Highland Farm

2006-11-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

Why I am going to discontinue this blog-too few readers. Let me elaborate.

I am not writing the blog for my own sake as some bloggers do. There is no need w/i me that shouts "I must ne heard!".

I recently read some of the posts of one of the most popular blogs in blogland. It was almost a step-by-step log of her daily routine w/ commentary that sounded like an open mike to her brain. And her audience loves it! The comments were in the hundreds and totally agreeing w/ her observations on why a 4 year old changes the channel when the commercial comes on. These same women-yes, they were all women if their names were accurate-were grousing about the time kids spent in front of the TV. If the kids could type they would be grousing about the time mom spends reading and posting blogs.

I am writing it for you, dear reader, but my interest is waining. To write of what has already happened is like a constant version of "what I did on my summer vacation". I am not a typist but a self-taught, hunt 'n pecker w/ who is missing a couple of finger tips. So the editing is a big deal and I get tired of fooling around w/ it. Please don't reccomend the spell check. My pop-up blocker throws up when I try to use it..

If I write of what can be or should be and in a broader context than the farm it is kind of weird because there is no feedback. Picture yourself sitting in a chair and talking to the wall. You can say whatever you want and you will get no arguement, no feedback. So if I say that all redheads are dorks, well who's to argue?

If you want to hear from me and know what's happening on the farm, then you make the effort and send me an e-mail (tdaschke@socantel.net) and I'll respond.

Do I sound grouchy? Well, I not. I just have better things to do than trying my hand at being clever or entertaining and not sure of accomplishing either.

2006-10-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

An update-it's more than cellos & oboes.

Went blasting thru the woods on the way to learn about coal. J always takes this backroad that is about the most scenioc thing around. In one stretch we went down and thru a series of esses and the woods were illuminated in orange w/ black trunks. No cello or oboes, just Placido singing an aria from Turandot and the sweetness of his voice and the colors made me think of the ending lines from American Beauty about the sorrow of all the beauty that you know will fade so you relax and let it run thru you like rain.

Return trip. A soprano singing an aria from Tosca as we entered the esses. To hear a high C being held and watch the colors blur because your eyes are a bit moist...that's living!

2006-10-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

So now I'm in a splint...and we call that progress. I have home therapy to do for the arm along w/ therapy for the shoulder and that's how my day goes. For those w/ a fashion conscious sensitivity the new splint is black. So, to recap, the full arm cast was red, white & blue; the short cast was lime green and I'm topping things off w/ black. Quite the ensemble I'd say. The real therapy begins next Friday and I can hardly wait. Been thru that w/ my hand and I know pain when it comes.

We are somewhat past our full autumnal color and you can hear the cellos & oboes playing softly in a minor key carried by the soft but cool breeze. My time of the year. We minor melancholics are the true sensors of the ether. We find our lives in colors of muted shades and somber tones and so ripe for reflection.

Ahhh...the cello is in a lower register now and some think it is the trees in an agony. Alas, it is only the symphony of change that never ceases to sound the same each year yet different to those who seek the soft shadows and not the glare of the sunlit meadow. Give me a cloudy fall day w/ lots of color and add a soft mist or light rain and I'm ready to sit and dream.

Yessiree, the long sleeve shirts are out from the back of the closet-the heavy flannels hang together like murals depicting work in the woods and the lighter shirts in lighter colors don't hang like the flannels but appear to be ready to "get on with it".

Also now confined to the back of the closet are the faded and somewhat thin Dickies. I can get but a season out of them and then they are so thin that they become hay pants for the next year, i.e. thin, light and you don't stick to them. Season over? Throw them away.

Our busiest times of the year-spring & fall. Natures busiest? Spring & fall. Notice a pattern here.

Well the bell just sounded for the filling of the last water tank-oh how I miss those automatic waterers. Now that we have freezing temps it's back to schlepping hoses. Bye.

2006-10-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

O me of little faith...

I was watching da Bears last night and gave up w/ 5 minutes left-they had just had their sixth turnover, the Cardinals were on the Bear's forty yard line and I saw no future except to lose more sleep so it was off to sleep I went.

This morning's front page of The Trib blares "Bears Miracle Win...". Of course I had to punish myself by reading the play-by-play which features an 80 yard runback and an outstanding defense that really got ball hungry. Poor me.

Cold (50 defrees) and raining. Wood stove is cranked up and the pipes are a creakin'. Cows don't mind so should I?

Reading a book about a writer & editor for The New Yorker who does his best to learn cooking by apprenticing to various chefs hoping to learn something of the trade. The book is called "Heat" and it reads like a novel in which you know how it is going to end but can't figure out how it gets there.

If I get an answer from a certain politico I'll publish my e-mail to him & his response. If no response I'll write him off as another reason for the system being broken.

Time to go and ice the shoulder.

2006-10-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I washed dishes w/ a power washer.

These were not our dishes but the cows. As the freezing weather approaches, we have to get our winter water systems up and running. Part of this process involves washing their water tanks w/ the power washer; while I was at it, I washed their feed pans. Ain't I a good dad?

We probably have over three cords of wood stacked and are using it now that the temp has dropped. Because this is the first full year we will be using the auxillary wood stove we have no idea as to what we will need.

A friend gave us some elk steak and we fixed it last night-tasted like our grassfed steer. Tonight we made it into chili and that really hit the spot.

News on the local scene. Bozo Kurt notified his uncle, Scottie (of local Piper Cub fame) that he had until next spring to move from the garage where he has his auto repair business. Scottie has been there 50 years! Don't know what is behind this except Kurt is finally getting married. Guess even his mother (Scottie's sister-in-law) got tired of having him underfoot.

So Scottie is doing what every red blooded 81 year old man would do-he is building a shop behind his home. Guess the 1/4 mile commute was getting to him. And what does Scottie say about all of this. "Just wish the little ____ had the integrity to tell me himself that this is what he wanted instead of having a lawyer send me a registered letter."

I'm off to make popcorn for our movie date that starts in 10 minutes. So don't call me to ask for some elk chili.

2006-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

So now it's green, the cast, that is. (Like that sentence?) When they cut the full cast off and I tried to move my wrist I knew then that there was more cast time ahead for me. So really the big decision was what color to choose. I chose lime green and it looks pretty cool if I do say so. After the old cast was off and we were waiting for the x-ray, I told my now exposed left arm about all the things that it missed but it was saddened by all the things that we are not getting to. I tried to cheer it up by telling it that the rest of the body appreciates the rest and the right shoulder is recovering nicely from tendonitis. Apparently the arm had difficulty hearing w/ the full cast but expects to participate in the body's experiences more fully w/ the short cast.

To help the left arm out of its funk, we began cutting the BIG pile across the road. I had been using the chainsaw to cut blowdown and the left arm was able to handle it as long as the cuts were around mid-body in he8ight. The two piles of logs-about 50 in number (each 1' or so in diameter and 20' long) ranged in height from ground level to 7'. So, Don & Sandy, who own half the pile started cutting and splitting and Joyce & I used the tractor to move bucket loads to the shed for stacking. This is working well AND we had Laurie come by yesterday & Nancy today to lend a hand. At the end of yesterday we estimated that we had 1 1/2 cords stacked. I estimate we will burn between three & four cords per winter.

And speaking ofwinter, we made our air reservations to visit Dereck, Jen & the boys over Christmas. Now we have to line up the help to keep the place running while we are gone.

J is out loading her tractor cart so I better get mysely and the tractor moving before she clobbers me w/ one of the splits.

2006-09-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

I know...I know...but time passes and I've been lazy. The shoulder has tendonitis and I'm in physical therapy for another two weeks. I see the doctor on Wed. regarding the break and I am hoping the cast will come off to be replaced by nothing. In retrospect, I should have pushed for a short cast then I wouldn't have to face the prospect of therapy for the elbow; but then I wouldn't have a red, white & blue cast.

Finished (hopefully) the brush hogging yesterday and had a sore back last night. The hours on the tractor were spent kind of bent over because the lever to disengage the pto is on the left and I can only operate it w/ my right hand so you have a lot of crossover action.

Today 6-8 cords of logs will arrive for cutting and splitting...as soon as I get the cast off and can handle the saw.

How's this for an idea? We lose a lot of time moving equipment around to the various fields often pulling w/ the tractor. If I had another tow vehicle then the tractor could stay idle and just the truck and new tow vehicle could do the moving, i.e, J & I could do the towing at a faster clip.

My recommendation-a Porsche 911 Turbo w/ Tiptronic S tranny. At 480 hp and 0-60 in 3.7 sec. I think the hay wagons will really fly down the pike. Stopping a full wagon should be no problem w/ 14" ceramic brakes. The beauty of this vehicle is that it is all-wheel drive. My preliminary search shows a dearth of suitable mud tires but the hunt continues. Further research will be needed to raise the body several inches for ground clearence and mounting a 10,000 lb. bumper hitch.

Nothin' dull about farm life.

2006-09-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

So why have I been so derelict in updating my blog?

To begin with there has not been anything happening that you would have found interesting. I mean, REALLY! Do you want to read the one finger rantings of a bored and slightly addled Medicare card carrying almost farmer?

Oh well, for the two or three who have stayed the course let's have a rip at it.

The arm is doing well. Both bones are broken but the last x-ray showed signs of healing. My next visit is on the 27th when the cast will be removed and another x-ray taken. Choices? Hopefully, no cast but realistically a short cast may in the offing. That will help. Maybe I can give up the recliner and return to some semblence of normalcy.

Tomorrow we visit Joyce's orthopedic surgeon for a routine checkup of the knee. I am going to have him look at my right shoulder because of the pain I get at night and when I "over use" it whatever that means. My suspicion is bursitis or a slight tear in the rotator cuff. Regardless, rest is not an option.

This last week I drove the tractor to load round bales for transport to our farm, for a customer and just to get them close to the road for easy loading onto the lowboy. We have had so much rain that we are afraid of getting stuck in the field. With eight bales on board our weight is 12,000 lbs. so we best be careful. We don't have one of those new fangled tractors w/ the slush shift. This kid has real gears and that translates to lots of right arm use. But I still like having 115 round bales for the winter.

Where does that leave us? With the impending eye surgery this fall and all the fall projects still ahead we are trying to get as much done even before the cast comes off, whenever that is. Still, there are the fall shots, castrations, calf weanings, oil changes, wood cutting (4 tons!), water system winterization, etc. to be done. The eye surgery will have me on very light duty for 4 weeks and then I have to contend w/ minimal sight for months but I can lift. If we push the surgery to late fall then Joyce will have to do the winter feeding by herself for a couple of months. Or we can do the surgery now and push the chores back assuming I will be ready for action by the end of Oct. What to do...what to do?

After reading this, are you sure you want me to keep the blog updated?

2006-08-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

So I sez to the Doc, "Doc when can I get this cast off" And the Doc sez to me "maybe in four weeks or at least maybe a short cast".

So that's the way the conversation went today when I went for an x-ray to see how the breaks were healing. In fact you can barely make them out. So much for that old saw about "I don't heal as quickly as I once did". May be true for some but let's not think it a universal truth and another poke against those of the more mature set.

I'd like to enthrall you w/ all that has been going on but I've slept through most of it. This evening we'll go to the GDS Fair and I'll push my "New Farmer's Assistance Program" on any of the unsuspecting that stops in our tent to see the ethanol demo. Kind of like a bait & switch but with a higher moral purpose.

Notice that I am using both upper & lower case AND I even tied my own shoes yesterday. Too much excitement...I'm off for a nap before going to the fair.

2006-08-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

WE GOT BACK FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM ABOUT 12:30 THIS MORNING. I HAD SOME TOAST AND TOOK SOME ADVIL TO COMPLIMENT THE VICODINE ES WHICH WAS GIVEN TO ME IN THE ER. GETTING OUT OF MY SHIRT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PROJECT ATTEMPTED FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING, EVEN TOUGHER THAN BRUSHING MY TEETH-FLOSSING WAS NOT EVEN CONSIDERED.

I HAD A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP IN THE RECLINER AND FEEL PRETTY GOOD THIS AM.

THE REASON FOR TYPING IN UPPERCASE? IT'S EASIER THAN TRYING TO USE THE SHIFT KEY.

ARE YOU PUTTING THE CLUES TOGETHER?

THE ER DOCTOR USED THE WORD "SHATTERED", NOT CRACKED, NOT BROKEN BUT "SHATTERED". GUESS THAT KIND OF GIVES IT A SPECIAL EMPHASIS. I KNOW OF SHATTERED DREAMS AND SHATTERED LIVES BUT THE WORD IS SELDOM USED AS AN ADJETIVE WHERE I AM CONCERNED.

HAD A BUSY WEEK PLANNED BUT THAT WILL HAVE TO WAIT. WE WILL RETURN TO THE HOSPITAL ON WED. FOR A "CAST CLINIC". I'M NOT KIDDING, THAT IS WHAT IT IS CALLED, "A CAST CLINIC". AFTER THAT I SHOULD KNOW IF SURGERY IS NECESSARY OR IF THE WHOLE THING CAN BE HANDLED W/ A RIGID CAST.

WELL, THAT BRINGS YOU UP-TO-DATE AND THE VICODINE IS KICKING IN MAKING ME SLEEPY.

PLAYING WITH YOU AM I? JUST A BIT BUT IT DOES SHOW THE DARKER SIDE OF THE CARD CARRYING MEDICARE GENERATION. WHAT IF THIS WAS SOMETHING OF A MORE SERIOUS NATURE? WOULD I BE AS FLIPPANT? PROBABLY, BECAUSE THAT IS MY NATURE., I WILL GRIEVE FOR YOU BUT WANT AN IRISH FUNERAL REVELRY FOR MYSELF.

BOTTOM LINE...I WAS UNLOADING A COUPLE OF STEERS AT THE PROCESSOR AND ONE OF THEM HIT THE TRAILER DIVIDING PANEL DRIVING IT BACKWARDS AND CATCHING MY LEFT ARM BETWEEN THE DIVIDER AND THE POST.

AFTER 10 ADDITIONAL MINUTES, WE FINALLY GOT THEM OFF AND WE SAT AND JOKED ABOUT ME GETTING MY ARM CAUGHT IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME. IT WAS SWOLLEN AND SORE BUT I COULD MOVE MY FINGERS SO I THOUGHT THINGS WOULDN'T BE TOO BAD, JUST SORE. DROVE THE HOUR HOME AND WE DECIDED TO GO TO THE ER TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT.

THAT WAS WHEN I HEARD THE WORD "SHATTERED" USED BY THE ER DOCTOR AS HE LOOKED AT THE X-RAYS OF MY WRIST.

LOOKS LIKE 6-8 WEEKS OF LIGHT DUTY FOR THIS LITTLE COW POKE.

NOW I AM TIRED AND I'M OFF TO MY RECLINER.

2006-08-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's all over but the shouting; well, almost.

Harry will rake the last piece of hay this AM and Will will round bale it this afternoon. Then we can begin to move all 100+ bales over to our place. I think we will have over 100 tons of hay which gives us some to sell. If my back-of-the-envelope-while-driving-the-tractor calculation is correct we may make enough to cover all expenses while returning some compensation to those who worked so hard to make it happen.

We still have to do some brush hogging as part of the agreement but that is a day's worth of work at best.

And tonight our faithful crew of neighbors will come to stack the last of the hay in the old barn. When we cut the clover there was more there than I thought-300 bales to be specific-I was expecting a hundred or so. So we have the house barn filled to the upper window; the old barn has one filled maw and we'll half fill the second. The lack of storage and the pressure to move it into the barn is the reason we had the resat round baled. At our age we tend to invest capital (in this case expense) for labor saving devices. This allows us to keep things going w/o killing ourselves.

Even so, I lost 12 lbs in the process.

Shortly we will begin to cut wood for the coming winter season. A load of dried logs will get us going and we can cut the smaller stuff as we get the time. Our fuel oil dealer offered a prebuy at $2.679 per gallon even tho we now pay $2.379. That is based on futures contracts so you can see where the bets are being placed-energy prices are going up! I want to get 8 cords stored before the first snow.

A steer & a young bull will go to the processor this week. We are down to our last 30 lbs of burger. This is a new processor I am trying and I like his methods. Low to no stress in handling the animals. Ideally, they go up the night before and have their own pen w/ food and water. The next day they are taken one at a time and the remaining animals know not what cometh. I've watched him do it and the calmness of the actual killing is an ease to my conscience. TRhis process results in better meat w/ no dark cutters caused by stress.

