Post Father's Day Reflections

This week at Sunnyside, Troy recounts the many projects at Sunnyside - some lessons learned, and a few reflections on being a Dad who doesn't always communicate the lessons learned well enough. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Hello friends and neighbors and welcome to Sunnyside. Hey, so it's been a week since I've been uh with you, and uh that's because I took a little bit of a break to get things really rolling out here at the uh Sunnyside Farms and the ranch or whatever we are deciding we're gonna do uh with things. There's been a lot of um lot of changes that have happened in the month of June. And so um, you know, we've been we've been busy trying to get those things in the ground or or or or uh constructed, and uh finally a lot of these uh little projects are starting to wind up. But that doesn't mean that there aren't more projects right around the corner. It never ends. This isn't homesteading. I don't think that we count as homesteaders, was not like I mean, we we've basically I've lived in this part of the world forever, and so I don't know if this what we do counts as homesteading. Um probably not. I don't think I'm hippie enough uh for um for homesteading, but I do like uh raising animals, I do like taking care of them, and I do like constructing things on our property and trying to make um the property that we have um amenable to uh a good working environment between uh man and animal and uh nature and all that other guy. That sounds kind of hippie then, doesn't it? I guess that is a little bit a little bit hippie. Um but I'm too young to be hippie, you know? So that's what that amounts to. Here's what this is uh about. Um the things that we did um in the last in the month of June. Um we've been you know closing up on this henhalla. I'm ready to paint it now. So today, later today, I'll be painting uh the interior of Henhalla. Uh the uh this is the structure that I built that looks like a Norwegian church, uh a stave church that's uh tiny. It's 20 by 8.5, three stories tall. Um and um yeah, it looks beautiful. Uh we've got flower boxes. Yeah, we've got flower boxes with fake flowers that um uh are on the 10 of the 12 windows that are on this little tiny It's really a folly. Do you know what a folly is? Um if you watched the uh Down Abbey series, we learned from watching that however many years ago it was now, that people in the I don't know, nineteenth century, maybe eighteenth century probably, somewhere in there, uh in England and maybe other places in Europe would on their country estates, they would they would build these structures that looked like you know dilapidated Greek ruins or or Roman ruins or whatever. And they weren't, but they built them to look that way, and they were called follies, just some landscaping architectural feature on their property that um really didn't serve any other purpose other than for looks and entertainment. And that is not how I look at things. I look at things that they should be um they should be pretty, they should be practical, they should have purpose, and so the idea of a folly is very interesting to me, and that is uh, but it still has to have be practical and has to have purpose. So I wouldn't say that this is entirely practical, the henhala thing that we built, um, because it is unnecessary. You can put chickens in, well, look at YouTube. You can find whatever latest weirdo homesteading chicken structure um there are, and uh they're all on the budget and they're all very um practical, and they obviously have that purpose, but they're not pretty. And the ones that are pretty are, you know, uh, you know, pretty by half. And and and then and so they're really meant for folks who live in town, in my opinion, and they want to have a pretty thing that has a few chickens in it and that type of stuff. And so this is bigger for more chickens, say, like, you know, we have 35 hens, uh, so we wanted to make it a little bigger, had to be practical and all that other stuff. So, but it's still a folly. It's still a structure in our yard on our property that uh looks way older than it's supposed to. It does look like it is a Norwegian stave church. That was the intent, and I think we accomplished that, and that does serve a practical purpose, and so it's been a uh a labor of love, to say the least, uh, for the last several months. You know, we started, I started it last summer uh by uh putting in the um the sonotube posts uh to extend it off of a foundation of an old uh building uh that uh had burned down long before we had it. Uh and so it serves a variety of purposes. Um the way that this the roof is structured, uh it allows for good ventilation. Um and uh and it's pretty, and it is pretty. And so it's just it's so fun to look at. And um so I'm excited to uh be wrapping that up this week and uh just painting the inside and getting it stained. And why do you have to paint and stain uh the inside of a chicken coop essentially for hens? Uh you don't, you don't, but you know, I will because it's just uh I want it to be pretty. And it's not like I'm buying paint for it. This is all like used and leftover stuff that I had uh on hand. At this point in the project, I'm not using new stuff, it's just stuff that I have on hand, uh, either from this project that I initiated or stuff that I had uh laying around from other projects, and or or a lot of the wood now is just coming from uh what I had done on the sawmill. And so um that has been fun. And so if you would like to see that, uh, because you will be able to see it, uh, you just have to uh click on the link uh out the uh in the show notes and uh subscribe to our newsletter. The newsletter, as I've been talking about the last month or two, is going to come out now uh starting this month in June as we kind of wrap up some of these projects that we've been talking about. And uh you want to see those things, uh, you'll get that uh newsletter that'll have video links uh to uh the private uh YouTube channel where uh our members can take a look. It doesn't cost anything, it's just a matter of being a member of uh the newsletter so that I can communicate with you in addition to this way, which is for everybody and anyone who wants to listen to the sunny side of life. The newsletter allows me to communicate with the fans and the people that are whether you're a fan or not, it's I guess it's irrelevant, but if you want to be a part of that newsletter, it keeps you up to date on where we are with our little homesteading, with our projects that we've got going on, and it gives you the uh opportunity to see uh some explanation explan explanatory videos of what it is that uh I've been trying to do out here. And in addition to that, it obviously gives you um some insight as to you know when the next beef is gonna be ready, our chickens, um, the different things that we have uh products-wise uh here at Sunnyside Farms at Sunnyside Farms and Sunnyside Farm Studios and all that stuff. So it's just a great way for me to communicate uh a little bit extra with the folks who uh care to be a part of that. So if you want to see these things, that's gonna come out on July, sh July, June 30th. So the last day of the month is the plan so we can kind of review what we've done. And this will be the first one, uh