Author: Norbert Kuchenmeister

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Feträ Under Quarantine

It has been quite awhile since any of us has ventured to the farm.There were some trips last summer ( sadly, undocumented) and then the start of a new job. Although the new job brought promise of more time spent in the woods, the reality of needing to learn new things made last fall a whirlwind of activity, centered in the city.

With the warmth of spring in the air, anticipation of more frequent visits fills our hearts. The talk starts to turn to things we want to get done and list start to fill. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has put our plans into a holding pattern. With a shelter-in-place order, we have found that our plans for the spring have now turned to dreams for next year. Plans undeniably need to shift, as the hopes of getting a garden planted early enough for a harvest start to wane. Prepping the soil in anticipation of next year may be as far as we get with a garden. Thoughts focus around the sauna now, as having a cleansing and healing spot in the woods seems more important than ever.

As a pleasant spring thunderstorm rolls through here, my thoughts can only turn to the sights, sounds, and smells of this same storm at Feträ. I have always believed that as much as we have plans for Feträ, she also has her own plans for us, and her isolation during this time must be what she needs.

Until another tomorrow…peace.

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Winter Wonderland

Deep in the snow.

We have had a BUNCH of snow in Minnesota. Elissa and I decided to venture out to Feträ to put up some more insulation. Since the city has not plowed our road much in the past, we figured we would be hiking in from the county road, about a quarter mile. We got some snowshoes, I packed up the new toboggan from Northern Toboggan and hit the road. Much to our surprise, the road was plowed. We were still very thankful for the snowshoes and the toboggan as we hauled the insulation to the cabin.

Pulling the toboggan with snowshoes.

The weather was beautiful!

Angel Tree.

We both ventured into the woods a bit to enjoy the peacefulness.

A snowy woods.

It was a magical day that neither one of us wanted to end.

The creek never freezes.

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A New Friend

It was a long, cold day, but our new friend has a home. Oskar and I got up early and drove over to a horse farm near Chetek. Of course it was the coldest day so far this winter, and it was the day we were moving the newly acquired 1948 Farmall M to its new home at Feträ. I had contracted with another guy to meet us there as well with a truck and trailer to do the hauling. When we got to the farm it was a balmy 3 degrees.  Oskar stayed warm in the truck while we tried to get the tractor started.  No luck.  We swapped out the battery from my truck and it started right up, but the engine raced up to max RPM’s.  We had to shut it down right away.  About this time I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  No worries, with two people who new what they were doing, they had the carburetor pulled apart while I watched.  Turns out there was moisture frozen in the governor rod.  Once that was melted (with a blowtorch, yikes!), they put it back together and it fired right up and ran like a dream.  We got the tractor loaded on the trailer, chained it down, and we were off to Feträ.

Loading the tractor on the trailer.

It was fun looking in the rear view mirror and seeing my tractor.  Once we got it to Feträ, the driver backed it off the trailer, and it was my turn.

Driving the tractor for the first time!

I pulled it around the truck and parked in our parking area.  Our new friend was home.  After a bit of playing around on it, it was time to go into Spooner and get some lunch.  The girls met us in Spooner and we all went out to Feträ so everyone could see the new addition.

The girls on the tractor.

We took turns driving it around, and then it was time to bid our new friend farewell.  It was a great day and the start of a new adventure.  Welcome to the family Totoro the tractor.

This is what it’s all about