Well, I'm off to the barn. J is away visiting her friends who will go as a group to the Jersey shore for a few days. She needs the time away from the farm and this works well.

2006-08-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you wish for...you may get it.

We have been lusting over a field next to the airfield that we hayed in June. This field is owned by Mrs. Edwards and was supposed to be cut by one of the commercial hay guys. Mrs. Edwards runs a tight ship and when she realized that he may not get to her until late Aug. or Sep. she looked for other options and that is who we are-"other options".

The negotions are important only if we are sitting across a table and drinking coffee but it will suffice it to say that last Tue, we got the word that we could have the hay gratis. That is when we found out it was not one field but two, the other one located to the north of her house and looking like it belonged to another farm. Not so and now we are cutting what I will estimate to be at least 2500 additional bales.

Well, I started cutting last Thur. in the rain hoping for a couple of clear days for drying, raking and baling. I tossed the hay on Fri. and again on Sat. but the air here is was so humid and overcast that not much drying took place so we did a final fluffing and baled on Sun. after church. We had to wait because we had a light rain early Sun. am and the ground was wet. Finally I started baling and Harry was busy raking the heavier rows trying to get them to dry.

We brought two wagon loads over to our barn around 7:30 pm and the crew unloaded them by 9:00. That was we came to the realization that we did not have (1) enought places to store the remaining 2000 bales and (2) the labor required to finish the job was more than I wanted to ask. This was becoming an all summer job and I didn't want to tie up all these people (if they were still willing) or myself w/ all that work.

So, as I sat in church, the Lord spoke to me in a vision..."call Jeff and see if he will lend you his round baler or come and do the baling himself" (I'm not making this up). Round bales weigh about the same a 20 square bales AND they can be stored outside. With minimum cover and some ground prep the loss is tolerable. However, Jeff didn't have a round baler, it was Will who did his baling. So I called Will and, yes he could help but not until late in the week which was fine for us.

So to put an end to this mini crisis, we will cut and rake in preparation for Will to make big round bales on Sunday. Horrors...on Sunday? Yes, because rain is forcasted for Monday and the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, besides the Lord hates waste.

No one commented on my challenge in the previous post so I'll let you read and enjoy this post w/ no strings attached.

2006-07-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Something to think about...

I was listening to a conversation aired on NPR that caught my attention. They were talking about something that is kind of making its way around the blogosphere and yellow-lined pads.

Ready???

List 365 people that have been in your life and write no more than 37 words describing them. Do one person each day. Supposedly there are 54 bloggers doing this and who knows how many off-liners are sharpening the nib of their quills.

Supposedly preparing the list was easier than most people thought.

Are you interested?

Farm stuff.

All of our hayfields are cut and in the barn. The last one was a small piece that was rained on early Friday morning. Dave (aka the animal) came up from the hollow where he lives w/ a tedder/rake combo and spent the afternoon tedding & raking until it was dry. Harry & I went over at 4:30 pm and while he did the final raking I chased him w/ the baler. We saved 104 bales giving us a total of 1800 bales so far.

While I wait for the second cutting on the airfield, I'll finish clippling the pastures, brush hog the powerline area for additional grazing, weed whack the roadside and get the locust and junk away from the fence.

Our world is getting flatter...

Yes it is. Thursday night, J & I went to Honesdale for an in-the-park concert by The Old Time Fiddlers consisting of,

a bass
an harmonica
a mandolin
a mandola
an accordian
a few guitars
many fiddles

There were 18 performers on stage, each having a crack at being the solo artist. Some doubled up playing an additional instrument or two or doing some vocals. The oldest, Uncle Johnny, is 88 and did a rousing rendition of I Don't Look Good Naked Anymore.

So there we were, under the maples. sycamores and white pines bordered by the Episcopal church w/ its gray rough hewn block serving as a backdrop to the artists. To the left is the courthouse built in the late 1800's. The right flank was guarded by the row of refurbished early 19th century homes now occupied mostly by legal practices. And to the rear of the park we have the stately Presbyterian church in red common brick. The park has closure and is a very comfortable venue for such an evening.

The music, as you might imagine, was from the last three hundred years and fit the scene very well. I sat there thinking of an earlier time, maybe a hundred years ago when a couple of hundred folks gathered, just like us, on a warm July night and listened to music.

At 10:00 we left. Our route took us down Main St. (yes, that is really the name of the street) and we passed by Fred's Towne Diner. I looked at the sign in front upon which were listed the nightly specials and a world flattener! Fred now advertised wireless internet service at the diner. Less than a hour ago I was listening to reels and breakdowns and now I can walk over to Fred's Towne Diner and use the wireless internet service.

How much more excitement can one body take?

2006-07-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is not the day to update the blog so I'll update it anyway. It is cloudy and threatens rain so my plans for finishing the first phase of the pasture clipping may get delayed. if so, I'll be dragging all the equipment a few miles up the road and cut the last of our pieces tomorrow and bale on Sunday. I know, it is a little late but the hay doesn't look that bad and will be the first hay fed.

J is wearing a knee brace due to a tendon strain. The doctor said it had nothing to do w/ the new knee and could have happened even w/o the operation. Suspect it had more to do w/ helping put the neighbor's hay away than training the calves.

After this year's hay cutting i think it is time to upgrade the haybine. Need a New Holland 489 or 492. This will give us a more even cut w/ less dirt in the hay (and that is one of the drawbacks of using a flail chopper). So, we are accepting donations and direct deposits even from unknown sources in the middle east. I'm trying to organize a fund raiser but the word is out that the entertainment will be me playing the fiddle in the buff. I'm not sure which part of that last statement is the turnoff but something isn't working.

Ahhh, a break in the weather...it's off to the clipping...ta ta all!

2006-07-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Advantages to living in the boonies.

our chickens can take dust baths in the middle of the road. When a car comes they slow down letting the chickens move out of the way at their own pace (usually)
our German Shephard, Lucas, can walk down the middle of the road and be afforded the same courtesy as the chickens
our shire town has free music in the park, every Monday and Thursday, from 6/26-8/3. On the 24th of June the town hosted a music festival that lasted from 10 am to 11 pm. The music runs from country/blue grass/folk to German oompah-pah and barbershop.
our 90 year old neighbor can sit w/i the confines of his open garage in his under shorts and not feel the least bit awkward
we will stop in the middle of the road and pass the time of day
when lightning struck the house of the 90 year old (who was wearing pants at the time) neighbors went through the entire house looking for damage...found none
the girls up the road sell the best pink lemonade but it is cash only
ten neighbors from four families helped put our hay into the barn
I can take the stock trailer to the local car wash and wash the inside w/ soap and warm water
our mechanic brings out car home and we drive him back if he hasn't already arranged for transportation
the barn doors are left open for the hay to dry and nothing is ever missing

There is more but I am going to eat and then work on the air tank. What's it like where you live?

2006-06-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

So now I'm milking a cow...more on that later.

After the trip to Maine for the NE Highland Cattle Assoc. spring meeting at which I was divested of the mantle of responsibility of being the president, we enjoyed goofing off w/ cow friends in Vermont until getting home to start haying. And haying we did.

Harry & Nancy got it started and J and I joined in. We started doing the airfield, about 30 some acres and kept it going. For the third and last section, we cut until 9:30 pm last Tue and the hay was HEAVY...lots of clover and that doesn't dry quickly. Wed. we fluffed and conditioned it and watched the weather forecast. It wasn't good. Rain expected that night and into Thur. We needed Thur. to be dry and sunny.

After a restless night, Thur. morning came around and no rain yet but it was overcast. Sat down to breakfast and the rain started. It lasted about half an hour but it was enough to make me feel sick.

The rain stopped and a weak sun appeared. I caught up w/ Harry who had been to the field. He thought that if we didn't get any more rain and had some sun we may save what was cut. And that is what we got.

By 11 am Harry was raking and I was greasing the baler. By 2 the rows were dry enough to start baling and bale we did! Joyce was calling around for volunteer hay unloader/stackers and by the time we got the first wagon w/ 150+ bales on it we had a few folks. With the second wagon we had more and by the fourth wagon we had 10 people; enough people that those in the upper reaches of the maw can get relief every wagon or so if they want.

So by 7 pm we had 550 additional bales in the barn bringing our total to 1550 bales. With a small field left to cut and anticipation of a second cutting I think we will have 3000 bales for the winter. That leaves us w/ some round bales to buy but I like that anyway because they are great when a big snow storm is on the way.

It has been raining since Friday and heavy at times.

On to the cow milking.

Friday J found that Aileen had had a calf but it was under the fence and she couldn't get to it. So we rescued the calf (actually J did all the rescuing, I was hammering nails at HFH). It wasn't clear if she had nursed but has some fly strike. So I carried the calf down to the corral/barn area with Aileen in tow. We cleaned the calf and fed her some milk which she took eagerly but then lost interest.

The calf is physically deformed w/ a turned out right front leg and a head that turns to the left. At first she walked very clumsily but it looked as tho there was some hope for her so we have been nursing her a couple of times per day since Friday. Last night she was on her feet and following me around and more alert than we have sen her.

Aileen, her dam, is one of our most sociable cows so we thought nothing of having her with us when we fed the calf. Big mistake. Friday afternoon, when we were doing the first feeding, J was holding the calf from the side and I was in front w/ the bottle. Aileen was there licking the milk off the calf's chin and then she charged me and hit me in the chest knocking me a couple of feet away. She turned toward J who had her feet up to defend herself and Aileen stopped and went to the calf. I scooted out of the corral w/ some bruises. Now we give Aileen some grain and confine her to the paneled walkway when we work w/ the calf.

Sat. Aileen's udder was huge so we decided to milk her out both for her relief and to provide mother's milk for the calf. We got her in the headgate and J proceeded to milk out her left side. Being an old farm girl this was easy for her. But Aileen was agitated and wouldn't stand still. So I brushed her forelock which she enjoys and gave her some hay. It was going slowly and I asked J to show me how to milk her. I took the right side. The rest is history. By that evening we were racing to see who could get their bottles filled the quickest. I can see all sorts of new careers opening for me w/ this new found skill.

UPDATE!!! J just came in and said that it looks like Aileen has been nursed, at least one teat, and the calf is walking around. Maybe we have turned the corner w/ this calf. If she is nursing and walking more ofter then the leg may straighten and we'll have to see about the neck.

I going down to see how the calf and mom are doing. Will keep you posted.

2006-06-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

Back from Vermont & Maine...GREAT TRIP!!!

Now doing hay and no time to chat.

Later.

2006-05-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

Whew!! Finally a break in the action. I can't believe how busy this place has been since we returned from Denver.

The room is now finished and looks great. Nice having more outlets and eliminating the extension cords; always looked like an accident waiting to happen.

Been trying to get the agenda together for the NorthEast Highland Cattle Assoc. Spring Meeting which is next week. I have to do a Board of Director's agenda and a members general meeting agenda at which time I will turn over the reins of the presidency and cool my heels as a director w/o portfolio.

Lat Saturday was THE BIG EVENT! J came back from her pasture walk and told me that Hoya was beginning to have her calf. This was around 10 am. So up we went w/ camera in hand to record the event. I have never seen a calf born, just the results. Hoya paced, laid down, paced, laid down, paced...until a bulge appeared from her vulva. It didn't look like anything that I had ever seen and it certainly didn't look like a calf.

It was a part of the birth sac and preceeded the calf. She stood and did little grunts and pushes and then we could see two tiny feet. This is good and indicates proper positioning. And then the pace quickened. Next we could make out the head and the ears and now the birthing was in full bloom. Because she was standing, as the calf came out gravity took over and the calf eased out and dropped to the ground. I understand that in other cultures women have babies in a semi standing position allowing gravity to do its thing. It sure works w/ cows.

Once the calf was on the ground Hoya began to clean it. The calf was breathing very shallow and blinking its eyes. Soon it started to move its legs and rolled to a more comfortable position. Now the head was raised and when Hoya cleaned the stomach we could see that it was a heifer. Thirty minutes after birth the calf tried to struggle to its feet. Being near the edge of a slight slope it got into an awkward position so J had to push it back up the hill. Ten minutes later it was on it feet. Total time from first sight of the calf to standing was about an hour.

We have been watching it closely because it didn't seem to be nursing. So over the last couple of days we would put the calf on Hoya's teat and try to get it to nurse; sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Last night, in the beautiful twilight we tried again to get her to nurse. No luck. Then the moms (we have the three mothers w/ their calves and their two weaned calves in the lower pasture) walked out of the woods and started grazing. The heifer came out and we put her on Hoya as a last ditch effort and SUCCESS! She nursed for at least ten munutes. Even when she lost the teat she found it again and continued feeding. When finished she felt so good that she ran and ran and ran. No puny calf this one. She was kicking up her heels and enjoyed being a calf among other calves.

So we stood in the soft twilight and watched the calves play as their moms grazed and gave a quiet "thanks" for this life. Then it was an hour in the hot tub and on to bed.

I checked her this morning and Hoya looked milked out in one quarter and the calf was resting w/ head raised and looking very alert.

Now this is probably more than you ever wanted to know about calving BUT if anyone wants pics, I can put a couple together and you will get an idea of the process. May make a unique Show & Tell for kids.

2006-05-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

It was a good trip but not the kind you want to take. Bob was much loved and well respected so there were many red rimmed eyes. When they played "Peace in the Valley' that about gobbled up what composure I had left.

And finally, at the cemetary, there was a military farewell that many said was the most moving of all the tributes. I guess that, given the business the military is in, they have the funeral piece down pat. The slow procession, soft spoken commands, the folding of the flag, presentation to the wife (in this case) and the playing of Taps...gives me chills typing this recollection.

The travel piece was another story. J & I felt like rubes from the country gawking at all the tall buildings (metaphorically speaking). I booked us w/ NW Airlines BUT it is operated by Delta. So the first piece of awkwardness occurred at the NW counter as we were shuffeled to Delta. Then Delta couldn't get the plane to our gate in time for our Cincinnati connection so they sent us on the Atlanta. Got that? To get to Denver you fly to Atlanta.

And where are the bags you ask? I asked as well and a gate attendant said that they would travel w/ us. And he said it w/ a straight face. In the wee small hours of the morning the phone rang in the home of the Convery's who were our hosts for the time we were in Denver. Sleeply, Eileen answered the call and a man announced he was there w/ our luggage. "Where are you," she asked? "In front of your house," he replied. So the bags did arrive none the worse for wear but definately frightened and in need of sleep. We didn't unpack them until late in the morning so they were well rested and very cooperative.

On the return trip we were selected for a full search body & bag search. One of the TSA guys mumbled about having a variety of criteria for selection so we fit one or more of those criteria. J always goes thru this because of her bionic knees. For me this was a new experience. Well, not entirely new. I learned the frisk drill well when I was a teen in Chicago but hadn't had to use those skills since then. Funny how old habits come back to you. The TSA agent wasn't pleased when I leaned against the wall w/ my hands holding me up and claiming I wasn't even near that bar that night (wrong response, wrong scenario). All went well, tho. I'm sure we are now in one data bank or another w/ some kind of natation stating that "she is OK and nice but watch out for the bearded one, looks like some history there".

On the final leg into Philly we flew, w/ our NW booking on a flight supposedly operated by Delta but actually operated by Com Air. Got that?

I'm so glad to be back. We were greeted w/ a new calf. Honey is again a proud mom and has a healthy, medium red heifer following her where ever she goes. AHHH, spring!

2006-05-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

An update,

Joyce's brother Bob died on Saturday. We will be flying to Denver for the funeral on Thursday and returning next Sat. This is her third sibling to die in the last eighteen months. It's tough being the youngest.

Ann, thanks for the thoughts. I'll pass them on when J returns. She is visiting some friends in E. Stroudsburg for the day and will return tomorrow.

2006-05-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the BIG Spring Highland Cow Show in Mercer Cnty., western PA. We brought no cows but did help some friends get their's ready. it was interesting having a "double shot" show. The cows are shown on Fri. & Sat. but w/ two different judges. Kind of tests the old adage about one judge placing your cow first and another placing her last. Last weekend we had only one complete flip-flop. The rest of the rankings were either the same or traded places next to one another.