the first Sunnyside newsletter. And so uh looking forward to uh uh getting that sent out to our subscribers on our uh newsletter subscription list. The way to get uh to be a part of that is just by simply clicking on the link and you know, adding your name and your email, and that is it. Uh and if once a month, we'll send out this newsletter and you'll get the opportunity to see uh what it is that I'm talking about. I think at some point we'll do shorts that other people can see on YouTube just so that it kind of generates interest and uh all of that. But for my loyal listeners, whomever you are, thank you very much. Um this is an opportunity to uh really get the inside scoop on on what it is what we're doing out here at Sunnyside Farms. And so uh the Sunnyside of Life and the Sunnyside Farm Studios, all of that good stuff that we've got going on out here. Uh, you can be a part of that. Just be sure to subscribe on that link, and that'll that'll add you to the uh the the mailing list and uh coming out on Tuesday, a week from tomorrow, June 30th, uh, will be our first one. And so I'm looking forward uh to uh sharing that with you. So that is uh giving me a deadline as well, which is a good way for me to work on things. But you know, um it I want to do it right, I want to do it well. Uh we'll just kind of keep on keeping on and and um and hopefully you will enjoy it. I'm looking forward to it because it's I I do want to show you. I don't necessarily want to show the entire universe, um, the the interweb universe, uh, all of these videos, and I do want I don't want to be making videos all the time. It is so time consuming to make videos and uh as opposed to e you know audio editing as I've talked about before. So that's what's uh coming up. That's what I've been working on. I've been closing up on that. I did um, you know, we're trying to get this uh the Sunnyside Hollow Land, the the place that is where our main pasture is going to be, uh where our ponds are and things like that. We're trying to get that structured, the oats and the grass, the pasture, all of that stuff is coming in. That's been kind of a dry month in uh June. May was okay, but it's been pretty dry, and so that has kind of stunted the growth of some of our um uh, well, like our alfalfa, for example, the first cutting, it came out pretty good, but it was half of what I thought it was going to be. Um, and so we'll see how this next cutting, which is coming up uh shortly, I would say, in the next couple of weeks. This week we might be blessed with some rain, and so that's hopeful that we do get some rain because that'll certainly help helps out everybody uh and uh certainly we need it. And of course, uh we've planted trees, we've talked about that on Sunnyside Hollow, and uh, we've got uh fence posts coming. I I have been researching fence posts because this is my life now. I I research fence posts because we got to do a lot of fencing, and um we're going to uh install about uh 15,000 feet of fencing ultimately, which is a lot. Uh I think it's a lot. It's not a lot, I guess, if you're in Montana or wherever, but uh for here it's it's a lot. And to be honest, like in Iowa, there's just not a ton of pasture land, so it's not like it's a booming industry. Uh we like to put things in row crops around here, too, particularly. And I'm not interested in in buying that equipment and doing that stuff every year uh with perennials. I want to establish a good pasture and the cows can graze on it, and um I'm looking forward to doing it. But to keep them cows in, you got to keep them from going into other people's row crops, you gotta have a good fence. So I researched our fence and uh we're gonna go ahead and and do that. Uh but we're waiting for our fence posts to arrive. I had thought, and it would have been a good idea, uh, to use uh black locust uh for the fence post. And the reason for that is that the black forest and the black forest, the black locust tree lasts, I mean it grows very quickly, uh, and it it kind of grows in poor soils. It's a nitrogen fixer, it uh is great for erosion control, so it puts nitrogen in the ground. It actually helps the plants around it grow a little bit. Uh so sometimes people plant black locusts nearby, say fruit trees, for example, and as long as it doesn't, you know, uh they'll frequently they'll cut it back every year so that it just keeps growing, but it kind of ends up being kind of bushy. Uh, and the result is that the neighboring fruit trees get the benefit of the nitrogen uh that the black locust puts in the ground. They got little uh thorns on them, but they're not like the honey locust that can have great big thorns. There are thornless honey locust varieties out there that people put in their yards, uh, and we've got some of those as well. The black locust does have some smaller, probably two centimeter maybe uh thorns on them, uh, but they are a little invasive. They will run you know out and they will create little patches on their own. Uh, so you kind of got to manage them. And uh anyway, so I thought, well, what I'll do is I've got the uh perfect land to grow some black locusts. Got to be well-drained, so it's got it's kind of gravelly, they'll do great out there. Uh, I'll put them there and uh it'll be fantastic because they'll provide some shade for the cows, the pasture, they'll have all of this stuff going on. Uh, and then in you know, 10-15 years, uh they're fence post size, and I could cut them down and uh or as many as I needed to, because you know, we'll be able to redo it again and make fence posts and for ourselves as if our operation expands, uh and those fence posts would last a hundred years because there's whatever the natural uh makeup of the black locust tree is, uh you can do that. And apparently, when you board it out, I could do that too with a sawmill. Uh, they make great deck boards uh because for the same reason. You don't have to treat them with chemicals, they don't have to be pressure treated, they just last longer than pressure treated naturally, and uh they don't look too bad. So, like this is the perfect tree. I'm gonna plant some trees. I ordered a thousand seeds because I do not know my limits. And I also ordered uh seed containers so you can start these things uh and get them, you know, get their little uh their little plugs going and get them uh and get them in the ground and then and then plant them hopefully this fall. And I was doing some research on this, and uh so I'd already I already had gotten my seeds and I was researching how to you gotta soak them in hot water uh because you gotta kind of they have a little coating on the seeds and um and so you gotta soak them and then you gotta kind of you know wait till they sprout a little bit. And uh so I was watching some videos on that, and then I kind of went down the rabbit hole, and I do not know how I missed this, but turns out that you you ke you should not put black locust trees uh by cattle or horses uh because they're toxic. What an idiot, what an idiot. So I have a thousand black locust seeds that are sitting on my uh workbench and just looking at me, going, when are we going in the ground? And I'm like, I don't know, man. I don't know where I can put you um because I don't want you um by the past by the pasture. That doesn't