signs are not present everywhere (street signs are often missing and only the highway has proper signs indicating specific cities) so you have to read maps. Thankfully, offline maps on the phone do work, so we were able to navigate quite easily. I wouldn't have managed with just a regular map!

To travel around Cuba was not as 'scary' or strange as I had imagined beforehand, it is actually very doable :)

[Travis]

I think Cuba just opened for Americans in the last 1-2 months

[Sarah]

It sounds amazing Peggy. I think the allowing tourists to rent rooms in a house is quite common in ex-communist countries - there were lots in Croatia when we went. The wage and ration setup is interesting. Someone told me there were a lot of old VW beetles there - is that true?

[Lisa]

Welcome back Peggy! I'm glad you had a good time :)

[Kandice]

On the tv show Dexter they were always raving about the great "Cuban Sandwiches". I guess that was fake? O_o They sounded good too!

[KimeyDiann]

Travis is right, travel between the US and Cuba has just recently became legal again. Some of the cruise lines are planning on making Cuba one of the ports they visit.

I couldn't imagine living somewhere that tarantulas are considered wildlife! Eek!

Why is GPS not allowed? I've gotten way too spoiled to having a map in my pocket that can instantly tell me where I am at and where I need to go. A lack of signage would have me on edge even with a GPS. I get frustrated when my GPS tells me to turn on "random highway name" and none of the signs have that name but one of said highway's alternate names/numbers instead.

Besides feeling like you are stepping back in time, what made Cuba one of the most interesting countries you have visited? You've traveled pretty extensively, right?

[Peggy]

I don't know why it's not allowed. None of the navigation companies have navigation for Cuba, and you're also not allowed to bring a GPS-device into the country. Having GPS on your phone is no problem thankfully. If you use Google Earth there is also no streetview of Cuba.

I've been trying to put into words for myself why Cuba was so interesting, but I can't really put my finger on it. I thought it was interesting not necessarily in terms of sights or nature, but way of life. Even in countries like Vietnam or Laos we were able to find everything we needed (from toothbrushes to crisps to medications) in every town, with often people selling this stuff in small shops run from their homes. Even bottled water can be hard to find in a city like Havana. Of course you can sit down in a restaurant and order some, but there are few stores where you can buy it. Over half of the time when we had dinner or lunch somewhere, we were told that certain things on the menu weren't available. I think it's just that it is all so different from the western world (I traveled quite a lot but with the exception of south-east asia mostly in western countries), and also learning about what life is like for Cubans. When I went to the US there's also a different culture, when I went to Spain or other mediterranean countries you also notice differences in the way people live and their mentality (manana manana ;-)), south-east asia was of course very different as well, but it seemed like in Cuba it was even more so and that made it so intriguing, travelling around in a world so different from your own.

I hope that makes sense, I'm not sure how to properly explain the feeling :)


@Kandice: hmmm it seems like we got the wrong sandwiches!

[Berit☀️✨]

Peggy, it's so cool that you get the opportunity to see so many different cultures, even when I've gone places it's basically been to lay on the beach and drink a fruity drink ;-)
Cuban sandwiches, maybe they are made by Cuban people who have immigrated to the US, because we made them for my sons extra credit in Spanish class.

[Peggy]

You could do that in Cuba too Berit ;-) the last place we visited was varadero which is on a 20km long peninsula. A large part of it consists of only all-inclusive resorts ;-)

[Betty T]

Haying I can get my mind around vs. hornworms...nice pics!

Cuba sounds amazing Peggy I wonder how they are adjusting to having tourists and such?

[Peggy]

I think they like it. Cubans were very friendly and welcoming towards tourists. In one of the places we've been, an eco-village called Las Terrazzas, 45% of the 2000 inhabitants worked in the tourist industry.

Tourism provides the Cubans with a lot more income. If you consider that the normal wage for everyone, regardless of their job, is 25 CUC per month, but that being a guide for example will get you a 3-5 CUC tip for everytime you give a tour, you can easily make double the money in a month.

On the downside, scams are also quite common. Thankfully we managed to avoid many :) And most people of course are honest and don't try to scam you.

Also, the Cubans seem to have found ways to make money out of everything. Especially in Havana, if you eat or drink in a restaurant and need the bathroom, you have to pay 1 CUC (equal to 1 US dollar). Almost all the restaurants have a group of musicians play Cuban music during dinner, which is nice and very Cuban, but they also go round for money. When we were driving on the highway and had a break at a highway restaurant, we had to pay 1 CUC to a guy who was keeping an eye on the parking lot (sitting in the shade under a tree) even though we were able to see our car all the time.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Welcome back Peggy! Sounds amazing!