Sat. night we went to one of the members farm and had an ox roast, bonfire (HUGE) and a square dance which kind of let J know she is not that far from her knee surgery. Now she has some bursitis and a frown from her surgeon for pushing too hard (but it was sooo much fun!).

Sunday we went to the outskirts of Erie, PA to look at a couple of bulls. Talked bull for a couple of hours and left w/ thing to ponder. Decided to take US Rt 6 back thru upper PA. Beautiful but long trip. All the small towns and mountain hamlets fit for a postcard were on display.

Monday a reporter from the Lancaster Farmer and Dave Williams, our local radio guy were here to interview us about Highland cattle and the change in professions and lifestyles. While I took the reporter around for some animal photos, Dave interviewed J for his Sat./Sun. am radio show. We've done this before so it wasn't a big deal.

Wed. we vaccinated and wormed the small herd of which three have been sold so they are ready to go. Plan to get the rest down this coming week if the rain (ah yes; sweet, blessed rain) doesn't make things too muddy. We had an inch last Wed. and I took soil sample for a soil test on Friday. My sample cores were 6"-8" deep and the soil was moist, yesssss! This may be a good hay year yet.

The floor is finished and only the baseboard remains. it's been hard squeezing in this project among our normal doings.

J's brother Bob isn't doing well and may be punching cows w/ some of his long gone friends soon. It's a situation where you hate to answer the phone.

This morning I answered it tenuously and it was Donny. We are now the proud co-owners of a log splitter. Matching that w/ my new Husqvarna chainsaw puts me in the big leagues. COME ON WINTER!!! DO YOU WORST!!! If I just cut the dead stuff, I'll be stocked w/ at least seven cords by the fall .

Pooped...and I'm going to read the paper and go to bed. 'Nite all.

2006-05-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again ready to do my annual May 1st update (where has the year gone?).

I am sitting in the computer/library/study/office room jammed against the newly painted wall which looks pretty good. J did a texture thing w/ a metallic wash and it has an old plastery look. All the electrical work is done and we are enjoying having more outlets. it doesn't take much to please us. Laying the floor has begun and we're getting the hang of it.

Farmwise, some things have changed. The family that visited a couple of weeks ago called to say that they want to purchase Rowena, Penny and Spice. It will be sad to see them go but it will relieve the pressure of having to maintain two herds.

Speaking of which...a couple of the girls got to pushing on each other across the gate until they had the gate off the top hook. Then someone, but no one will say who lifted the gate off the holding post and in they walked. Luckily, the 2 year olds who were resident in the lower pasture weren't in heat so the bull was no problem. He sniffed them and walked down to the corral to look for grass. The rest of the herd munched the newly found lower pasture grass which looks and tastes just like their grass. We scooted Rowena, Penny and Spice into one of the holding pens and then began to herd the herd back into the upper pasture.

Sounds easy? This lower pasture is 1200' long and 600' wide. The cows had beat a retreat to the far end of the pasture. So off we go, long shephard crooks in hand and start to push them back to the gate. It took four tries before we got them through the gate. For you math majors, that is about 9800' of straight line walking. In reality, it is almost two miles because the walking isn't on a very straight line and there is a lot of back & forth trying to keep them in some sort of order. Luckily, the two calves, born last fall, hung back so we kept them in the lower pasture and started to wean them from their moms.

Now all we had to do was get Lincoln, the bull, to leave his corral grass and join the main herd in the upper pasture w/o tarrying in the lower pasture. Luckily he is cheap and will do most anything for grain. Ten minutes later he was back w/ the main herd.

With the calves being able to see their dams, they weaning process went smoothly and moos were at a minimum.

Dante called yesterday to say that his nephews had some large round bales that they couldn't use at this barn because there were no cows there and they wanted to get rid of the bales. Did I want them? I drove over there (less than 1/2 mile) and Dante met me at the bales. They looked suprisingly good. Pulled some hay from the interior and it was sweet smelling. YES!!! So I took two of the bales home last night and fed one. They really liked it compared to what they had been getting. I'll go back and get the remaining four bales.

Hay is scarce due to the dry summer last year and what is available is going for a premium price. Getting these bales will carry us until the grass really starts to grow.

I worked at the Wayne County Farm Bureau Tractor Show and Plowing Extravaganza yesterday morning. Think I registered 40 tractors of most every make and model. Even had a Farmall w/ a '72 Cadillac motor...called it a Farmall McCaddie.

Between the tractor show and getting the hay, we had two sets of visitors. One was a family from church. Harry is fascinated w/ the farm. On his last visit, we gave him a package of grass finished ground beef and they loved it. This time they came back w/ their son from Minn. Harry wants to figure out a way to own cattle and have someone else raise them for a price. Then they will have visiting rights and, perhaps, future beef products if they are so inclined. I've toyed w/ this idea but maybe working w/ Harry we can put some flesh on this idea.

Sandy came over to spend time w/ her horse and introduce us to their new foster child, a very nice young person 12 years of age and madly in love w/ horses. Never fear, we'll get her into cattle before the year is thru.

Time to go and get the rest of the hay. Then I can power wash a couple of the water tanks. J will be back by the time I finish and we can continue to lay flooring.

2006-04-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

Whiny, whiny cows!!!

That's what we have, whiny cows! And you can tell them that I said so!

We fenced off a portion of the pasture to let it grow. When it hits 6"-8" we'll turn them in and give the rest of the pasture a rest. So now these whiny cows stand at the fence and bawl because they can't get in.

They have hay. They have some grass. They have water. But they want the grass which is greener on the other side of the fence.

Been interesting around these parts. Joyce's Mercy hospital ad finally hit the local TV stations and it is great! She looks stunning and speaks so well. If you think I am biased listen to what followed.

Jerry, who owns the ad agency that did all the work, called Wed, am wanting to come to the farm and shoot some stills for the ir print ads that will compliment the TV runs. J asked, somewhat jokingly, if he wanted to get some of the cows in the pics. He said, "of course".

Wed. pm Jerry, Joyce, HF Spice, HF Rownea and HF Pretty Penny spent the better part of the afternoon in various poses (as posed as you can get any cow). I was the water boy, feed handler, manure announcer (as in, "don't step in the manure"), and wrangler. It was a lot of fun. We took Jerry up to the main pasture to meet the big herd who had come down to see what all the fuss was about. I thought he was going to drop his teeth when I told him that the head he was scratching was that of Linclon, our bull and herd sire. No harm, no foul.

Finished up the electrical work yesterday and am glad we decided to add the three new outlets. Should have the room done by this time next week.

Last night we had a little excitement. J came running in and said that there was a fire in back of a neighbor's house and she called 911. they had already received the report and the pumper was dispatched. So we went over and dragged out the garden hose and sprayed the fire from the house side to keep it from heading that way. Fore company arrived and the boys went to work. Had it struck in about 15 minutes. So then they stood around their trucks and relived the good old days which for most of them was the high school days a few years back. But they do what I cannot do...go into a burning building and come out alive so I send them a donation every year.

We have a burn ban in effect due to the shortage of rain but that didn't stop the neighbor from burning her trash. Claims that she didn't know about the ban. What about common sense? Oh well, at least she means well.

2006-04-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Still doing the rewiring of the room. Trying to fish wire behind wallboard that is up against lathe and plaster is not for the impatient or faint of heart. But I'm getting there and hope to finish this part today. Then we can finish the rest of the painting.

Cows are quiet and enjoying the warmer days. Some even laid flat out just like a horse...the next step in total relaxation after chewing one's cud.

Has a abbreviated Seder at the church last night, kind of a nice lead in to Maundy Thursday. "Next year, Jerusalem. Next year, freedom". Powerful words!

Still burning blowdown to take off the morning chill, let it burn down in the afternoon and may start it again in the evening if we feel cool. Oil furnace has been off for a couple of days.

With gas approaching $3 again, it's been interesting listening to the locals fuss over what the cause. Two conclusions..."it's all politics"..."it's Bush and Cheney playing games w/ the oil companies". All this being said while the 300 hp truck sits in the parking lot of the coffee shop. I asked one of the guys if he would ever consider driving a smaller vehicle? "Nope, too dangerous". When I cited the greater danger of rollovers in trucks and the fact that the non- seatbelt wearers are greatest among pickup owners he said belts are too dangerous because you can get trapped and burn to death in a rollover which is more likey in a PU. Said nothing about the chance of head injuries or a broken neck from bouncing around like a volley ball inside the cab as the truck tumbles it way to some sort of final resting place.

In driving the Subaru, I have become very aware of how poorly the truck and Explorer handle. Case in point, when driving over Archbald Mtn. the posted speed is 40 mph. The truck & Explorer are a bit iffy at that speed as it is a very curvy road. The Subaru will take that road in the mid 50s and it isn't being tested. And it stays in its lane which is a danger on these country roads. Common to have a truck (especially) taking two feet over the center line as it kind of wallows thru the turn.

Let's hear it for small car technology!

Back to wiring and skinned knuckles...this was my break and I shared it w/ you.

2006-04-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Now I'm really in deep doodoo. We started the redecorating of the study/c0mputer/library room and it's not what we expected.

But first, a word of explanation. This part of the house is 150 years old and was built in the tradional style of farm houses in those days-you do what works. So, there are no studs on 16" centers. Beneath the wall board is lathe and plaster which means that there is only a 1/2" space between the wall board and the plaster. This becomes important when you want to add electrical recepticals. They must be recessed at least 1 1/2" into the wall. Well, if the wall board is 1/2" thick and there is a 1/2" gap created by the furing strips to which the board is nailed, then you have a box sticking out 1/2". Out comes the router and you literally hog out another 1/2" of material.

Our reason for going thru all this fuss is to get rid of the ugly dark olive carpet and add 3 more recepticals. This will become our winter nest as we shut down the rest of the house and rely more on the wood furnace directly beneath the floor of this room for heat.

After WWII there were two families living in this part of the house sharing the kitchen. I think two people can spend their waking hours here as well w/o any sense of claustrophobia.

The farm is starting to show signs of spring. Color is appearing in the pasture and the cows want to graze even if it is too short. So we fenced off half the pasture to let it grow unmolested. Gold finches are back and we have some scum on the pond. All signs of spring.

A couple of cows are starting to get enlarged bags so calving my be a few weeks away. We don't have enough pasture for grazing until mid May. So calves born around that time will start grazing a couple of weeks after birth.

Hay is in short supply. I have two large round bales left and a couple of hundred small bales. I've got feelers out to see who may have extra hay. Last year was too fry so there was no second cuttings except for haylage.

We have warmer temps and rain due later this week. Keep your fingers crossed that the hay will last.

2006-03-28T07:34:00.000-08:00

It's starting to feel like spring in these parts; that's the good news...and the bad news.

For us, spring means no more running the tank heaters to keep the water from freezing, no more filling the tanks and having the hose freeze if the flow is too slow, no more "slip, slidin' away" although my snow shoes and poles really came in handy, no more waiting for the glow plugs in the tractor to get the chambers hot enough to start the tractor, no more having the upper pasture gate drift shut after a storm, no more no mores.

On the other hand, it does mean that we now have to plan to bring the cows down for their shots, plan to grade the driveways and fill w/ gravel, plan to put up more fence by the power lines to capture the early grass and shrubs for grazing, plan to thin out the lower woods to stimulate grass and have more wood for next winter, plan to (maybe) take a couple of cows to the BIG Highland show in Western, PA, plan to update the soil tests and develop a nutrition plan for the pastures, plan to have NRCS & FSA come out to update our conservation plan and develop a rotational grazing plan, plan to plan some more.

BUT before we can get to all the plans, we still split and burn wood, still feed the cows hay, still have to watch the mud and boggy spots, still water the cows by the fence where it is pretty grubby, still wearing the heavy flannel shirts but not the lined pants, still in the yearly transition stage.

And as an added bonus, we are starting to redo the "study", i.e. the room w/ the computer and all my books and desk. This is a wall painting/ new floor/new reading lamps/new curtains kind of overhaul. So at some point I'll be off-line but I'll let you know when and for how long.

This redo is for more that esthetics. We found that by burning wood in the ancillary furnace that heats furnace water and warms the old part of the house (kitchen, study, dining room) we cut out oil bill in half. So, the plan for next winter is to close the interion kitchen door to the new part of the house and bacically live in the old part until bed time. Thererfore the study will become the winter music/reading/TV room. If we have a mob over and need to use the green room, we just open the kitchen door and tell them to wear a sweater.

Joyce went to Scranton last night to film a TV ad for the Mercy Hip & Knee Joint Replacement Institute, guess she's sort of the spokeswoman for their new ad campaign. She sure is getting out & about w/ her new knees and zippy red car. All very good to see.

Time to put another log on the fire and let the chickens out. Since I took over their care and feeding after the surgery, they have been incredibly productive. We are averaging 16 eggs out of 25 layers in the dead of winter. I am doing nothing that J wasn't doing but they have really gotten into the egg productiuon mode. Maybe it's my singing to them when I collect the eggs.

2006-03-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

"It's the real thing...". Remember that old commercial? Was it Coke or Pepsi? I know it wasn't Dr. Pepper so I didn't pay attention. Point being...we were at the NE Philharmonic Sat. night enjoying Mozart's 40th Symphony, Saint-Saens and Prokofiev. Our usual seats are in the fifth row just to the left of center which gives us an excellent view of the pianist who really rocked Saint Saens piano concerto.

You can sit and close your eyes and be carried along w/ the music or you can sit, eyes wide open, and watch the performers which is what I do. There is a violist who we haven't seen for sometime and has now returned. She is the most expressive person on stage and I have to wonder if it carries over to her regular life. There were times when I thought she was going to fall from her chair from sheer rapture; "you go, girl!!!

You can watch the difference in fingering techniques among the members of the various string sections. Fritz (his string quartet played at Amy and Earls' wedding in the fields of Highland Farm) has a quicker and more aggressive hand motion than that of Kim whose motion is barely detectable but they both have the same effect, a little like life isn't it.

Live performances, ya gotta love 'em!!!

Thought for the day. It seems to be generally agreed among mediums that Heaven is like Florida w/o the humidity and there is no sexual activity among the inhabitants. Comments?

2006-03-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

It doesn't happen very often BUT ...we bought a new car. Well, not a NEW car but a car new to us. Before I open the envelope and announce the selection a peek into the process may be in order.

I am a skeptic by nature, hence the name "Thomas". When we are about to make large purchases (and sometimes small ones) I get all the data I can assemble and then sit in my big chair hoping this pile of material will reveal something. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.

Our old Toyota Camry bit the dust due to rust and it was only 17 years old w/ 180,000 miles on it. We tried to get by w/ the Explorer and the truck for the last year but, strange as it seems having 145,000 on the Explorer and 110,000 on the truck, we felt like something had to be upgraded considering that we take several long trips each year.

Practicality dictated that we replace the Explorer w/ another SUV. This country has deep winter snow and one tough mud season so we needed something that can, in a pinch double as a truck, i.e. feeding hay, grabbing a sick calf, taking people on a tour, etc. We both hated the thought of spending $30,000 for the same vehicle that J didn't exactly like driving. remember the Camry? That's her idea of what she wanted, A "ladies" car to put it in her words. Something w/o dog hair and manure.

So out of the pile came a Subaru Imprezza. We looked at the Outback but she wasn't comfortable in it. Looked at the Forester but it looked too much like the Explorer. Looked at the Imprezza and that fit her just right. So we looked at every Imprezza from the WRX to the basic model. The plan was to go to the dealer last Monday and drive a couple of them around and that's what we did.

The winner is...a 2004 Imprezza sedan in San Remo red w/ a spoiler and fog lamps. Not the kind of car to quicken the hearts of the boys at the local diner but it does quicken ours. We picked it up yesterday at noon and put over 100 miles before we were thru for the day.

I haven't driven any all wheel drive cars but let me tell you, they stick like glue around the corners and we have lots of corners that need sticking to. When we go over the mountain to get to the big shopping area it is a 40 mph road and w/ the truck, Camry or Explorer that is about the true limit. J pushed the Imprezza well beyond that and ahe was very comfortable doing so. I think we have created a new rallye fan (I told her about the rallye from Paris to Dakar and got a grin!).