mean that I can't still plant uh a bunch of them in different places, um, but I have to my plan has definitely changed because when I ordered that amount, I had a very different plan of where I was going to. I was gonna I was gonna stripe some gravelly hillsides um on the pasture land, and I am not going to do that now because they can't have these plants growing in my pasture because they are uh toxic to cows, which is not the point of having a nice pasture out there. So uh for now, those little trees are just still little seeds in their little package. And um, I feel like I got, you know, uh, I think it was like a hundred bucks, I got a thousand seeds. So uh it you growing something from seed is interesting to me, but now I'm like, I better find a place uh to put these. And I probably didn't need to order a thousand because eventually they'll they'll you know they'll grow their own seeds. And if I really wanted to plant a lot of them, I could just have a few trees and then have plenty of seeds. Like I wouldn't need, but whatever. Anyway, so that was maybe not the best thought-out plan. I make mistakes too. I'll let I make a lot of mistakes. Uh, I still want to plant these trees, I just cannot plant them where I thought I was going to plant them. So that was a good lesson to learn. And uh, and thank God I learned it before I just started plugging them away into the new pasture land. So uh we'll figure it out, keep you updated on that. Um, and because what I learned is the whole premise was is that I was gonna buy these fence posts and I was gonna get the black locust fence posts because the old timers, you know, that's what they would use and they'd last for a hundred years. When you see wood fence posts out there, um, they're they could be black locust because they just they just last forever. Uh split rail fences and things like that. Black locust uh grows quick and and and lasts a long time. And the old timers knew that. So I'm like, well, this is this is brilliant. I'm gonna do the same thing. And then I had reached out to a company in Wisconsin um that uh specializes in black locust uh products, including fence posts. And this is quite a while ago. I'd sent them uh an email query just saying, hey, I'm looking for like 900 fence posts. Um can you tell me what the uh rate of that would be? And then, of course, shipping uh is that one semi-truck or whatever. It's just a few questions, and they did not get back to me until this past week. Uh, but by that point I had moved on, like it was just taking far too long to get back. So if you are in the customer service business and you're in sales and retail, we all know that you want to be able to respond to queries from potential customers, especially if you're going to say order uh 900 or a thousand fence posts. Now it worked out for me because even though um I did this, I uh I had gone a different direction. I found a different fence post uh dealer that is uh using southern yellow pine, they are not going to last 100 years. They they're strong. Southern yellow pine is uh, you know, a good uh building material, strong for say like Joyce and things like that. But um they might last 30 years, uh maybe 40 if I'm lucky. And um, but they are treated, so they're pressure treated, so you kind of get that you know that 30, 40 year range. Um, but what was unique about them is that they're also uh kind of run on a log lathe, so they're they're even. They're just if it says it's five inches, it's five inches. Uh and um that is nice. If you've ever bought fence posts, you know that the ones that you can buy, say like a tractor supply or something like that, they are uh they're just covered in creosote. It's probably not even true creosote anymore. It just kind of continues to kind of like leak this tarry substance. And I've built fences with those and um and they work great. They obviously last uh pretty quite a while. That whatever that substance is, I'm sure it's not toxic, um, right? But it just uh kind of leaks this substance uh and it's kind of tarry and it's kind of kind of a mess to work with. Um and they're expensive, they're like uh 24, 25 bucks uh for a for a post and in that range, uh kind of wherever you go. And so that was kind of my budget mindset. I'm like, is there a way for me to get um fence posts that are um less than $24 a piece delivered that lasts a long time? And so my research led me to this particular company. They haven't arrived, Judge, which is why I'm not naming the company because I'll be able to kind of review and give you my opinion uh in full once they once they get here. And that's its own story, isn't it? Like we're so used to Amazon giving us what we want the next day, if you're in a metro area, maybe even the same day uh or in a few days. It's like they have just upped the ante so much on our expectations for deliveries of everything that when things take a week or two to get uh from, say, Georgia to your place in Iowa by semi-truck on a flatbed, um, you're just like, oh, sure takes a long time to get these because we're so used to Amazon delivering um everything to us so quickly. So it's just a it's just a sh mind shift, I guess. We kind of go back to you know a few years ago where things weren't delivered so quick. And I think that Amazon has affected everybody. Like everybody's shipping has to be faster now. Everybody's shipping has to be quick because if it isn't, um, they're gonna lose business. I mean, Amazon has really stepped up the game on their delivery, and so uh everybody is delivering a little bit faster. Remember when you'd like go to the hardware store and they'd say, Well, we don't have that on hand right now, but uh we can order it in for you. It'll be here in a couple of weeks. Usually you're at the hardware store because you need that thing right now. You're not thinking ahead. You're like, I need to fix this, whatever, and I need it now. So ordering it in is just I know you want to support local businesses, but it's like, man, how long am I gonna have to wait for that? There was a time in our history where you would just kind of wait on that project until the parts came in, however long that took, as the Wells Fargo wagon delivered it to you. But now, because of Amazon, we can get it like almost instantly, and uh that's what we expect. So um yeah, it's it's uh it's just a different mindset. So anyway, these fence posts have not arrived yet. I'm looking forward to it. And um, I was you know, I was able to get them uh 900 posts for uh like 16 uh little little over 16 dollars delivered a piece. So I was like, wow, that is almost uh $8,000 w of savings. Certainly a $7,000 of savings if I were say to buy them at lay like the tractor supply or something like that uh with the creosote or whatever they've got. So these are uh southern yellow pine uh posts that are um uh supposedly, we'll see, um all uh kind of lathed to the same uh, you know, they're they're five inches, they're five inches, and so uh five inches by eight feet long and all of that. So I'm like, well, this is a great deal. I was so excited, I'm like, Yep, you got me on that one. I'm gonna buy that. And so they are on their way. Cause I figured, well, that's a seven thousand dollar savings over what I can get, um, with these creosote m and they're not, you know, they're just