I've had friends that have visited Cuba for years. But they had to go through Canada or Panama to get there, couldn't fly from the States. So my understanding is the tourist trade has been around at least since I've been old enough to travel (15years or so), just hard to if you want to go.

Cuban sandwiches are an American style of sandwich. We don't really get them here but I remember looking them up a long time ago due to a book or tv or something. Anyway, wiki says "A Cuban sandwich is a variation of a ham and cheese that was often made in cafes catering to Cuban workers in the early Cuban immigrant communities of Florida: Key West[1] and Ybor City, Tampa.[2][3][4] Later on, Cuban exiles and expatriates brought it to Miami[4] where it is also still very popular. The sandwich is made with ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and sometimes salami[3] on Cuban bread.[2]"

[Rusalka, Moderator]

And meh. Tarantulas don't kill you. But jeez I would jump if I found one, like you do with a mouse.

[Jayme, Moderator]

History teacher here...Because of the embargo/blockade of Cuba that Kennedy sanctioned in 1962 food and medicine has not been allowed to enter Cuba which is why things that we take for granted (toothpaste, deodorant, bottled water) are difficult to find and varieties of food are limited. GPS is not allowed due to military security reasons.

I think it would be fascinating to go to Cuba now and again in five years to see how Cuba adjusts to the lifting of the embargo. I teach the Cuban Missile Crisis and am excited to change up my lesson plans since we are currently living the history.

very envious of your trip, Peggy :)

[Peggy]

Thanks for the info Jayme and Rusalka!

So Americans have been able to go to Cuba for years taking a detour, but maybe since two months they can fly directly from the US?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh. Should be said my friends who visited aren't Americans. So no idea on that part.

[Kandice]

Well, the American version of a Cuban sandwich sounds delicious! I just think it's funny that all these years I had this idea in my mind of delicious Cuban food and really...that was wrong!

I guess I should have remembered Scarface (Tony Montana) saying he ate octopus three times a day in Cuba! O_o

[Stephanie]

Eek!! Went on a job interview yesterday at an Allergy clinic. Everyone was really nice and I feel like we would all get along there..but...there is a dog walker job opening for an actual dog walking company here! I called about it today and the lady said they may be already hiring someone today but after we chatted for a bit she said now she doesn't know :) if I don't hear from her by the end of the day she said, then that means they hired someone. So we shall see :)

[Jayme, Moderator]

Prior to 2015 Americans couldn't just go to Cuba via another country. They had to get a license by the U.S. government, a visa, and had to go with a tour group. As of 2015 we don't have to get a license, but we still need a visa (Americans need a visa - just not a passport- to go into any communist country). It wasn't until April 2015 that there were direct flights offered to Cuba from the U.S.

[Peggy]

Here are some Cuba pictures (sorry, couldn't decide! We narrowed the 800 we had down to 150 to show to our family, but it was hard to choose a few for on here. If it's too much I can put them into links instead of photos :) ) Photos were made by my bf.

Plaza Vieja, Havana


Street view


One of my favourite pictures


Havana Vieja by night


Ox carts were everywhere, even on the highways






Eco-village of Las Terrazzas


Old town of Trinidad, one of our favourite places




Trinidad


Che Guevara was everywhere


Market


Shop were Cubans can buy rice, flower, oil and other essentials with their ration cards


The butcher


Wildlife


The beach in Varadero


Cuba has the most beautiful trees, full of red flowers

[Camilla]

Welcome back Peggy, it sounds like you had a marvellous trip! The photos are awesome!

[Melissa]

Beautiful pics Peggy!!

And good luck Steph! Both sound great for you! But maybe the clinic would be more dependable on work? Is dog walking just as needed? You probably won't be able to use your new Excel skills there ;)

[Sandra, Moderator]

Great pics, Peggy!

Good luck, Stephanie!

[Kandice]

Terrific photos!

[Stephanie]

Melissa wrote: "Beautiful pics Peggy!!

And good luck Steph! Both sound great for you! But maybe the clinic would be more dependable on work? Is dog walking just as needed? You probably won't be able to use your ..."

I think you're right, Melissa. The dog walking lady called me back and they are not going with the person they were thinking of so she is opening up the job again. it isn't much pay at all but I have to think..do I want to be happy getting to be around dogs or miserable being back in a clinic setting..I just don't know..and who knows if I would truly be miserable in the clinic because everyone I met was really friendly :)

[Stephanie]

Awesome photos, Peggy!!

Thanks, Sandra :)

[Peggy]

Thanks everyone! Good luck stephanie! (sorry, i overlooked your message before)