So, we are a mixed stable; Imprezza for show and grins, Explorer for room and semi farm work, and the truck for the grunt stuff.

Got those things in place; now I can concentrate on upgrading the chainsaw.

2006-03-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

"The elusive quest for perfection"...thanks Granny www.rocrebelgranny.blogspot.com for giving me something to think about while feeding the cows. And it came to me late last night as I was listening to a piece of music in which an oboe played a phrase that was that "elusive piece of perfection".

The search started in another direction and drifted to our breed shows. Common comlaint is that the ranking is only one judge's opinion and another one probably would have ranked them differently. That's true and that's fine. We have no true working breed standard and most members like it that way. It give you a choice; do you want a classic Highland look, perhaps more of the old auroch feel, maybe a new age leggy, beefy kind of animal. Each judge has his opinion as to what looks right as do the breeders and they are both right.

So, is there a "perfect Highland cow or bull"? Yes and it's in the eye of the beholder. And so it is w/ people. Many of us have a beauty that can be as unobvious as the beauty to write a note to someone expressing sorrow over their loss. I say "many of us" because I think that there are humans w/o any beauty. They are monsters! This offends those who want to see the good in everyone. Sorry, you do the looking; they are not worth my time, I can only see the result of their horrors.

To the north of Chicago is a string of suburbs known as "the North Shore" and it is big bucks. One of the most notable high schools is New Trier. The kids that go there are often privately schooled just to be competitive at N. T. It has an outstanding reputation as a public feeder school to the Ivies.

Twenty mile to the south is Cook County Hospital. Just the place you want to go if you are suffering a gunshopt wound. They have a ward for teens who have suffered a drug overdose and/or repeated suicide attempts. Informally, it is called New Trier South. Can you guess why?

Studies have identified parential and peer pressure as the major contributing factors. When Mommy & Daddy are investment bankers and promenient lawyers, how does one better that?

I remember one girl who had it all, so to speak and that was the problem. She had so much talent and looks that she feared failure more than anything, even death. The doctors tending to her noted the infrequent visits by either parent and not a lot of classmates either. Guess this kind of behavior isn't appropriate for the best circles.

I don't know where this is going to take us. Our society is less than 250 years old and I'm afraid that we haven't left much in the way of identifiable cultural values for the next generation to latch onto. Is being #1 what we are all about? Is unprecidented growth year after year the way we value our economy, and what about those left behind due to outsourcing?

I'm afraid that the world can't afford our concept of perfection nor can our kids. Maybe this is why home schooling is getting so popular even among non-evangelicals. Is the light at the end of the tunnel that a portion of us dropout and become "off-gridders" (produce their own electric) and create an alternative economy and value system?

J & I are kind of there already...anyone care to join us?

2006-03-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Lessee, how do I do this? Been so long that I updated the blog that I forgot what to do. But nobody complained so here I am playing catchup.

That's it! Tell them all the things we've been doing and then they will be amazed/impressed w/ all that's been going on.

Yesterday I was at Bloomsburg U. for a grass finishing conference that left me w/ a lot of ideas. J stayed home to care for the farm. Good move; the temp never got above 60 degrees and even these cattlemen sat w/ their coats on. But it was worth it.

The week before we were in State College, PA for the MidAtlantic Highland Cattle meeting and educational program. Almost too much going on for one day.

And then we did "Dairy/Ag Days" at the H.S. and, due to requests, we will have a booth for our farm next year. This year I did my PA Farm Bureau "New Farmer Assistance program" rollout but we can handle both next year.

Then there were the trips to the County conservation office and the USDA NRCS office to try and get some government support (read funding) for the use of new technologies on the small farm. We are looking to do something w/ windmills either to power a small electric well pump or to pump the water directly to the stock tanks. If done properly, it could be a model for small farms that need to provide water in places that can't be reached by conventional means. Yhis may be especually useful if we start to stock catle on some of the local farms that have lain dormant for sometime.

We also want to start to reclaim some of the lower woods by thinning it out and creating a savannagh-type grazing environment. This thinning fits well w/ the next subject.

So now we work into the mix the fact that we are now burning wood in the auxillary furnace that heats water for the furnace and hot water. So, cutting, splitting and stacking wood has become part of the routine not to mention starting and tending the fire each day. We don't let it go all night because we haven't enough wood to get us through the winter if we use it 24/7. I'll start to cut for next year next week. So far, we have burned 3/4 of a ton in 3 weeks. It snowed last Thur. and the oil furnace never kicked on until we let the wood unit burn down in the evening. (I know this because the snow by the furnace exhaust wasn't melted.)

Last Tues. the men of our church served a pancake/sausage supper to over 100 people so that took most of the day w/ set up, cooking, serving and cleanup.

Friday I spoke to a chap who wants us to bring a couple of our cows to Manhattan's Central Park, on 4/5 for an "Icons of Scotland" festival. We think it sounds like a blast but I gave him a long list of concerns regarding transporting live animals thru the streets and setting them up in the Park. Those NYCers can be the biggest pains...they want to have it all but only under their terms. We'll see what happens.

Cows are looking good and I expect to start calving by the end of the month.

Joyce's knee gets better by the day and she is doing some of the outside chores if I'm not around.

Well, that's it for now...think I'll take a nap. Oops, J just read this and I think I'll pass on the nap and feed the cows instead.

2006-02-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

So here I sit listening to Jesse Coulter singing Looking for blue eyes and feeling country clear through to my boots. And why is that you, my dear reader, ask? Don't know...it's just the way I feel tonight and the night before and the night before that and... Ever since I got my Charlie 1 Horse hat that I wear everywhere but in bed, I got that good feeling. (Now we have Jesse & Waylan doing a duet, Suspicions.)

Was reading about the Chicago Auto Show and the debut of Toyota's new, full sized pickup. Tons of speculation about whether it will be successful and for Toyota it means that, w/ it in their stable they will pass GM as the world's largest auto maker. And who gives a hoot? Pickups ain't about (Willie& Waylan now singing about a Good hearted Woman standing beside her goodtiming man) who's the biggest manufacturer but about personal truck history which Toyota does not have.

It was a '69 Chevy we took to the top of Mt Washington and it almost rolled to the bottom on its own because the drum brakes on the front & back over heated and wouldn't hold even w/ the parking brake on. And it was '60 GMC PU that Joyce's brother Carl had that always had a saddle in the front seat. Then there was the Ford from somewhere in the late 70s that hauled about 5 tons of cut up I beam from Scranto to S. Canaan. Not to forget the time Neighbor Harry & I went 'way up to Starlight to get hay and on the way back we almost had to push the truck & trailer up ther hill just past the Red Schoolhouse restaurant...something about having over 10,000 lbs of hay and his PU was a little under powered but that didn't stop us.

So let Toyota come out w/ their really, really fancy, focus group designed PU. W/o any history it's just a car w/ a big trunk.

In these parts, when you drive by a cafe, you look to see whose PU is in the parking lot to see if it's worth a stop. No point looking at the cars; they all look alike and no one of interest drive a car unless his wife drove and then you better not stop because you may get an earful about how you are misleading her husband.

And what about all the women driving full sized pickups...well, if wearing a fine fitting pair of Wranglers it just adds to the mystique.

How about that Al from the Cape. 16 hrs from Cape Cod to Charlotte, NC. giving him an average of 62.5 mph. He said that the Mini is all about gas mileage; believe that and he'll sell you a bridge.

2006-02-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

Well, here's my take on the whole thing.

Sat. evening neighbor Harry & Nancy came over for pizza and a movie. We had Hildago and, as wannabe cowboys ( althought I do own cows, the term still applies) we watched a great movie. This is not the kind of movie to which you bring a box of Kleenex; you wear your Charlie 1 Horse hat and your boots, if you got 'em. Lots of action and the main character, other than the horse, was a cut from the old fashioned westerns...called the women "ma'am", rose from his chair when they entered the room and didn't curse in their presence. So, we enjoyed it and recommend it highly.

Of course the conversation drifted to Brokeback Mountain. For Harry & I, it was heart wrenching to think of cowboys in love...with each other. The more we talked the more we had to admit that the signs were there from the beginning; the hero riding off into the sunset leaving the school marm standing at the corral. And who was he with? His sidekick or just the horse (and that is a subject for another historical rewrite). So while we initially admired his greater sense of mission, there was that nagging doubt, kind of an itch that can't be scratched.

And what about Willie Nelson warning mothers not to let their sons grow up to tbe cowboys. He listed several reasons but did he list them all?

And then there is the term cowboy. Cow is a term that can be applied to all bovines but we generally use it to refer to the female of the species, i.e. cow/calf combination, that cow's in heat, bring the cows down but leave the bulls in the pasture...you get the picture. Taking it a step further, is a cowboy then a; female boy, a feminine boy, a (gasp!) girlie boy? Maybe the truth has been out there in plain sight but we couldn't see it because we saw other images instead.

Back to Brokeback Mountain. The following day I came to a realization that the picture didn't matter. It was Hollywood that got it wrong. These boys were SHEEPHERDERS! And in these parts they ain't cowboys. Maybe they are Eweboys but they ain't cowboys!

And that's that!

2006-01-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

Some things never change and then somethings shouldn't change. I've gotten into the habit of going out for a mid-morning breakfast on the days when J has her therapy; Mon, Tue & Thur. Sometimes I do the grocery shopping but I usually get to squeeze the additional breakfast in. Given its close proximity, I have been going to the Hamlin Diner. The Diner is owned by the Shaffer family, the patriarch being Marlyn (not a misspelling). He is an old time farmer who works up to a thousand acres for hay, corn, rye, etc. plus cows. Fortunately he has the help of sons & grandsons. Marlyn & I serve on the Wayne County Farm Bureau board as directors and I've gotten to know him and respect him for all he has accomplished and his interest in new ventures.

The Diner is a step above Ron's 590 Diner which is a step above Elaine's. So when you go to the Hamlin Diner you best mind your P's & Q's. So far, every morning I have been there I have had breakfast with someone different but someone that I know.

On Thur. when I was pulling into the parking lot I saw it...the For Sale sign. Marlyn was inside and I asked him how long it was on the market. "About a month or so" he replied but the sign was new. Now Marlyn is not one to give you all the facts in one sitting so I nudged him a bit with "guess this will give you some time for other things". He looked at me and paused before he said "Yeah, a lot of things need to be tended to and the Diner is a real time drain". His wife Margaret, goes to dialysis 3x per week and I think it is getting the best of her. When you see Marlyn & Margaret walking, i.e. at the GDS Fair they willl be holding hands.

The Diner will prosper under new management unless they screw it up. But it won't be the same. I know I'll still see a lot of him at the WCFB and I buy my round bales from him. Let's hope that the additional time he can glean from the sale of the Diner will be for more hand holding.

Time to go and feed the cows before the rain comes...yes, in January.

2006-01-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Progress is being measured in small but steady increments. J does some cooking, light cleaning, shopping, etc. And with this progress our life in slowly returning to a more normal state.

Saturday night we went to a neighbor's 60th birthday party. The guests were a mixture of locals and relatives from afar. It wasn't hard to see who fell into which catagory. The ones from afar roamed about the house sticking out their hand and introducing themselves. The locals tried to hide behind each other when they saw someone from afar approaching them. It wasn't fear, just uneasiness. Our locals are comfortable with long silence eventually broken with"strange weather we're havin'" or "wonder if Harry got the new tires for his pickup" any of which is responded to with "don't know" or "most likely" or even "yup". And this is fine. It's the kind of conversation you have hanging over the side of a pickup which means you can have it anywhere because it is good talk and means something to them.

On the other hand, when those from afar get into the conversation the talk shifts to the kind of things that really don't mean much to the locals. Case in point, "how about them Alito hearings?". May have meant more to the locals if they thought someone was going to call them and ask how they should vote in the confirmation hearings. But, knowing that call will never come, they just let the whole issue pass to those for whom it does matter and who can affect the outcome. I've heard a number of them tell of calls to the State or US representative's office only to be condesended to by some staffer who is sure the representative will be glad to hear of this and thank you for calling.

Guess I found myself kind of in both camps...sticking my hand out and them wishing they would shut up. Did find one guy who has three MS degrees in mathematics and works in the DoD Office of the Budget. He is also a professional hacker and part of a team that looks for ways to punch holes in security. We had much to talk about because he was aware of many of the programs I was involved with in another life.

Overall it was a good time and, for once, I did not try to play the role of a professional bystander.

2006-01-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

Did I ever tell you about the time when the...and it's true, every word of it!

First, an update on J. We saw the Dr. yesterday and the knee is healing in top form. The X-rays show a leg as straight as the model of a normal leg so she now walks on two straight legs w/ good knees. And speaking of walking, it is mostly w/ the cane and, at times, without. The pain is not too bad and the nausea and dizziness has been gone for over a week. We have a home therapist that comes twice a week and I suspect she will make the transition to visiting their facility for therapy next week. Progress!

On to the story. Bottom line - the Penn. State police had to bring a couple of our cows home; well, it was one trooper and he was off duty but the effect is the same.

Last Saturday I went to feed a big bale in the corral for the two yearling heifers and Spice the calf. I brought the bale to the roadside gate and shooed the cows away from the gate. Opened the gate and moved into the corral and, Rowena, w/o a second thought trotted out the gate w/ Penny in tow. So there I sat, halfway into the corral, the calf still in there and two yearlings in the road. Neighbor Harry came down the road and blocked them from going up. He made a call on his cell phone to the garage where it appeared the cows were heading. I placed the bale in the corral and got Spice into the lower woods and closed the gate. I then backed the tractor out of the corral and here comes Bob. the off-duty trooper, who was at the garage, using a broom to scoot the girls along. They got to the road and came up to the gate a nicely as you could want, made the turn into the corral and began to eat from the bale as though nothing ever happened. "Just out for a stroll...what's the big deal" they would say.

Such is our life in NE PA.

2005-12-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's the poles that make the difference but more on that later.

J is doing quite well considering that her surgery was just over a week ago. The knee has little pain except when doing the therapy but that's what therapy is all about-legalized torture (wonder if the Bush administration ever thought of using therapy in interrogations?). The dizziness had abated somewhat but she still takes it easy and tries to avoid long stretches of activity. This is progress.

The poles. When I ordered my snowshoes I also got the adjustable "tough as ship's masts" poles. My thought was that they will improve my already shakey balance and they have!!! I use them when snowshoeing AND when just walking. We live on a hillside and the walking, especially after freeze/thaw conditions can be a bit dicey. The poles make all the difference.

We went to see Amy & Earl on Monday and had one fine meal! It was a great evening full of lots of laughter and goofing around. As it turned out, I forgot one present so we will have to make a return trip (Oh, darn). Wayne sent us a couple of great videos one of them on Ansel Adams so I'll let her borrow it.

Wonder if we can wrangle another dinner invite?

2005-12-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's now 10pm on Christmas night and I'm finally settling down. Time for an update.

J had a bad time of it starting Fri. night after she was home for 5 hrs. Sat. was a disaster! Problem was her allergic reaction to codine based pain medicine. She wore a bracelet that was supposed to be a red flag but the Dr. still prescribed Vicodin. Got her off that and on to Xtra Strength Tylanol and that did the trick. The knee has given her little pain and now that the dizziness and nausea are gone life in good. Donny, Sandy and the boys were over for a Christmas meal except Sandy did the cooking at our house and they cleaned up before they left. So we had the fun of opening the presents and enjoying a good meal plus leftovers and the house was tidy. Then J & I sat and watched a gift video from Wayne about Ansel Adams and his body of work.

Tomorrow we are off to Amy's for more food and then we should be able to relax for a few days. Have a New Year get-together w/ some friends on Sat. but it is in the afternoon (at our age that IS aNew Year's Eve celebration).

Above freezing and rain, hope we don't get a thaw; there is still lots of hay to be fed.

2005-12-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

Update! Today was the first day out of bed and she walked 50' before lunch. We ate together and then I was her coach at the afternoon therapy session which lasted an hour. She amazed them all w/ her strength and flexibility. This is going so well except for the vertigo. J had a couple of dizzy spells today so the doc will be by to see what can be done. Other than that she is doing better than expected.

Cows are cleaning up their hay so I'll get another day out of that last feeding...good cows (pat, pat, etc.).