whatever shape, and sometimes they're crooked and they're bent a little bit, and you just get what you get and uh They're covered with the black tar stuff. And I was like, well, that was my benchmark. I wonder and finally last week, um, the company that I'd contacted uh regarding the black locust posts uh did get back to me. And um and I'm so so I'm glad that uh they kind of didn't get back to me quickly because do you know that the the fence the same fence posts are forty dollars a piece? Yeah. Okay. Now I realize they last for a hundred years, so maybe twice the price or three times the price uh makes sense, but I'm not gonna be around in a hundred years. As much as I'd like to believe I will, but I won't be. And so it's kind of like um that is a huge amount of money. That's like a uh, you know, uh $24,000 difference um in what I paid and delivered. And so I'm glad they didn't get back to me. And then they were kind, they were nice a nice little email. I don't think it's a big company, so it's just kind of friendly email uh that came finally came back with the information and the price, and then they showed me a picture of what it looks like when their semi-flat beds are loaded with these black locusts, and these are just like as crooked as you can imagine. So they're just like these are just natural trees that we you know basically cut down and they're the right size, and so we've debarked them, and they're and this is what it looks like when they're loaded up. And I'm like, I'm not really interested in a bunch of crooked posts, you know. Uh I'd like to have straight posts. And so my my initial thought, my research said I want black locust, but they're not uh now now that now that I know what they're uh what they're gonna cost, I'm like, that's just not. I'm glad I didn't go that direction. I'm glad they didn't get back to me. I would have had a hard swallow uh if that is the only bid estimate that I had. So that has been fun. We're looking forward to them arriving, uh, these fence posts, and we're looking forward to getting them in the ground. I've had Colin, our youngest son, help out by uh kind of we're setting our lines on our uh it's it's quite I mean it's a good run. I mean, we have to we have to close in 80 acres. So uh it is uh a good run for us. That's a lot of fence for us anyway, and we're trying to figure that out. So uh looking forward to them arriving and looking forward to the project uh getting underway and looking forward to sharing with you uh in video uh how that is going if you're a member of our newsletter, which again you can do that by just clicking on the link and putting your name and your information in, and that is all it takes. Uh it doesn't cost you anything, not asking for a subscription, nothing like that. It's just a way that uh you can get a little bit closer to the sunny side of life as a member of our new as a member of our newsletter. So that is uh that is what's going on um with with this. So I I avoid I I made a mistake with the black locust seeds, but I um I still want to plant them because I mean listen, if they're $40 a post and you can get two posts out of a black locust tree in ten years, I mean that is interesting. And if I have a thousand of them, which I probably won't, I don't know what you end up with if you plant a thousand trees, what your rate is, you know. Um, but that's not a bad deal, right? I mean, I could I could maybe be selling black locusts down the road. Just got to find a place to plant them. It's not near the cows. So to be determined on that situation. Uh so that little packet of seeds will remain. But I will um uh you know, and so we're moving the uh the other thing that we've been doing is we're moving the the the the meat chickens around, uh the Cornish cross, they're getting moved around and and uh now they've kind of come around the corner of our other grove, and um, and that means that they're getting close to their their end date. And they're they're doing pretty well. They're they're doing uh they're doing pretty, I don't know, what are they, eight, ten pounds now? I mean that's about where you want them to be. So uh we'll just get them scheduled and and uh get them prepared for uh we just gotta we don't have a lot this time. We got 60, and so um those are already spoken for. So we've got a couple of people early on that said that they wanted some. I've got them on my my list, and um, and then you know, obviously our family is you know gonna benefit from this too. Uh and that is kind of the goal with all of this stuff. It's very nice, first and foremost, to be able to uh feed your family, our you know, our four sons, our our our family uh around us and and and our friends and that type of thing, um, to be able to uh just give good quality food that isn't raised in a factory uh farm of any type, uh, that's able to touch grass, uh, experience sunlight, uh, have uh the benefit of the breeze and um fresh ingredients and all of that stuff and just keep them moving. And it's a little bit laborious, like you have to you know move chickens and you know a couple times a day, and and so they're creeping along, you know, 16 feet at a time and um eating and eating and eating. Uh, and you know, the hens too haven't moved into henhalla because I'm finished painting the inside, as I already mentioned. They will soon be in their little spot. They're gonna have to be like in that little building uh that I've built, the henhalla spot, uh, just in there for a week um so that they just know that that's their home before I then uh release them uh out uh into the outdoors again so that they can, you know, uh, but they need to know that that is their home. So it's kind of like when you train a dog to a kennel, so like they gotta be in Hanhal for a week, and then they'll be inside a net system for a couple of weeks, two or three weeks after that, uh, that's connected to Hanhalla so that they'll be able to uh know how to go back in and out and get familiar and comfortable with that process. And then uh after that, they're yeah, they're on their own, they're out and about in the yard and hopefully not getting eaten by hawks. That's the plan. We hope that is the case anyway. So uh plus they have to kind of learn to work together. So we've got the old hens from from that we had a year ago. Uh there's uh they're doing their thing. Um, there's another uh eight hens that uh are kind of uh Heidi wanted some fancier chickens, uh, and so we got some of them. Um but they at we got them at the same time that we got the meat chickens, so they have grown up together, and now those hens are in and they've been in. Uh they're about ready to be moved, you know, when all of this happens. But right, they've been living like in lockdown prison uh with these meat chickens who are lunatics. So these eight hens, these fancy hens, are gonna come in with a bit of an attitude, but they can hold their own because they've been uh living with 60 meat chickens. So my theory is that the old hens won't be brutalizing uh the newer hens as much because they just came from you know lockdown. So they're looking, I'm sure, looking forward to getting separated from the meat chickens uh and uh and and that type of thing. And then uh I just couldn't resist. I uh I got another 11 hens because uh they were on sale and they look kind of cool, and so I'm like, well, you know how it is at these you know farm stores or whatever, they're just like getting to the end of their run with their hens, and I was like, these are a few days old or maybe a week old, so uh they're just a little bit behind uh the other hens that are in lockdown. So these hens are never experienced anything other than nice, peaceful. They're in the they're in the brooder, they're in the brooder hand cage. And last night uh my wife was telling me, he's like, he's got I've got I've got uh three or four hen, I've got four chicken places. This in the last year I've I've created four chicken spaces, which I was like, I don't have four chicken spaces. That's you're out of your mind. And she's like, you do. You've got I've got well, I've got the the chicken tractor that I built last year that I overbuilt that as I shared with you earlier flipped over in the 80 mile an hour wind this year because I faced it to the southwest like a moron. And uh all the chickens, all the hens in there survived. They were a little upset because it got rained on, uh, but they were all nobody was hurt or anything like that. And the chicken tractor works great, it still works, does everything, the door's still up, everything works, might even work a little bit better, to be honest with you. So I guess I didn't overbuild that. So that's one, that's 10 by 10. I did build this hen hala, right? So that's two now that you think about it. And then I was like, there's three. I've got three. There's the one that I just built that's like 12 by 16, uh, that's for the meat chickens that I pull around twice a day. Um, and she's like, Yeah, what about the where they are? What about the little brooder pen? And I was like, Oh, I do have four that I built initially. I do. So there's there's four little chicken spaces around Sunnyside Farms, and this is in the course of one year uh for chickens that we don't even make any, like, we don't even sell the eggs. We give them away to like family and friends, and uh they go, oh my god, what are we doing? Uh so um and and uh and church bazaars and things like that. Uh so anyway, um that's where we're at. A lot of lot big lot more of a chicken update than I really expected to get into you with, but that's kind of been the big the big news. There's just a lot of stuff going on with the with the incoming fence that has to go up um on the 80 acres and the uh the cows don't really take any time. I mean, they just you know take care of them, check on them every day and make all make you know, make sure everything's okay. Um chickens doesn't really take a lot of time, just you know, check on them twice a day, same type of deal, make sure they've got food and water. But it's just a process, and in between all of that are all my you know, other meetings that that I do because I volunteer probably too much, and um, or maybe I don't volunteer enough, I'm not sure. And then all my projects that I've got going on. And I'm a one-man operation. And what I found is that um it people are not particularly interested in helping out um all the time. So um I asked my son Jack, who's in college, I'm like, hey, do you got any buddies that would like to work, you know, until football camp starts? Um, you know, so basically the month of July and maybe maybe even sooner. And uh two or three guys, and I feel like I'd pay them pretty well, but they'd have to be from like, you know, basically nine to five, and I'd provide lunch, you know. Uh, we've got lots of things to do. And uh he came up with one name. He did contact me. Uh I appreciate it. I think he'd be a good worker. Um, but once I told him what the schedule was, he was like, nah, I'm not down with that. So it's like, okay, I guess I'm still on my own now. Um, my two older boys, uh, obviously they have careers, they're you know, living life uh in uh different parts of this different part of the state or different or a different state entirely. Uh and then um the younger boys, you know, uh Jackson College, and he's got a job over the summer, and he's been working uh six days a week on that type of stuff. So it's like uh so then there's my youngest son, Colin, and he's the one that is still home, and uh he's gonna be a senior, and so he knows how to do stuff. He's really good at carpentry, he's really good in the shop, he but he's just really not interested in a lot of the things that I that I projects that I've got going. And um I just this kind of leads I you know leads me into my final subject of the day, is just like, of course, it was Father's Day yesterday, so this is the post-Father's Day um conversation. And last week, um man, I don't know what was going on too, besides just the fact that you know there's always a lot of projects and and things like that. Um I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky guy. I don't uh I don't get upset too often. Certainly don't get as upset as I used to when I was when I was a younger man, not that I had like anger issues or anything like that, but I get fired up, you know, and I can still get you know fired up. But um it's just you know mellowing with age, I suppose. And uh sometimes, and I don't know if this is like a I don't know if this is an old veteran thing, I don't know if it's an old man thing, I don't know, I don't know what it is, but that sometimes, very not often, but but you know, periodically, um maybe in the course of a year or whatever, uh I will I'll just get hit with not melancholy, because I'm not like depressive or anything like that, um, but it's just something will strike me. Like I become aware of you know all the things that's that are going on. And you start and you go, what am I, am I doing this right? Is this am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Um not questioning my like you know my projects necessarily or any of that, just like, am I doing things well? And um and you and and you start to reflect on some of those things. So this past week was um one of those weeks where I was it wasn't like the whole week and every moment of every you know waking moment. Um, but it was a you know, I my I had an argument with my youngest son um earlier in the week, and it kind of came down to like so he's a senior, he's in baseball, he's a four-sport athlete. He and and and when you're nowadays in America, um when you're involved in four sports, you're kind of involved in those sports almost year-round, even though the season is over. So uh he's doing you know, he's playing baseball and he's doing great at baseball, he's leading in some stats in the conference, and that's awesome. And then there's uh but he's also still playing basketball because he's in a on a league team, and and so they have practice for that. Plus, the school has practice, they go to camps and things like that. And um, and football's coming around the corner, so there's installs, and you know, all of this stuff is happening. So it's very difficult to coordinate the schedule of a teenage senior in high school or about to be a senior in high school uh who's in all of these sports and activities with dad's work schedule back on the ranch. And there are some projects that he has in mind that he wants to see done, and I want to do those things. They've been on my list for a long time, but they