2005-12-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

The doctor was beaming w/ pride when he came to see me after the operation. "Couldn't have gone better" were his words. So now Joyce has another new knee and two straight legs. I was with her after the recovery period and she was much better than after the last surgery. I think that is due to the different combination of drugs and eliminating morphine.

I'll go to the hospital tomorrow to serve as her therapy coach; finally she will have to listen to what I say.

Home on Friday, Saturday Sandy & Don & kids will be here to cook and do Christmas stuff. Sunday we enjoy Christmas and each other. Monday, weather & health permitting, we go to Amy & Earl's for a BIG dinner.

Farmwise, it's a matter of keeping on schedule and planning on when to feed what so that the right stuff is on hand. Below 0 this AM when I took Luke for a walk to check the hay and see how everyone was doing. The sun coming over the treeline kind of made things feel a little warmer but I'm getting used to it being in the negative degrees. Got the right clothes and attitude.

2005-12-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

Guess what I got??? Snowshoes!!!

Actually I got them just before we got the 9" so I was able to try them out and they are FANTASTIC! Really easy to get around and a little like cross country skiing in that you have to dress in layers, it's a good work out.

When I wrote BRRRR it was minus 20 below on the back porch but the wind was down so working in that temp was not too bad, just had to watch the fingers and cheeks. Last night we fed after dark and had the tractor and wagon loaded w/ 28 bales. The wind was from the SW so when we finished I was driving into the snow. Had the lights on but couldn't see squat. Saw a glow in the distance and assumed it was Harry's house so I drove towards the glow which would put me close enough to the gate enterance that I could finish up and go home. It wasn't Harry's house but ours. I was about 1000' east of the gate so had to turn right and head up the hill. Coming down the road, pulling the wagon w/ J on the back we saw how nice our house looks w/ all the lights on.

Snow, lights, nice cows, a reason for getting up in the morning that has substance to it...that's why we farm.

2005-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

BRRRRR!

So here I sit wearing my unlined Carhartts because it's too much trouble to take them off every time I come in. This AM I was wearing the lined version of what I am now wearing so as you can see it has warmed up.

Warmed up so much that I was able to get the chains on the tractor before the next storm hits tomorrow night and that may bring ice, hence the chains.

Went to Marlyn's today to get some big hay bales and neither his Bobcat nor his big Deere would start. He said that I must be a good farmer because I had all my equipment running. That is a compliment coming from the owner of one biggest farm operations in the area.

Got the work list done that will take us up to when J goes into the hospital on the 20th. Kind of laying low on the social commitments trying to get the evening things done before Christmas is here. Still some presents to wrap and the Christmas letter to write. Maybe tonight I'll get it done.

Things are a bit easier now that the ground is frozen and I can move around w/o digging things up.

Finally got the floor finished in the old barn BUT the baler won't fit, at least not by backing it in parallel and kicking the backend around. I think I can take it up the hill and back it straight is - got 15" on each side and that is enough. But...I don't want to back down the snow covered hill being pulled by a two ton baler. I'll try that trick next fall when the hill is clear.

Well, I'm warmed up now so it's out to feed the kids.

2005-11-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

I'm baaack! Miss me? I don't think so but thanks for trying to make me feel good.

Best excuse in the world...just been too busy to do any posting.

Dereck & Jen www.jenorama.com were here for Thanksgiving week. We went to Philly to pick them up on Monday but before leaving we went to the Franklin Institute for the Body Worlds Exhibit. A H.S. classmate of derecvk's is the VP of exhibits and he got us passes and we had dinner w/ him and his family afterwards.

Body Worlds is one of the most interesting exhibits I have ever seen. It deals w/ "plastination" which is the process of freezing cadavers and slicing them in various ways to expose the underlying structure. For instance, there was a cadaver of a man w/ a basketball. The pose was of him driving forward off his left foot. However, his skin was removed and the entire muscular structure was revealed. Fascinating! And there were displays of the nerveous system, cardiovascular system as well as the complete skeltal framework. Too much in addition to list. Took hours to visit and I think we fast forwarded at the end due to parking concerns.

Thanksgiving was a blast! Amy spOOkalot.blogspot.com and Earl, and Wayne & Diane came to the farm and everyone brought something. We had eight people and two turkeys, one deep fried,one smoked and one ham. Tons of food and a very good time EXCEPT for the NE PA winter that gave the roads a bit of a glaze.

Since then, it's been getting ready for Christmas and getting a two page list of farm tasks to be done before J has her knee surgery on the 20th. So, it's back to work I go.

2005-11-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

I am back from the PFB Convention and the world is now safe for agriculture. Bet you didn't even know I was gone...come on, 'fess up. Ahhh, that's better.

I was a county delegate to the Penn. Farm Bureau's annual convention. Resolutions are created at the county level and forwarded to PFB HQ where they are sorted and combined into a package that it mailed to each delegate for review before the convention. At the convention, each resolution is read and can be acted upon for deletion or amending. It is very much like our legislative process and Robert's Rules of order are very much in evidence. Food was good and there was plenty of it. Biggest issue was the wording for the support of the PA Caucus Bill as it is now known that will kill the property tax and replace it with an expanded sales tax. This is primarily designed to lift the burden for the farm community who is not the wealthest group in the state and spread the pain among those who spend. it's a lot more complicated than that but this should suffice for now.

Barn floor is almost finished.

Two heifers, Roxanne & Sugar will go to their new home on Sat.

We are feeding winter hay and I'm making the weekly run for large round bales.

Water tanks have their heaters so ice will not be a problen.

Got to get the firewood cut and stacked so I can get the auxillary water heater going.

Molly will return, hopefully pregnant, to NJ sometime soon.

Dereck & Jen will be here for Thanksgiving week. J & I will go to Phil. to pick them up on Monday. While there, we will visit the Franklin Institute and see some pretty cool stuff.

J goes for her balance test tomorrow and I go for my field vision test on Fri. Is this the wave of the future???

Catch up, catchup, catch up, ketchup ketch up...and when you do it will all be over.

2005-11-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

$8 per ticket to see a movie at our local movie house! What the #$@&***^%%!*% is going on here!

One of the reasons we moved to the boonies was to escape the high cost of things, such as 12 screen movie theaters w/ vibrating and reclining seats. But they have found me.

Monday night we went to see Wallace & Grommet in "The Curse of the Wererabbit". Of course that was also Halloween night but no one comes avisiting our road anyway, it's a bit scary when it isn't Halloween. So we go bouncing into the theater and paid our admission ($16 &%$^#*@) and got some popcorn, walked down to our little theater and sat down. Thus far we have seen two people - the cashier and the popcorn girl. That's it...there is no one else in the theater.

The movie begins at 7 pm. Next door the movie began at 7:10 and next to them at 7:20. All these movies are running and there is no one to watch except us. What should we do? Sit a bit in each theater? Stay in ours, watch W&G and pretend that all is well on the outside? Go to the highways and byways seeking those who have no where to go (Scooter Libby, you can come in now. Here, sit next to Harriet she needs some quiet time and we will understand if you feel the need to just sit and meditate.)

We ate popcorn, tried to pickup on all the other movie tidbits rolled into W&G and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. When we left the lobby was empty; no popcorn to be had nor tickets to be purchased. It was as though we had gone "one step beyond...".

2005-10-31T06:52:00.000-08:00

What a nice bunch of cows we have!

Sat. we brought all the cows down for their fall shots and wormer. It never goes the way you plan but, given enough patience, it happens anyway. The big herd is at the point where I can call them and they come arunning. Top cows and bull arrive first and they come down the alleyway. Have to keep them moving because a lower status cow won't pass them. So you work them down to the first gate at the corral, get then in and close it. Now the next group of cows will come down and wait in the alleyway. Still in the upper pasture are two cows and the calves and they will stay there until I leave.

So you work the cows in groups. As one group is finished and moved to the lower pasture the next group comes down.

When the alleyway is clear the remaining cows and calves will come into the alleyway by themselves. All you have to do is go up and shut the pasture gate.

Sugar was seperated from Honey to begin the weaning process. She went from being the princess of the pasture to a low status female among the yearlings, kind of like a fresh fish in the prison system. So she gets bumped around a bit but she is learning the way of the herd. As she gains in weight and strength she will begin to challenge her peers for a higher place in the herd...and so it goes.

For us it is a day that begins early and wraps up late afternoon. We feel a little creaky & groany but that passes w/ a good night's sleep.

Tonight we will go see the Wallace & Grommet movie about the wererabbit. Perfect for Halloween.

2005-10-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Is Mr. Fixit out there?

The water heater for the chicken coop will not work on the coop outlet but will work in the house. Everything else works on the coop outlet. Go figure! The heater is 5 yrs old and I was going to replace it thinking it's useful life was over. Can't leave well enough alone so we tried it in the house and it heated up instantly.

OK Mr. Fixit...balls in your court.

Last couple of days have been soggy, soggy, soggy... I took a neighbor's cow to the slaughterhouse today and what should have been a easy 1 1/2 hr trip took almost three due to water on the road, water creating mud where I normally turnaround, water a couple of inches deep where I had to walk the cow to get her loaded, water at the off-loading ramp making things slippery. And we have to get the herd down for their fall shots and get a couple of them weaned and ready for shipping to their new owner.

When I crossed over Farview Mtn. this AM there was snow in the depressions at the side of the road. Our first snow last year was Nov. 18, what happened to global warming? Why can't we have a little of it up here in NE PA and extend our grazing season? Dwight's grass in his pasture near Allentown is still growing and his cows are grazing. He has global warming but I don't and I don't think it is fair! One of the reasons for rejecting the Kyoto protocol was so I could have some global warming and decrease my hay expense. Can't be the color of our state...Dwight's grass is still growing.

Oh Mr. Fixit, I have another question...

2005-10-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

I knew they are smart, but...

The mineral feeder is a big plastic tub w/ three sections into which I put kelp and minerals. A large rubber lid fits over the unit and the cows lift the edge w/ their noses and get the minerals. The lid is held on by a post that extends thru the lid and a hard rubber disk fits above the lid then a washer and finally a "hair pin" clip goes thru the hole in the post. That should keep the whole thing secure.

A couple of months ago I found the whole lid assembly laying a couple of feet away from the tub. "Huh", says I (I'm not very articulate when I'm surprised). "Wonder how that happened". Put the whole shebang back together w/ a new pin and went about my business.

Weeks later, the lid is off again. This is requiring more than a "huh". Put is back together and put a small bolt thru the post instead of the pin. "Take that you horned tricksters" (I'm more articulate when I have the solution in hand).

Time passes.

Whoops, the mineral feeder is now upsidedown and all the spilled minerals have been consumed. Actually, there isn't anything left in the feeder so it looks like it was jiggled a bit to get the goodies out. I filled it a few days before and it weighed about 100+ lbs. but then that isn't much for a Highland to push around. Uprighted and refilled it and went into a "watchful waiting" period, similar to when you are looking for a standing heat.

Bingo! J saw Lincoln, the bull, slip his horns under the bottom and give it a flip. Was it a play thing? A sense of frustration w/ the lid? Showing off for the girls? Don't know but there it was. Having a dry summer we left the lid off and things went back to normal which is just slightly hectic.

Today I went up to put the lid back on because it is supposed to rain tomorrow and, lo and behold, even w/ the big lid off the small rubber disk, washer and pin are now missing. I went back to using the pin because the bolt was getting rusty and harder to unfasten. There, in the grass a couple of feet away is all but the pin. Got a new pin and fastened it all the way up to the loop so it is more difficult to stick a horn tip into the clip and pull it out... I think.

Now I can live w/ my Highland cattle doing dumb things like fooling w/ the feeder and maybe they have outsmarted me from time to time but they are the breed w/ a personality and that is why we enjoy them so much.

2005-10-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Glad that's over...fussy cows and lots of rain. The cows didn't show all that well from a quality or a handling standpoint. The handling was most likely due to not getting the preshow work in because of the rain and the quality, well the competition has really increased in numbers and quality but we haven't. So, some decisions were made.

First, we are not going to the NWSS in Denver w/ these cows. Next, J contacted her doctor and is going to get the other knee done ASAP. They are making appts. for the end of this year so I expect she will be a Jan. patient. Finally we have to decide whether we want to upgrade the herd and make it more competitive. If this is the case, we will shop for a new bull and there are lots of good ones out there.

Lots of fall work this week, winter is coming for certain and that means worming, shots, weaning and steering a couple of the boys.

Phone co. was here yesterday and we have joined the 21st century by getting 1.5MB internet service and an up grade to their cable network. The additional cost over the old cable service isn't much and we got a lot more. This music on cable is the greatest!

2005-10-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

We're off to the NEHCA Fall Gathering at W. Springfield, MA. w/ two heifers and a calf. The trailer is packed sans the luggage but teeth brushing makes for a good ride. There are 105 animals registered, all Highlands. What a sight as they are piped in for the start of the Open Show on Sat.

We have had almost continous rain for the last several days. Our gauge puts the total somewhere around 5" but there is more to come in the next day or so.

Time to hit the road. Let you know how it went upon our return.

2005-10-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Being a cowboy ain't easy but it's what we do.

Autumn is normally busy but this fall has been exceptional.

The dun bull, Rouan and Daisy are finally going to W Va to be w/ Nyck & Jennie. So all the shots and vet check had to be done. Being the smart folks that we are, we scheduled the vet to do these two and our three show girls who are going to the NEHCA Fall Gathering in Mass. The vet then convinced me to begin the process to be certifyed as a Johnes free herd.

On Monday we had the herd split into the young kids who are going to W. VA and the show kids and they got their treatments done first. Then we moved the big herd and older cows down for a butt wipe. Yes. you read that right A BUTT WIPE! The test for Johnes is done a number of ways but the most accurate is to do a fecal sample of those three years and older.

Maybe I should explain why this is an important test.

Johnes is a wasting disease that is transmitted in fecal matter and calves are the most susceptable. So by checking our herd once a year and negative results we hope to be in a "Status 4" catagory in the future.

Why? Besides improving the herd health, Johnes is becoming a suspect in the development of Crones disease and the carrier may be infected milk and possibly beef. The milk link seems to the stronger but that may be because that is where the research dollars are being spent. Suprisingly, the beef industry is getting on board and some large herds are going thru one of the many options available for some level of certification. We chose to go for the highest level because we have few animals which makes the fecal test doable and the potential payback is higher. Once you have a status level you do not want to introduce new cows into the herd that are not in a program otherwise your level goes back to "1". Hopefully it will give us a marketing differentiation.

Then there was the ten page Health Management Plan that the vet ran us through and I wish we had done several years ago. Lots of things we can do to get better at what we are doing.

Today the vet came to check the two W Va bound and their TB tests were negative. Last night, Dave Williams, our local farm bureau radio guy called to see if he couild stop by for another interview (it would be our third). I told him the vet would be here and it was regarding the Johnes program. So, old Dave popped up just as we were finishing up and did the interview w/ the vet and I talking about the program.

Rouan, the bull calf has been hanging w/ the big herd because he is starting to act like a bull and is a real pain around the young girls. This AM Joyce and I walked up to where the big herd was, put Rouan's halter on and started to walk him down to the gate, around a 1000' or so. We got about halfway there and the herd decided to help us, so athundering they came w/ Lincoln the bull in the lead and heading for me. There I stood waving my Cubs cap at 1800 lbs of bull expecting him to stop or veer aside. And veer aside he did only to expose Jake the 1500 lb steer who was hot on his heels and didn't know I was there. Well, Jake saw that Cub's cap and aveering he went. I think these cows carry the spirit of a World Series winner and will do anything to avoid a Cub's cap.

Expecting two calves this month and may sell two or three more, including Rocky the bull, before the fall is over.

Still working on the floor of the old barn. Built a hitching post by the tractor shed so we have a nice place to wash the cows.

Sat. took the tractor to neighbor Harry's and dug 16 post holes for his new barn/shed. Some of the neighbors are going to put this up for him because the broken leg keeps him off the ladder. Today the posts are up as are the cross members.

Tonight we will attend the Farm Bureau dinner. Should be a good time and kind of relaxing.

2005-09-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hard work! That's what I did this weekend. Big Ed, Wink & I started replacing/repairing the beams that support the floor in the old barn. These beams are 14" in diameter and made of some kind of hardwood. Cutting them, even w/ the chain saw, takes a lot of work. We finished two beams and have one to go.

It's interesting to work on an old barn. Some time was spent trying to figure out what repairs were made and what was just goofy construction. The flooring is made of a 1" sub floor and the top boards are 14' x 16" x 2". Try finding that kind of lumber today, and I have several of the big boards on hand to use when I put it back together. For the sub floor I'll use some of the 1" ash I had cut some years ago.

Today is a day of renewing supplies and myself.

2005-09-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we participated in the Small Farm & Rural Living Expo. at the GDS Fairgrounds in the southern part of the county. This is a rotating program sponsered by PA, NY, and NJ. We brought our two yearling heifers and Spice, the bottle baby giving us a red, yellow and a dun color representation.

I think we were the hit of the show.

While the attendance was low (these ag specialists can't market Kleenex to allergy suffers) we were impressed w/ those who came to see us. They have land and want to do something w/ it and, of course, Highland cattle is the answer. By the end of Sat. we were exhausted from constant talking and Sunday was no easier. We even brought some fencing material to show folks how easy it is to set up interior pastures once the perimeter is electrified.

Next show is the NEHCA Fall Gathering in W. Springfield, MA. in mid Oct. We will bring the same three again because they are getting so good at it.

I tested the premise of a deconstruction of the ag industry. First reaction was skepticism and then as I explained the reasons behind my thinking I saw lights go off. Many who visited our booth were looking to become more self sufficient and this played into what they were sensing but couldn't put a finger on.

The whole issue of producing healthy food is no longer a debate among these folks but more of a "how do I do it". We had grandparents leaving to talk to their family and see how they could buy a side of beef and distribute it among themselves.

Oh, the times they are a changin'. Now if we can just get to the next Hollis Brown before he makes his purchase (Dylan fans will know of what I speak).

2005-09-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

I give up! I mean it. I really, really give up!

I've had it w/ the political hacks that are either running the country or want to run it and I don't trust any of them in terms of their ability or creditability. Wasn't it Jefferson who espoused the concept of citizen/statesman? It can be argued that the world is now too complex and we need professionals to run our legislature and executive branches.

Sigh...(I can feel the condesending pat on my head)

It's back to grasroots politics for me. I want to know who is plowing my road and is he drunk or can he be trusted w/ 10 tons of machinery. I'll know by the work he does and if I don't like it I'll call someone to complain. If I'm really up in arms then I'll attend the Township meeting and say my piece.

Today old brokendown Harry and I worked on fixing the hitch on the hay rake. Went down to the shop, sat Harry down so that he was comfortable, put the hitch in front of him and let him weld away. Then I said "know what we need? We need a jack on the hitch so that we can raise and lower it". Lo and behold, an hour later there was a hitch w/ a jack nicely welded and ready to go. No phone calls, no meetings, no "plan", no practice sessions, no lots of things. Just a couple of guys knowing what had to be done and getting it done. Wouldn't have happened that way at AT&T either.

And so each year we get a little smarter and a little more self relient. Maybe next spring the garden widens a bit and I'll start to take a more active interest in getting it ready and maintaining it.

We are seriously considering installing a wood burning stove in the basement in the old part of the house. It will keep the basement warm, dry and heat the floor of the dining room. If I add a couple of heat registers I can get that room pretty toasty and that is where the thermostat is. Lots of wood to be cut and that is good work. Just wish I had old Jake, our Belgian horse that died two years ago...that horse could log.

Lots of good things happening around these parts. Sorry I can't say the same for much of the rest of the nation. I'll give them a hint...plant a small garden. Soon you'll be seeing me about cows.

2005-09-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

The really big party is over but most won't see it for a while but IT IS OVER!!! (No Jen, this is not a bourgeois title but an eye catching first sentence.) I'm not talking about New Orleans but you will start to see the effects of the party being over when they start to calculate the cost of rebuilding and look at the budget and scratch their heads and say but where is all the money we had???

Last night I was at a Farm Bureau Director meeting to put together what we wanted the State and National Bureau to consider as policy issues. The discussion could not stay away from the cost of fuel and anhydrous ammonia which, as a product of natural gas, has increased 1500% in price. Anhydrous ammonia, besides being used to blowup buildings, is used in agriculture to provide nitrogen to stimulute growth in crops. Very, very important to those big farms that produce corn, soybeans, hay, etc. because it can give them a boost in productivity and, in the case of hay, second and third cuttings.

Having just read Howard Kunstler's article in The American Conservative magazine (thanks, Al) which is one of many emerging on this subject I thought it worthwhile to pull some of these ideas toghther and see how it plays w/ you.

But it is about a lot more than fuel costs and farm additives which include herbicides and pesticides all chemical/oil based. It is about the whole fragile construct we call the economy.

In the plainest terms, picture these food production costs rising along with the cost of distribution, i.e. the tomatos from CA. These increases are not going to be absorbed by the producer or the rest of the distribution chain but will be passed on to the consumer.

So, how much will you pay for a tomato...for a bag of lettuce? There is a point where these goods will not be purchased. Now then, what does the producer do? Certainly not lower the price. They will try to get Federal relief but where will that money come from? There will no relief for them so they will go under. As the economy begins to slow down there will be layoffs and less tax revenue because less purchases will be made and less income will be earned.

Did you know that to a great extent our economy for the last 20 years has been fueled by the growth of the suburban way of life. Think about it...all thise homes being built further and further from the city center and the place of employment because our desire to constantly upgrade cannot be satisfied. And all the roads, shopping centers, schools, etc. constructed to support those now living on the outer edge but with gobs of disposable income. Now then we double the cost of fuel and home heating and what does that do to expendable income? Oh oh, little Timmy may miss soccer camp. Hmmm, he may also miss getting his own car and college away from home.

Back to the food thing. Sell your Cargill and ADM stock because the agriculture industry will be changing from being internatonal/national in scope to regional and small ones at that. It will be about the cost of production and distribution. Bad news for those who live in Phoenix and Las Vegas; they have no regional means of production. And forget about irrigation. The cost of power to run the pumps will be exorbitant IF you can get the water.

In 20-50 years you will se the resurgence of using draft animals on farms. Today it can be rightly said that we cannot feed all that need to be fed including an export market by going back to "the good old days". To which I say "what else can you do"? It will take all of our capacity just to feed our folks. Picture the tension as state and local governments begin to grasp this change and move to protect their local agri community. Eminent domaine is exercised to condem a shopping center so the laocal farmer can expend production.

Of course, this is all predicated on what happens to the price of oil. Refining capacity is at its limit and there are no new refineries on the drawing board. It takes 5-7 years to get one up and running. And where will it be built??? Whose backyard? China will take it in a heartbeat and will as soon as it get its petroleum industry sorted out. Oh, I forgot to mention that China is hoping to lock up Venezuelian oil w/ a sweetheart deal that aces the US out of their oil.

What about the existing crude oil supply? I won't get into the calculations on how peak capacity is figured but the best case scenario is that Saudi crude is good until 2050 and the worst is 2020. The real scope of the Saudi supply has been one of the most closely guarded secrets and the facts are leaking out and it looks as though the end is in sight. It won't go all at once BUT there are not enough new deposits to make up for the loss. By the way, it takes 10-15 years to bring a new field on line.

Alternatives??? First of all you need a REAL energy plan; we do not have one nor will we get one. It will be developed at the grassroots level. The Feds will bails us out - just like New Orleans! Hydrogen costs more to produce than petro products under any cost structure. Nuclear can help in the power industry but it won't run many cars AND you still have that by product that nobody wants.

Discouraged? Don't be. At long last we will come down from the rarified atmosphere of Superpowerism and join the human race. Did you really think this materialistic lifestyle could go on forever? I like the prospects and think the opportunities are enormous. Forget about Aruba; there will be no tourist industry to speak of. Think instead of learning to camp in you backyard next to the large vegetable garden which is next to the cistern collecting the rain water. Look at the stars that you could not see a few years ago due to light pollution but now we dim the lights much earlier.

Bottom line - think small and learn to grow things. Begin to wean yourself from the car as a means to get you somewhere because "you deserve to treat yourself". Think diesel because it can run on bio diesel fuel. Learn to love your family enough that you will spend evenings with them making and producing things of value for the family. Think about supplemental forms of heat, like pellet stoves or wood burning kitchen stoves.

Under this scenario, as Kunstler said, The world is about to become a larger place again.

At least this is what I think.

2005-09-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Is there anything left unsaid about N.O.?

In years to come we may find ourselves sitting before a campfire because we have no fossil fuel left and we will be reenacting an episode of Star Trek. In his episode Kirk is having to deal w/ a hostile alien (who probably thought the same of Kirk) but language was a barrier, not necessarily the words but the use of them. The alien would speak of a legend and expected the listener to not only know the legend but to understand the importance of why it was referenced.

And so it will be w/ us. With four 24 hr news channels and as many national networks airing the same clip of each speaker to be played over and over and over and... I can say to my campfire mate, Sharpton in N.O and he may respond w/ Michael Brown press conference, Thur. pm. The exact words are left somewhere in the past but we know what was conveyed. It's speaking in macro code which is useful if you both have the same operating system.

When one of us says 300 hundred guests from the Superdome Hilton escorted to the front of the bus line and allowed to leave first what will the response be?

2005-08-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

We finally got some rain. No cloudburst was it nor did it have a name, just some rain and we are thankful for it. The cows began grazing earlier in the afternoon and I wonder if the rain on the grass is like a salad dressing, kind of spices things up a bit.

I hope to begin replacing the rotten crossmembers on the old barn this week w/ the help of Big Ed and Wink, who is almost a big as Ed but Big Wink just wouldn't fly.

This last week was one of those weeks that you spend doing the piddling things that, when you don't do them they nag you until you get them done. Of course none of it goes as planned. Did you ever break a hammer handle? I did and it was on the first couple of nails. If it was the last couple of nails I probably would have called it a day and lived w/ he nagging.

The tractor blew out one of the recently rebuilt bucket cylinders. I flew down the Casey Hwy to catch the boys at the shop before they left for the weekend. It was apologies all around and they had it whipped together by 4:30. Of course I was to be in Waymart to leave w/ my baseball guys at 5pm but I didn't think they would appreciate the smell of hydralic fluid permeating the car. I met them at the game.

Coarse language is the last resort of the literally challenged. I read this and really like it. I'm old enough to remember when the English were up in arms because some Australian films used the word "bloody". Oh me, oh my! What doors it opened.

In one of my last ventures w/ AT&T we teamed w/ a company to see if we could do something for the military Special Operations folks. We met w/ the customer and several branches of Spec. Ops were represented. In a professional sense these were among the baddest of the bad...and they couldn't have been nicer to deal with. One Master Sgt. had the face of an old war horse; couple that w/ a thousand yard stare and he sends chills up your spine. His anger vocabulary seldom exceeded more than a "doggone!!!". On the few occasions that he let loose w/ a string of expletives we really sat up and took notice because he had reached his limit and that is how he showed it. The impact was dramatic. He had words that he held in reserve for those occasions that called for them to deliver the message he wanted. I wish more people could have met these folks and seen what professionalism and discipline can produce.

2005-08-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Busy week and getting busier.

Let's see, where to begin. I know, at the beginning if I can think back that far.

On Monday some NJ folks brought Molly, a three year old, black cow to our farm to be bred. We have never done this before nor had they so it was a figure-it-out-as-you-go-along project. Because her burcellosis test hadn't been returned yet we confined her to the corral. By Tue, she was eating, drinking and waiting to be combed. The word came; her test was negative so on Friday I set up some electric wire to form an alleyway, opened the corral gate and said, "come on Molly, ket's go meet some cows" (I really did say that!). And up we went. She trailed me like an 1100 lb black lab and when we got to the gate where the big herd was she started doing a little dance. Into the pasture we went and now she took the lead. Up she went cutting wide circles smelling all that could be smelled.

J joined me and when we got to the top of Chainsaw Hill I started calling for Linclon, the bull. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but Lincoln and his buddy, Jake the steer. They met Molly halfway and it was smells all around. Then the girls came from the woods and it was more smells, bawls, and little jigs that Highlands do when they are excited.

And then it happened...someone got the idea, "let us all run down to the water tanks" and off they went, kicking their heels and having a grand old time. Hershey, our oldest cow came to J and I asking who this new cow was and why is she living here? We explained that it was a short term thing and that seemed to satifify her curiosity but she still gave her a chase when she had the chance.

Later in the day we saw all them grazing like this was the way of Highlands since time immemorial.

Wednesday I finally got to working on the tractor. It would run out of fuel at half tank. So, out the tank came and while I was at it in went the new tachometer cable which snapped last winter on one of those 13 below mornings. Last time I had the tank out to clean it we coated the inside w/ a rust preventer that is used in aircraft tanks. Guess the etching material used in prep didn't work too well on diesel tanks because the stalling problen was caused by this stuff peeling off and floating around in the tank. Worked my little butt off shaking nuts and bolts around inside the tank to get the loosed stuff off and then used the air hose cranked to 125 psi and gasoline to wash the inside. Finally I could see no more grit flying around when I hit it w/ the air hose so into the tractor it went. At 9:30pm it was up and running w/ all the rpms being displayed...ah, such a sweet feeling.

I used to bring my CD player to the barn and crank it up but found it too distracting. Trying to dance to "Cottoneye Joe" while putting the hood bolts in takes too long.

Neighbor Harry, of the motorcycle accident fame, is now getting around. He uses his walker to get to the truck and kind of scoots himself in and then it's SHOWTIME! I caught up w/ him at Elaine's restaurant where he sat at a table w/ his left leg propped up on a chair. We talked about death, dying and pain until Jesse came over and then we talked about haying, horses and cattle.

Seems like there was a lot more but retelling old tales is not my thing but I do it because some like to hear them. Maybe next time I'll tell the story of the rancher that kicked some environmental butt.

2005-08-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

It is dry...and hot...and humid!

Cows don't like it and neither do I but in 10 days we will see the last of the dog star and the cooling will begin.

Finally got the tractor running up to par by replacing some of the copper washers in the injector system (guess they can be compressed only so many times). So I finished the last of the pasture clipping as the sun went done in a somewhat blaze of glory. And while I was aclippin' I got to thinkin'...

Ever notice how people come packaged in ways not always to our liking? if you could take a little of Joe and add it to Bill while subtracting some of Bill's irrating traits you will get the perfect, at least to my way of thinking, person. Or maybe perfect for that moment and then Bill will need recalibration at some later time because the situation changed.

I guess what got me thinking about how we come packaged was the conversation at Elaine's yesterday. J is in NJ w/ her sewing friends so I'm kind of running the ranch and eating out when I get the time. It also gives me the chance to catch up on the latest doings in the 'hood.

There is no doubt but we are truly Red Neck country; from our NASCAR hats to our run down work boots. And we sound like it and think like it. Somehow the conversation usually comes around to what "they" are doing to rip "us" off, i.e., all the tankers at sea waiting to unload when the price of oil get high enough, or the FCC petition that will stop any mention of God and end religious broadcasting, etc. When we lived elsewhere and I was working, well sort of, there was no lack of well thought our opinions on everything...and that got tiring...they wouldn't shut up!

Now then, when I am in need of help and that is often, if I call my Red Neck friends they will quickly get their work roughened hands on the problem and get it fixed. Sure, you may bite your tongue but the help is there and sometimes it pays to just listen.

When we lived among the thinkers and opiners it was different. Help was always just beyond the next session of navel gazing. And when they did show up it was with gloved hands but no skills and always tons of witty chatter.

It's not a matter of choosing one over the other because you usually do not have a choice. When that person stops to help you w/ a stalled car you can't and won't administer a competency/compatibility test, you are just thankful for the help.

In the long run it sometimes pays to just kick back and listen and be thankful that there are hands to help whether they are calloused or gloved.

2005-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

So where do we go from here...?

No more storms to speak of, hay is in the barn, Harry is healing, ground is getting dryer, maintenence is the current order of business...are we getting down to some period where there may be discretionary time to be spent on...???

I was clipping the pasture and that is nice work. You set the haybine fairly high and cut the top off the old growth grasses; this stimulates new growth and the cows like eating where they don't get stuck in the eye by a long stalk. When you do this work you kind of operate on semi-autopilot. There are still rocks and tree limbs to watch for but, with the cutter set high, most of them can be ignored. So what do you do w/ your mind while going in large circles that take 12 minutes to complete?