keep getting pushed back because of these other things that are happening at the Sunnyside Farms. And so, because of that, um it's like I'm a one-man operation and I need help. And I'm at four boys, and three of them are doing other things, and I've got one at home, but he's not at home as much as as you know, I guess he could be if he wasn't involved in anything, and that's not what I want either. Very proud of him and uh his his accomplishments in sports and and academics and all that stuff. So he he's you know, in the morning, he's gone, you know, and in the uh and he in he gets back home maybe just before noon at with all these school practices and things like that. And so there's this window of like three or four hours, uh maybe a day, where before then he goes to batting practice and then they go off to play a game. And uh it's almost every night, not always, you know, so it's but three or four times a week uh for sure with baseball during the summer season. And I love that Iowa does summer baseball. I think that's when baseball should be played, so I'm not complaining about that. And I get to announce all the home games, so I enjoy that part of it. But I I just I got frustrated and I was like, man, I don't have um I can't get to these things. I just he came walking down and he had to go, he was heading off to a thing. He also enjoys golfing. He loves golfing. I think he's pretty good at golf. He's the only one of the four boys that's got a hole in one and uh all of that, and so he really loves golfing. And I think he's gonna golf as well. So he's gonna be a five-sport athlete is his senior year, is his goal. He wants to be able to do like essentially two sports and two and a half sports at once in the spring next year. And so he's really doing the golfing thing, and that's great. We love golf. I I like golf, I don't play golf, but except for you know fundraising tournaments. Um, but the boys all love golf, and he's he's really he's really into it. So he wants to be able to spend his summer. He does have his summer between his junior and senior year, which is really your last summer, you know, with people think it's your senior year that's your last summer. The junior, between your junior summer and your junior and senior year that summer, that is like the best summer, right? Because after you graduate from high school, everybody's like, okay, off you go, you're working, you're doing something, uh, he'll still be playing baseball or whatever. Uh, and then off to college you go. So that's all coming down on me. I'm getting old, I'm working hard, I've got all these projects going on. I've got one boy left at home who is going to be a senior this fall. He's got um, you know, a million things going on himself. I got like two or three hours a day. It takes six hours to more dang long. So it's like this is a three-day project. You know, he wants to have some of his summer too. Totally understand that. The junior senior summer is the best summer of all. Um, I need help. Um, but it's hard to schedule. And also, believe it or not, I'm not the greatest communicator when it comes to what my expectations are for particular tasks. I can make a list, uh, I can, I can, but usually what I do is I just I just go, hey, I need your help. And the problem that all the boys will say is like when dad says he needs your help, they've learned to ask, well, how long is it going to take? And then multiply it times four. So if I say I just need your help for like 15 minutes, they're like, well, that's an hour. Or if it's an hour, it's four hours. I don't have four hours, you know, because I'm supposed to have these obligations. And so I'm bad at communicating and bad at um, you know, saying what I need when I need it, uh, or you know, uh giving it uh a forethought so that they have some planning that they have to do on their on their own, that he can do. And uh we had that conversation in uh in our kitchen uh last week and um and I was just frustrated. And he had some good points, you know. He let me know. I was like, Well, Dad, you don't tell me what you want because I can't read your mind, which is fair. He cannot read my mind yet. That's a special skill that you learn later in life. I can't read anybody's mind either, but he but he was right. I I he I kind of have this unrealistic expectation that all my kids uh are super interested in what dad is doing. That is based on um when they were toddlers. Because when you have boys and you're the dad and you're always doing cool stuff like building or fixing or you know, w hav having you know machinery, even if it's a lawnmower, like the boys are super interested in whatever dad is doing. And uh at some point, and so they they love helping out, and boys are built to help. I'm not I don't have any daughters, so it's so it's I'm sure it's similar, but um, this is just my experience with four sons. And when they're little, they just they want to be a helper. They want to they they dress like you, they put a little tool belt on, they got their own little lawnmowers, they got you know, they've got the little they just want to do whatever you're doing. And if you're going outside, they want to know if they can come with. And I love that. I loved it, I should say. Um however, as we get older um and you're in the process of becoming a man, um you kinda lose that interest, don't you? Your boys stop wondering where you're going when you're walking out the door and wanting to go with you. And maybe they aren't as interested in lending a hand, not because they don't uh have the ability or they they don't necessarily want to help you, but if you're not gonna ask, they're not going to like volunteer anymore. Whereas when they were four, you couldn't get rid of them. And at some point that changes, doesn't it? And it and it happens slowly, but it seems like it happens instantaneously. All of a sudden your kids are no longer interested in all of your projects, like you're not doing the coolest stuff, and there's labor involved. And uh and sometimes you know on my projects I spend a lot of time thinking it through as I go. So I have to think it through for myself in order to explain to somebody else what it is that I'm doing. So there's a lot of waiting around. And if there's one thing, you know, no kid is good at is waiting around. And so at some point they you know they quit asking what you're doing. And in my mind, they should be just still wondering what dad is up to. And they should say, Where is dad? He's not in the house, he's outside all day. I'm gonna go see what he's doing. Maybe I can help. What an idiot. Like, I don't was I wasn't like that. Uh, I like to think that I was, but I wasn't like that. I was helping my dad and my mom uh because my brother and I were, you know, pushed out of the house to make sure that they were we were helping my mom and dad, uh, mostly by my mom. My dad wasn't always asking for help either. And so it's like maybe he felt the same way. You know, maybe he felt like, man, these boys used to just love whatever I was doing, and now they don't they don't seem to be involved in it, or they don't want to know, or they're afraid to like get get get involved. And what it really is is that um we just we don't ask for the help when we need it. And they've learned how we operate too, so