Well, you can sing little songs like "Paper Doll" by the Ink Spots but then you can't get them out of your mind for the rest of the day. Or, you can think of all that is wrong w/ your life but that is unproductive and leaves you in the wrong mood. Or, you can wonder about things such as, why do we allow ourselves to get all wrapped around someone elses ideology because they have told us that this is what we should be like, i.e. "the American way of life...", "traditional family values...". I have been hanging around this old planet for 60 some years and I can't begin to explain what those phrases mean. The speakers will feed you some guff about fairness and equality for all but when you are stopped and frisked for DWB (driving while black) and it does happen many, many times to blacks especially if they live in an affluent, predominately white neighborhood the meaning of these phrases loses its relevance.

In these parts, it is a greater sin to rut up a hay field than to crash into someone while driving drunk. It is a greater sin to cross a windrow while raking or baling than to physically or emotionally abuse your family BUT in our County we vote straight Red State and have flags waving from the antenna of the PU truck.

I find that as the tractor makes its way across the field that I enjoy a great way of life that many want to regulate out of existance because it can create something that may be distasteful to their suburban sensibilities. Yep, cows can smell when the wind is blowing in the right direction and yes, we do slaughter and eat what we raise BUT these are part and parcel of the American way of life; the freedom to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Or was that a former way of life?

Have we gotten so far from how life is sustained that the values we claim to respect, given to us by our ideologists wrapped in cryovac packaging just like the meat we purchase, are hollow rhetoric? Don't think about where it came from or how it got here just buy it, consume it and sit down for another evening of "must see TV".

On a closing note I am finding that many people my age are very ignorant. They may have graduated from an institution of higher learning but haven't cracked a book in 40 years and are the most gullible to this rhetoric because their ability for critical thinking has been dying for 40 years. Just watch for the longing for the "good old days" and "it wasn't that way when I was growing up" and you will see the hugh gap between what is really happening and what they want to believe is happening. Challenge them and the defenses arise; anger, confusion, name calling, etc. I pick on them because I am of that age group and I will not go quietly into the night!

2005-07-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Shocking news!!!

We had a small thunderstorm move thru our area yesterday morning. As I was fixing breakfast Joyce just finished feeding the calf and was walking up the driveway when BOOM!!! a bolt of lightning hit the big maple tree in back of the house. J came running into the house shouting "I've been hit by lightning"! Well, almost. She got the residual effects of the strike and it shook her, literally, and slightly singed her hair. She was fine but a little wary about going out later in the day. The lightning went down the trunk and blew out large pieces of bark and cut a 10' long channel in the ground as it apparently followed a root. I wonder if the tree will survive.

As I looked at the tree there is no doubt that it is the tallest around the house. If I cut it down then another will be the tallest. If I cut them all down then the house will be the tallest. If I remove the house the trees across the road will be the tallest...get the point? Some things you just live with and accept the fact that the odds are generally in your favor.

Odds, better known as probabilities are funny things. We have folks who spend big bucks on the finest cattle and aren't always pleased w/ the offspring; they don't care for the phenotype to put in biological terms. It gets down to the inheritability of traits and who you get them from. So some combinations look great in one individual but when combined w/ another take an unexpected turn.

Does this explain why siblings are not identical in temperment, attitudes, etc. or am I treading on environmental effects? Now you have something to think about while I'm clipping the lower pasture.

2005-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

"This was the week that was".

Tuesday I was home when, at 11:30 am, a bouquet of white flowers was delivered. The note, from Jen & Dereck read "Guess what we did today?". At first I thought they got another puppy but then decided that one golden retriever is enough for one family.

An hour later I spoke to them and yes, you guessed it, they got married that morning. For those who want to read Jen's narrative, which includes how the whole thing comes together, and see the pics go to www.jenorama.com.

For J and I it was great news. We love Jen very much and welcome her to the family. I guess that means that we can say that we really have grandkids.

On to the more mundane. I rakeed and baled another piece of land and got 255 bales off of it which was a great suprise. It was the densest hay I have seen and the windrows couldn't be doubled due to their sheer size. We split the load three ways because Bobby did the cutting and tedding and Chris did the wagon unloading and bale stacking. So my share was 85 bales for 5 hours work and at $2.50 per bale that is the equivalent of $42.50 an hour.

The Salem Masonic Lodge has been hosting a small carnival just south of here. Scottie asked if we would bring an animal or two down for the folks to see. So each evening since Wed. we have brought Spice, the two month old calf, and either Rouan the young bull or Rowena the yearling heifer. We have been amazed at the response. Questions like you wouldn't believe and people waiting in queue to ask about the Highlands. We may have even sold a future animal to a local restaurant owner and his wife. They are looking for more property and she was trying to figure out what to stock it with. For her it was love at first sight when she saw the Highlands.

Today it is nice and sunny w/ a cool breeze BUT we are on the verge of a drought; my hay is cut and in the barn so let the rains begin.

2005-07-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots and lots of things happening.

The hay is baled and in the barn...about 30 tons or 1500 bales. It became a neighborhood thing. When the wagons rolled in neighbors, sometimes more than we needed, came over to help w/ the unloading. The baler worked w/o complaint. Some folks should think about shucking their spouse and getting a John Deere 338 baler, less hassle and more dependable.

Neighbor Harry came home from the hospital and he is one sick boy. He needs to recover and build his strength before he can start therapy. This has been a life changing accident for him. No more "cops & robbers", no more lifting oxygen tanks at their shop and the list expends as we think about it. I think depression will set in as the pain subsides and he realizes what he has lost especially making hay; that he loves.

Katy Keifer, who works on her grandparents farm up the road is home w/ a broken ankle and lower leg; she was kicked by a steer she was raising for 4H. They will keep her in a cast until the swelling goes down and they know what they are dealing with.

Bobby C. who's timothy field I baled on Monday was at his dad's house next to the field when they took his dad to the hospital , maybe for the last time. He has been battling "cancer of the blood". Bobby came down to our barn and helped unload hay. Guess there were too many people at the Hospital and he wanted to feel useful and get his mind somewhere else.

Today I'll begin a series of "catch up " projects which begin w/ cleaning all the hay equipment. We are expecting rain for the next couple of days so this is a good break. Nothing beats being in the barn working on equipment on a rainy day w/ a cup of coffee in your hand, the dog sleeping somewhere nearby, the maw full of sweet smelling hay and all the bolts are loosening w/o too much effort.

Maybe in Sept. we'll get a second cutting off the airfield.

We had a fine looking bull calf out of Aileen. This is the "S" year so we named it after a friend and neighbor, Scottie Ogden (he who drives wingless airplane fuselages down the hwy to his shop). The calf is ScottieO and neighbor Scottie loves the honor.

Well that's it from S. Canaan where all the men have sunburn, the women have been cooking portable lunches and suppers and the kids are in hiding.

2005-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

So here's the rest of it...Sunday when we returned Harry, Nancy, Wink and others had about 800 bales in the barn. We went to the airfield and they were finishing the baling of what was left. Took it to the barn and it joined what was becoming a nice looking hay maw. The baler didn't miss a beat!

During the week we cut the rest of the field and baled on Thur. w/ help from lots of neighbors. J bought some watermelon and Sandy brought hot dogs so we fed the crew which numbered about nine including kids. Lots of laughing on the back porch and we kidded Harry about making his daughter wear a helmut when riding her bicycle but he won't wear one riding his motorcycle. He admitted there was no defense or logic to be presented.

Sat. we cut all the Keifers fields and Amy, Earl, Sandy & Chase came over for dinner and be with Linda and Drew (my sister & b-i-l) who were visiting from Raleigh, NC..

Monday, the 4th, was the day to get the fields raked and baled. I brought the rake up to the Keifer's and when I came back, Jim Shaffer, Harry's dad, was behind me and followed me into the driveway. "Harry was in a bad accident on his motorcycle. A woman hit him in the side and we don't know how bad it is. They took him to CMC (our trauma center)". That took all the air out of me; I just couldn't think. Jim said he would keep me posted. I went to the Keifer's and told them what happened and that we would have to change the way we were going to do things. I had Jeff get started raking w/ his small tractor and I went for the baler which took a few trips because I kept forgeting things but eventually got the baler over to the fields.

Jeff had several windrows set so I dove into it w/o ever having run this contraption. Man, did it bale! 400 bales later we were done; about 4pm and never missed a knot. What an animal! The status on Harry at that point was that his leg, from the knee to the ankle was broken in several places (it turned out to be nine breaks, three of them compound).

They operated on him Tue. morning and it went well. He has a rod now holding the shin together and pins for the breaks on the other bone. I went to see him last night and it was interesting. Lots of people coming and going and he responded to their questions about how he was doing somewhat laconically. When I got to taking about the baling he lit up and really wanted to know all that went on. I brought him 6" of twine as a reminder that we want to see him back so he has to listen to the Dr. and do well in therapy. I have a couple of small pieces to do for some neighbors but will have to wait for the weather to clear.

Aileen had a bull calf a couple of days ago but it is nursing only one teat because the others are large and tender, We will get her down and milk her out this afternoon and, hopefully, she will let him nurse on all quarters.

I'll keep you posted on all fronts.

2005-06-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

Too much happining for one post. Let's cover the cow stuff and then get to the hay sometime later.

Our combined national and regional Highland meeting was held in White River Jnct., VT. Weather was pleasent and 150 people came from as far away as CA.

Thursday was a day of registration, two seminars and a reception in Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth Univ. What a pretty town and impressive campus BUT be prepared to feel New England in its most intense. We had a reception at an art center across from the campus and when we left it was dark and the lights were on in the windows of the buildings; small candle-like lights that just made you want to stop the bus, sit a spell and absorb the serenity of the evening.

Friday we went to the Faulkner's farm in Stoddard, NH. It is registered as one of NH's "Farms of Distinction", an award well deserved. Lots of seminars, a Highland steamboat cooked 23 hrs. and tons of good cow talk. We left the farm and went to Lake Sunapee for a dinner cruise. Light breeze and in the low 70's; a gorgeous evening.

Saturday was the day for the business meetings. Our's went well but I didn't like having to present a budget w/ a deficit. That afternoon we went to the Manafort's farm in VT for the BIG dinner, awards and live auction. Another beautiful farm carved out of the forests of VT. When we got to the live auction, the purpose of which was to cover our Regoin's cost of hosting the National conference, we found we had some items of very high value that had been donated. The best was a fresco of a bull's head (Highland, of course) painted on a large slab of slate by a well known artist. The estimated value was $2500! A couple of the boys got creative and solicited 25 farms for $100 each to form a bidding pool to buy the fresco which will be awarded to the winner of the grand champion bull in our Fall Gathering. All went well and we got the fresco. Rough total for the auction was $7900 which covered our expenses and closed the budget deficit. Success comes in many forms and this creative use of enthusiasm for the Assoc. and a willingness of 25 farms to underwrite the bid is what makes this such a great bunch of folks to hang out with.

Sunday we had breakfast w/ a nice couple from Montreal who I expect we will visit some day soon. Later that morning we discussed the effect of the ice melt in the artic on the gulf stream and ultimate impact on the British Isles. One never knows where conversations will lead when in the company of educated people.

Linda and Drew arrive today so I best get some things done.

2005-06-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

So there we were...10:00pm last night loading the baler and tractor onto the flatbed and our day was just about done. It didn't start out that way. At 9am, neighbor Harry, Al Swingle and I were tuning up the baler hoping it would bale. At 6pm we had made about 50 good bales and many of them were hand tied. David, Al's son and Harry were in touch so David knew that everything was going south and there was no way we were going to get the hay off the field.

He proposed that we bring one kicker wagon down to where he and his dad were bailing and that would free him up to load the round baler and tractor onto the flatbed and come up to bale our hay. So, over I went w/ all the Shaffer women and Joyce on my tail to unload the wagon with its 50 bales into our barn. Then I took the wagon 12 miles south to where the Swingles were making hay, dropped off the wagon and came back. David got to the airfield about 30 minutes later.

He baled until dark and then we had to get creative because his tractor lights didn't work. Nancy rode on the tractor w/ David and shined a spotlight in front of the tracor onto the rows and away he went. Meanwhile Harry was reraking the hay to fluff it because it was getting damp and I'm driving our tractor next to him to give him light.

From the sky it must have looked like fireflys chasing each others tails. But we got 8 bales, about 2 1/2 tons, made and stacked.

Today I am going to spend more of the kids inheritance and buy a used John Deere baler WITH A WARRENTEE. Yup, if it doesn't bale, out come the boys wearing their J.D. green caps to fix it. Actually, w/ small bales going for $2.50 apiece this is an investment that will be paid off in a couple of years.

Back to the Swingle boys. Al is in his late 40's and David is probably in his late 20s and two of the grossest, fightingest guys you ever could meet BUT in a pinch that's who you want covering your back; and cover our back they did last night. We'll give them a hand when the time comes and that is just the way things work.

When I thanked them David said it was no problem because he would rather be doing this than watching "must see TV".

2005-06-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Today's the day.

Despite the forecast we will start cutting the hay at the airfield. We've been having those goofy days where there is a "30% chance of rain" and it rains cats & dogs and "70% chance" and we get no rain. So Harry & I brought the tractor and the haybine over on Wed., cut the outer edge of the field and went home because there was a "30% chance of rain" on Thur.and you guessed it; cats & dogs littered the field. Fri. was cool & overcast but the ground was drying nicely and by yesterday afternoon it was dry enough to cut which we will do today. I expect we will bail it on Tue. If we do the whole field in small bales I think we are good for 1600-1800 bales.

Nick & Jenny drove up from W. VA to look at our calves. Spent long time out in the pasture talking about the animals. Rather than walking up to see the big herd, I went by myself and called them. "...and what to my wondering eyes should appear" but 14 Highlands coming to my call. Down they came to the fence, some running, some jumping but they all came. That impressed our guests (and us as well). They are pondering whether to get the pretty dun bull, Rouan or the two newest calves, Sugar and Spice (the bottle baby).

At dinner we learned that Nick rode a bull in a rodeo. It was the first and last time that he did it and as luck would have it he drew the rankest bull of the group. The other riders helped him get his hand wrapped and when the gate opened he lasted about two or three seconds before doing a nice cartwheel off the bull. I asked him what it feels like in those few seconds. He thought about it and said "it was the greatest adrenalin rush I've ever experienced". This guy rides motorcycles and horses competively so I think he has a basis for comparison. I will be interesting to see which animals they choose.

Time to go cut some hay.

2005-06-13T00:34:00.000-07:00

We're back!!!

Colorado was great! Saw lots of nice folks and visited lots of nice places. I'm not sure you want to read more. If so, let me know and I'll bring the slides over.

Neighbor Harry ran the place while we were gone and had a couple of calves to care for as well.

Now we can be thinking about hay. Yessiree, dear reader, it's hay season. Neighbors are all over the map trying to figure out the weather given these silly afternoon storms we've been having. Some were lucky and others were not.

We will have to find a new source for the winter hay. Richie can't get anyone to make the wrappped bales because Ed, who did them for the last few years lost two customers around here and isn't worth the trip for one customer. I called one farm and he will let me know how many we can provide.

Meanwhiler, back at the ranch, Harry and I will cut the airfield and hopefully, the bailer will work w/o any problems. This could give us enough hay but they will be small bales and have to be stacked in the barn; lots of work when there is only two of us.

Time to go, water tanks need to be filled.

2005-05-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

Storms.

Friday's weather forecast called for rain w/ lightning and some hail in the afternoon. I had a number of things to do outside and set out to get them done before I was rained out.

Our weather generally comes from the NW or W and with the pastures laying along that axis we are afforded a great seat for storm watching. Most of what I had to do was centered around the barn and that immediate vicinity. My list, and I always have a list, was a lot of "cleanup" which is usually small tasks that can be done quickly and crossed off ( a very satisfying feeling).

As I worked I kept glancing toward the NW to see if the weather was changing. When I began the sky was a bright blue and in 15 minutes or so it lost its deep color. Now it was a blue wash but still cloudless. Cranking through the list I started seeing the slight details of clouds on the horizon; no form, just hints. Every time I looked the details came into sharper view and I could start to distinguish the flat tops of the true storm clouds versus those whose purpose is to accompany the real actors and act as the supernumeraries in the production.