they're not super keen on our little tricks of how long something is going to take or the games that we play about. Oh, if you do this, that might be really good. So all of that has changed, and uh I was starting to feel it last week. And uh so Colin and I had this good conversation, but it kind of led to like and then but it well it wasn't didn't feel good at the time. I think we both left. He had to go to practice, I had to go on to another project, and he left, um, not in like a huff or anything like that, but he was a little upset, and and I was still kind of upset, and I don't think we got things resolved after that conversation. And so the whole day I was kind of like just irritated. And also down on myself because I I will say that I feel like I've got a I feel like I've got a good quality that um doesn't blame other people for whatever's going on. Like the if not the first thing, the very next thing that I will do when something uh happens, that uh I will say, well how what what did I do to make this happen? Like what is what is this my fault? Um that I feel like that's a good trait to have. And in a world that wants to blame everybody else for all of our problems, um I try to be consciously aware that uh this could be my fault. So we you know start there. And uh so the whole day I'm contemplating this. I'm like, man, I didn't handle that well. Uh but then it's you know, we got baseball that night, and and it just goes on by time. He gets home, it's 10 o'clock, and it's like 10 o'clock is like when I want to go to bed. So this doesn't get addressed. So a day goes by, and um I'm um I'm like uh just still not feeling. I'm starting to feel old. I'm thinking about um my father-in-law who passed away last year. I'm thinking about Father's Day coming up, I'm thinking about Father's Day for what my wife's Father's Day is gonna be like without her dad. I'm thinking about um just my own dad who's gonna be uh 80 uh this fall, and I think about you know how lucky that I am that he's around and and still working hard, and um, and I'm thinking about you know grandfathers and and I'm just thinking about my own kids, thinking about being a grandfather, like I am now a grandfather, and all of this stuff is like uh just kind of on me. And so, you know, um I had ended up having a conversation um on Thursday night. Thursday there was no baseball. So Thursday night I asked Colin if he would come down to the shop and stain these flower boxes uh that we're gonna put on they were putting on Han Hala. And I built these flower boxes and and uh had stained a couple of them, and uh so he came down, and this is like teenager's time is I don't even understand teenager's time uh, you know, anymore. But so this is like nine o'clock at night, he comes down to do this. Um and I'm like nine o'clock and I'm getting ready for bed pretty and pretty shortly here, but he comes down to the shop um and I show him what he's you know what he should be doing, and we get this we get this conversation that we had a couple of days before resolved. Because I just tell him, I was like, listen, I'm feeling old, my dad's getting old. Um I've been thinking a lot about your grandpa who, you know, passed away last year, uh, and then this is all gonna happen, you know, to me someday. And I'm just I'm worried that I didn't do uh all of the things that I should do as a dad. I want to make sure that all of you boys have good work ethics. I I want you to be interested in the things that that I do. I want you to be uh more like you know, Renaissance men that are able to work with your hands and think clearly and talk about a variety of subjects and always be curious and interested and you know, maybe not always, you know, on the phone and just whatever the distractions are. I want that. And I don't know if I've communicated that well, and I worry about that because I don't think that I've always done a great job uh of communicating um what I what it is that what I always want you to be. Um for all four boys. But I'm telling this to my youngest son who's gonna be a senior in high school. And it's kind of emotional for me, you know, to be honest with you, as I'm heading into Father's Day. Uh this and and I just want to let him know and like I don't want to be a disappointment to you. I hope that I've told you um everything that you need to know, because uh you never know, you know, um if you miss something. Uh and so I just want to make sure that uh I let you know that I love you and um I'm proud of you, um, and I'll do a better job telling you what I want you to do. And I want you to be interested, you know, because I think you're really, you know, I think that's what's great about being a man is that you have s the opportunity to be so uh diverse in in your uh interests and um and it's good to be able to do stuff like uh actually build stuff with your hands and fix stuff and and uh you don't have to be an expert in it, but you have to be curious enough to learn and um and patient enough to do it right. And so this conversation, I mean, in my mind it lasted for hours, but it was probably only maybe twenty-thirty minutes. And it was good. And um, you know, it he's like, Dad, I love you. Like you're a great dad. I'm like, kids always say that, you know. Um but uh it would end up being uh a lot a much better conversation, and I've had conversations like that um with the other three boys as well at different points in their life. Because as you approach this year, the senior year, realizing that in a year from now we're gonna be empty nesters, um, we're not getting any younger, our projects aren't getting any easier. I just don't know when to stop taking big bites, um, big projects and things like that. Um, and so all of this stuff, you know, like I said, in the past week, has just come rolling in. And uh so it was kind of an emotional week for me. And uh that was uh it ended up obviously yesterday with with Father's Day, and Father's Day is great. Um, I don't know how your Father's Day went. If if you're a dad, um my Father's Days are the best when I don't have to do much at all. And I didn't do anything really yesterday. I hung out a little bit with my dad, hung out with um uh Jack and Colin. Um, and I Colin made me breakfast, and you know, Heidi was it was awesome. I'd you know, come on, you know, biscuits and gravy. It was great. And uh fresh farm eggs, amazing. So overall, I mean, and then we had then we had hot dogs for lunch. I love hot dogs. I mean, that's I'm ashamed to admit that, but we had great hot dogs, a couple hot dogs for lunch. And then we had ribeye steaks, yeah, sunny side farms, ribeye steaks for for dinner. I was like, I ate well yesterday, and we went down to the pond and we did try to do a little fishing, but our idiot dog knocks just keeps trying to attack the whatever we throw in the water. Uh, so whatever. And and and I don't know, it was just fun. It was a relaxing day. I really didn't do anything. Um, sometimes people want, you know, like I think it's a mistake for like the moms, um, because they're such great planners to try to plan a Father's Day for the dad. Uh, in my experience, we just want to do nothing. Uh, we or we want to do whatever we want to do. So if you have great big projects planned or great activities planned for Father's Day, um, I that's not my thing. I would rather just like I talk to the boys on the phone, all you know, the two boys, you know, Tate and Tanner that uh are are elsewhere and um uh had those conversations and then Jack and Colin in person and we had dinner together and and uh so on and so forth. So it was a great Father's Day. And it reminded and I and I spent time with my dad um as well. And so it was just a great uh it was a great father's day. I hope he had a great father's day. Um and it all was able to be wrapped up with a nice little bow. If you're a dad and you've ever felt like you just uh aren't communicating all of the lessons that you think that you need to impart with your sons or daughters, if you ever feel that way, I get it because uh dads feel that way. It might be the one thing that we feel the most when it comes to our parenting styles. Uh we don't communicate maybe uh as much as we should, um, not only how much we we love and are proud of our kids, but all of the lessons that we want them to know, the hard lessons that we uh picked up on our own because of our own idiot activities or our own stupidity, or um learning how to be a calm dad and not upset with everything. I'm not I don't get upset with the boys. I get upset with them because again, I think that they just should be volunteering to help me and just curious of whatever it is that I'm doing. Uh again, I've learned that's not the case. Um, but as far as like incidents that occur in their life, um, those things uh I don't sweat that stuff. I'm thankful for military training in that. Like, you know, problems arise, situations occur, plans go awry, and um those things do not bother me. And I can stay calm and and uh contemplative about because nobody needs a freak out. Um that's uh that's the mom's job. So being calm and uh cool and collected in those things, uh, I think I've been pretty good about that. Because the boys, as they grow up, they come up with their own, you know, scenarios and situations, and and um it's good to be uh able to be relied upon. As a parent, I want my kids to know that they can always talk to me, that they can always they should always tell the truth, that uh it's not gonna and we've done a pretty good job of not reacting in a way as they've grown up to situations that aren't ideal um so that they do not feel that they can come to us. Um in fact they come to us probably more than than we ever way more than we uh my wife and I ever went to our parents, uh our generation. So they um these these kids um they like being around us, they like hanging out with us, um they enjoy our company, um, they can tell us uh everything um and um and and sometimes it's not what you want to hear, but they they know that they're not going to get you know uh blasted. And not everything is a life lesson. It sort of is, but it's not necessarily always the time to provide one. And so uh I feel like we've done a good job in that regard. Um and it seems that being a dad, um, even though there's a bil uh I think that there's a billion things that I need to share with my sons, um, and I'm always worried that I didn't get enough of that information across or didn't get it across soon enough. Uh it is very satisfying um to know that they still come uh seeking that advice. And um that's what happened with uh um, you know, all four boys. Um Tate called and they were in the process of trading in a a vehicle. Um and uh then Tanner had he sent me a video uh of a wall he has torn apart in his house and how he's gonna add a closet and some electric that needs to be moved, and uh and I just uh love it. And and uh and and Jack uh had some things that he was discussing uh with me and his mom uh as well, and and uh with college and plans and things like that that um all add up to uh just four boys who still seek the advice of their dad, even though they're not always uh super interested in finding out what the heck he's up to when he's outside walking around. So it was a great Father's Day, and uh it was a great reminder, it was a great way to wrap up kind of a a week that sometimes sometimes we have. Uh maybe you don't, but occasionally, you know, once or twice a year, some things just kind of hit all at once. And it's not like I'm a uh I'm not an insensitive person, I'm not a crybaby, I'm certainly not a uh super emotional guy, but I got them, you know, and uh it kind of kinda come came to a swell this past week. And uh it obviously was uh it ended up being a great opportunity to have conversations with um my kids, particularly my youngest, and just a way to really be thankful for everything that uh we have, thankful for our family, our kids, our health, uh and and uh and our and our and just you know what God has given us. It has been a great week at Sunnyside, although there were a couple of moments in the past week where I felt pretty low. And um if you feel that way sometimes, that's okay. Uh, you know, if you get stuck in the low, I think that would be bad. You know, probably need to, you know, talk it out uh with somebody. Uh maybe start with God and and and and work your way down. But um it's okay, I think, for dads get down too. And uh it usually, at least in my case, it's because I think I'm doing something wrong. I think I'm doing something that I could be doing better. And um you always want to do your best. And that's what I hope uh that we were able to do. And I feel like it turned out pretty good. We'll see. We'll see. Still got you know 15,000 feet of fence to put in. We'll see where the boys are for that one uh coming up soon. And uh so that has been it. That's the that's the sunny side of life uh for me. It's been a it was a it was a good Father's Day weekend. I hope it was for you too. Um and um we all love our dads, and if you're missing your dad, um um heart goes out to you. Uh, but that's what they give us. Um, and hopefully uh they had the opportunity to impart as many of the lessons as they could find the time to um carefully communicate with you. And so um I wish you uh I wish you would join our our newsletter. Um like I said, we're gonna come out on the 30th of June. That's next Tuesday, a week from tomorrow. Uh we'll come out with our first one. There'll be special links in there to show you what we've got going on. You'll see hen hollow before everybody else does. If everybody else sees it at all, uh you'll see the the you'll get the full tour and uh we'll show you some of Sunnyside Hollow and what we're doing on the pasture and our different little projects that we've got going on and a few other things that I'm excited to share with you. So that is it. That's it for this week. I got to get on to some other things. Have a great and blessed week. And always try to be the sunny side, especially for your kids. Of someone else's life.

SPEAKER_02 57:54

When the shadows fall and doubts begin to creep, remember together with strong every week. Lift your neighbor up with kindness every day. Let your actions speak the words you want to say.

SPEAKER_00 58:10

The Stunny Side of Life is a weekly production about our life on the family farmstead here in Iowa, the liberties we prize and the pursuits which make us happy. None of this is possible, of course, without Christ in our lives. For the Lord God is our style and our steal. He gives us grace and glory.