Unless I watched, nothing of note was happening. It was like watching a silent movie playing out somewhere in the distance...only a visual experience. I had my backed turned and them I knew that this was for real. The wind shifted. Now I could feel the change in the air and smell the on coming storm. I turned and looked and there it was, a fully developed thunderstorm sans the thunder. Ooops, spoke too soon. Now we had thunder and I counted the seconds between the lightning flash and the roll of the thunder; one hippopotumous, two hippopotumous, three... seven hippopotumous... KABOOM! I have time to get a couple more things done. One hippopotu...KABOOM! Time to head for the house.

This post was not about storms but about how quickly the aging process comes upon you.

2005-05-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

The other day I had an overwhelming feeling of being submerged in things to do and it was getting out of control. So I did what I always do when this happens; I took a yellow legal pad (this is the only pad that will work) and started jotting down all that I had to do. It couldn't be done in one setting because I couldn't think of all that needed to go on the list. I kept adding to the list as the days went by and working on tasks already listed. It all fit on one page; single spaced and added to at the top where the heading should be. I looked at it and smiled. God won't call you home until your list is finished so I'll be around for a while.

One major task that I didn't put on the list because it isn't optional as to when it can be worked is my jury duty obligation. That's right, folks, the "hanging jurist" is back and hitting the court in full stride. You may have remembered this famous personage from the trial in Lake County, IL. Four days of testimony, I'm selected as foreman, 45 minutes of discussion, a guilty vote on the first ballot, held the decision until after lunch and then went home. My case is being called tomorrow so I'm sharpening my critical thinking skills by watching Judge Judy.

Weather has been cool and sunny and the grass growth isn't where I'd like to see it. Rain will help and it is expected on Monday.

We have our BIG (for us) HFH classic car & bike run this Sunday. J and I are working one of the stops. This is a poker run so it is all in fun. The wrap up will be at the County Fairgrounds w/ food and music. We need the financial support due to the increasing cost of house building in this area. With the implementation of the building codes, our permit costs went from $25 to $745. We are also using preformed basement wall as opposed to the block and mortar we used in the past. Putting up 13 courses of block was getting to be too much for our aging crew so we went to the preformed walls. They make a better foundation and is much easier on the crew but adds about $3000 to the cost of the house. We have two lots left on this piece of land before we have to move to a new location. Problem is land prices and availability are keeping us from making any long term plans. If the run this weekend meets the expectations we will be on a better financial footing. Grants are getting scarce and this is the last year for block grants which paid for the well and septic.

Got to go and change the water hose.

2005-05-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

"...the party's over, it's time to call it a day..." So sang Dakota Staton some 50 years ago and that was our theme song last night as we fed the show girls. filled their water tub and bade them a good night. Bottom line; great four days, lot of work but it was more than worth it.

Thursday we traveled the five hours to Mercer Cnty, set up our stalls and cows, see all the old, familiar faces and meet those for whom this was their first event. This day is always kind of exciting and a little tense because the procrastination is over and the competition is two days away. Jackie and John limped in w/ their trailer being pulled by Bill Robert's flat bed because their truck's computer failed. So, Bill & Marti drove a couple of hundred miles to fetch the trailer while the truck is being repaired and will, of course, tow them back on Sunday. All in a day's work so says Bill.

Friday is wash the cows day and can be lots of fun. There is always a cow or calf or something on the loose being chased. In the afternoon we hold the Jr. Competition where the youth, up to 21 years of age, are judged on their animals first. Following is then a showmanship competition bebun by the pee wee class age three-seven yrs olds. Abby, who I guessed at four, showed our bottle baby, Spice, and was a hit w/ the crowd. Both were exhausted from having walked all over the grounds getting acquainted. In the ring both Abby's and Spices eyes were drooping. I was the ring announcer and do enjoy that task. That evening we had our barbeque in the arena and then put the cows to bed.

Sat. was show day and there is a natural tension in the crowd. These are real animals some weighing almost a ton w/ minds of their own and you cannot predict what is going to happen. What happened for us is that Rowena, our tall, leggy blond won fourth place in her class. The judge liked her and said that if she ever stopped growing and filled out she could be some fine show cow. Penny won secong and is was very close between her and the first place heifer. We felt that this was a very good showing for a non show enterprise and our girls were in competition in the second biggest Highland show in the country.

Sat. night was the banquet and awards presentation. Much laughter and joshing. You have to appeciate the diversity of the audience. It ranged from Ez Braun who has to be in his 70s and still hauling cattle all over the country to Greg & Terry who just started showing a year age and are probably in their 30s. Their were shoestring outfits (and I count ours among them) to farms w/ show crews of three, 24' trailers and the best money can buy of everything. Beneath it all we are there for a common purpose; we love Highland cattle.

Sunday is like taking down the big top. No stress, just relax, pack up, say your goodbyes and hit the road.

Good trip back even w/ the road closing accident on I80. We huddled w/ a cowboy from NJ, found an alternate route, drove down the on ramp scaring the wits out of the oncoming traffic while warning them of the accident, saw a lovely valley full of Amish folks and still made it home in the mid afternoon.

After this experience, we are think seriously of exhibiting at the National Western Stock Show in Denver in Jan. 2006 which is the 100th anniversary of the NWSS. The NWSS is the world series of cattle exhibiting in the US. This will be J's crowning achievement. Her family raised cattle in Eastern CO and there,in the show ring of the NWSS, is their sister/aunt/cousin/great aunt/...well, you get the picture.

Time to clean the trailer and feed some hay to the cows.

2005-05-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yeesch! What a couple of days and it ain't over yet. We leave for the MAHA Highland Spring Classic Thur. am and, at this rate, we'll be packing 'till Thur. am.

There have been so many things that have gotten in the way and to top it off, Hershey had a problem nursing her calf so for the sake of the calf, we had to seperate them and resort to bottle feeding it. We brought Hershey and the calf down to the corral yesterday morning when it looked like the calf hadn't been nursing. Hershey is ten years old and her bag is very low and the teats are large making a it difficult to nurse. If the calf doesn't keep the bag drained the teats get sore and then the cow doesn't want the calf to nurse and that is what happened. The calf was in sad shape but wanted to hurse so took the bottle quite readily. By this evening she had drank over three quarts which is quite a bit for a calf less than a week old. Of course, she now looks to J and I as Mom & Dad. We'll have to bring her to the show which isn't too unusual. I can put her in the stall next to Penny, her sister, who seems to have formed an attachment to her or I'll fix her a place in the trailer and walk her after her feeding. Luke, our German Shephard, loves the calf and lays next to her when she is being fed.

Of course, when shooing Hershey back to join the herd, she decided to join the yearlings and weanlings. In trying to get her out, Lincoln the bull, decided to join the fray...when Linc decides to do something he usually gets his way. We eventually got the calves away from the adults and Hershey joined the herd but not Linc. He stayed in the lower pasture, enjoyed the grass and eventually laid down by the gate and his two bull calf sons laid along the gate on the opposite side. Lots of guy talk going on. Linc is now with the herd and things are kind of sorted out, at least for now and who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Also had to chase the geese off the pond again and this is becoming a yearly thing. I took the row boat and chased them around the pond and they eventually got the message and left.
Time for bed, the calf gets fed at 6am.

2005-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hi there, farm fans, bit soggy on this end but the cows don't mind.

Been a very busy week getting ready for the show and doing some baby sitting.

First the show. We leave next Thur. for the Mercer Cnty. fairgrounds which is in western PA. This is a fairly large show and is the first of the year. Lots of folks don't like spring shows because the animals never look as good as they do in the fall but this one is relaxed and a lot of fun. We are taking Penny, a dark red heifer that is full of spunk and Rowena, a quieter, light red heifer. I don't expect to do all that well due to the size of the show and the competition is getting stiff. We never planned to raise a show string so we are happy just getting there and participating.

A couple of days ago I started rewiring the front cable on the trailer. It came w/ single strand 14ga wire bundled in a flex wrap that doesn't protect anythintg. It has presented problems in the past so when I was at Chevy I picked up 10' of 7 conductor stranded cable to replace the first 10' of wiring. This is the part that connects to the truck and lies in the bed when traveling so is the most vulnerable. Over the summer I expect to do the brakes and save the lighting for winter.

Don't know if I told you but when I moved the trailer from where it was parked all winter to check out the lights I found that my spare on the truck was gone...not misplaced or hiding but gone, as in long gone. The cable that holds the spare under the rear was frayed, looks like rust got it. Went over to Jim's garage and he just happemed to have a Ford rim w/ a monster tire on it. Checked it for fit and was A-OK. Chevy had the tire hoist in stock and in it went (well, I guess I did have to remove a crossmember and knock down 5 years of dirt and crud). Found a better tire at the Varden garage and Scottie mounted it gratis. So all it cost me was the price of the hoist which I would have had to replace if I found the weak cable before it broke. Note: the little garages around here have a pile of usable tires that you can rummage thru, just restack them when done. That's where most people get their spare tires and I get my wagon tires.

We've been baby sitting Chase, Don & Sandy's 2 yr old while they get ready to move or when Don has a Dr. appt. He is the easiest kid to watch. In the 8 hours he was here yesterday he never cried or fussed. We draw on plain paper, play w/ trucks and tractors, go for walks to see the cows and play in the barn especially on the hay bales. He is a treasure and we are lucky to have him so close.

Time to go do some cow training.

2005-04-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

Oy...such a last couple of days!

Saturday we brought all the cows down for their semi annual vaccination and wormer. Then we separated the calves who were to be weaned from the moms, separated the two adults who were going to NJ to live on a restored farm, sent the cows back up to the pasture and tried to get the new calves into halters, vaccinated and wormed. Well, two calves out of four ain't bad for a couple of oldsters who had already put in a long day's work.

Sunday morning we looked out and what to our wondering eyes should appear but the youngest of the weanlings, Daisy, laying along side the fence next to her mom, Geranium, who was on the other side. J walked the calf down to the corral area and put her back w/ the other calves. We then got the two calves who had missed the treatment on Sat. and did them by lunchtime.

A friend brought her grandson to the the farm that afternoon and they stayed while I fed the big herd the last of the wrapped bales. I took the first one up and J was there w/ the truck and guests and they opened the gates to let me thru. Feeding went fine and they stayed to watch Lincoln the bull stir the bale w/ his horns. I went back to get the last bale and as I was about to pick it up w/ the bucket there, to my left and across the road was Daisy walking across the lawn. She got to the road, about 50' from me and proceeded to walk up the hill to the gate entrance where I was going to come in w/ my bale. I kept the tractor in a very low gear and followed her up the road but not so close as to scare her. When she got to the top, she paused, looked around and walked into the pasture. The inner gate of electrified wire was in place but she walked under it and right to her mom and began nursing. You can't believe how shocked J was to see Daisy nursing on Geranium. That sort of capped our day.

Monday the vet was due to prepare the papers for the cows going to NY and the calves going to the show. On Sunday night, I had second thoughts about our choice of cows to send. The original plan was to send the yearling bull, Smokey and Hydro to NJ. Upon reflection, we realized that Smokey and Henna, her daughter and pasture mate, would be separated AND by sending Hydro we would have no animals in cue for slaughter this year.

So, 6am on Monday I'm out w/ a feed pan to catch Henna as she came down for water and I would swap Hydro for her. This would make everyone happy. By 8am, everyone was in place and you could feel the calmness come over Smokey and Henna upon being reunited. Hydro will be culled due to poor temperament and bad feet, not the kind of traits you want to pass on. So far she has produced nothing but bull calves that went for meat.

Tomorrow I'll deliver the three animals to NJ. By the end of summer we will be down to eight breeding animals and that is enough. We plan to get into a Johnnes free status which is possible for us if only a small number of animals need to be checked yearly. Johnnes is a disease that has been a concern in dairy cattle because of its effect on production. Now they are suspecting a link between Johnnes and Crones and there is a push in the beef industry to get the herds to under go a Johnnes detection and management program. I can see it bringing a premium for the meat as well as the calves.

We do need to get the farm to be a bit more manageable as we get older and some of our parts wear out. J is planning on having the other knee done next year so that will incapacitate her for the summer and fall. Herd reduction and more fencing w/ gates and panels will further this cause.

Time to go hook up the trailer and get things ready for the trip tomorrow.;

!

2005-04-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

What! You say I haven't fillled you in on the local happenin's since 4/3? Well, Dear Reader, was I missed?

This place is jumpin' higher than a horny toad in a skillet on the front burner turned to HIGH! Spring is here and, as we say hangin' over the back of Bummer's pickup, "let the games begin".

Honey started the calving season with a nice red heifer last Sat. and both are doing just fine. Baby is very active and quite curious. Should be some others due in the next couple of week.

Still feeding the cows wrapped round bales but they are grazing the grass that isn't there yet so are only mildly interested. When evening comes they will hit the bales and pretend to graze the next day but on a full stomach. That's what grazers do.

Geese are on the pond and firecrackers aren't effective unless I can get close which means I have to play Capt. Nemo and take the boat into the pond and try to row them done then use the firecrackers. We also have wood ducks in the nesting boxes but they have day jobs so aren't around when I assault he geese.

Rearranged the corral and it looks good. Tested it by tattooing, worming and vaccinating the weaned calves. Now we are erecting a semi permanent fence using 16'x4.5' 4 ga. cattle panels fastened to t-posts. Today I get to sink the t-posts. In this county, we sharpen the end hoping to slide off the rocks that we KNOW are lying in wait to thwart any kind of digging or intrusion into their world. (Could they be the gate keepers to some sort of Neverland that exists w/o our knowledge? This would explain their dogged persistence in blocking any penetration below 1".)

Did some cattle hauling on Monday and got caught up on the local gossip. Lockwood's store has been sold and will reopen soon. That's good news because then we go only one mile for gas rather than seven. I hope they keep the hardware section open. Rumors have the new owner as a local or a mini mart chain. Nancy, our postmaster, who is in a part of the store says she does not know who bought it but heard the same rumors.

Got another job. I'm now Chairman of the township Planning Commission. Cool...except we don't have a Planning Commission; guess I'm supposed to form one.

This is something I have been pushing for (not the job but to get a master plan and zoning). The last twps to get their plans in place will wind up with all the types of business and growth no one else wants. You can't zone retroactively.

And the list goes on but I've got to go put in some posts.

2005-04-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

There was a song that went something like this "the day that the rains came down Mother Earth smiled again...". And that was yesterday and last night except I don't think Mother Earth smiled because she would have gotten a mouthful of water. Our rain guage registered 4" and it felt like that. When Ivan came thru last fall we got 4" and the results were the same; roads were closed, Middle Creek roared and George Water's aunt and uncle were in danger of having their basement flood. We got his call first as an inquiry as to whether the big pump was available (it was) and then the second call that it was needed.

I didn't offer to help get it out of the barn because I had just changed into dry clothes and hadn't eaten yet; it was 8:30. Why the delay? The driveway flooded, filled the window wells and water then mildly gushed into the new basement. It came at such a rate the drain couldn't handle it but then I haven't seen that drain handle anything more than a trickle (but it's better than nothing).

Joyce took over the basement w/ the dry vac and I got the tractor and proceeded to recut the driveway to drain the water away from the house to the opposite side and then to drain down the hill in the back. It went sort of well. The tractor can get only so close to the house because of the window wells and the mud wouldn't slide off the angled blade to form a dike on the up side of the driveway so I shoveled it by hand...and I shoveled and I shoveled and I shoveled... It worked and the basement is dry.

Today, J & I are walking around like a couple of zombies but the rain has slackened to a periodic light snow flurry and the creek continues to roar.

There is a bright side to all this rain, it removed all the snow from the pastures. Our pastures roughly face NE and so don't get the full benefit of the sun's direct rays. As a result, we carry snow 'till the end and we are the last to get the grass growing. The other day I stood on snow and look at Scottie's clear airfield and I felt lust in my heart. On the other hand, our fields do not dry out in the summer as quickly as the fields that face the south and west (is it a blessing or a curse? Yes, definately.). This rain will hasten our grass growth by removing the snow. So there you have the blessing/curse thing and that summerizes life on the farm.

2005-03-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the mud season. I got up at 6 this morning to feed the cows before the freeze left the ground; should have set the clock for 5:30. We still have snow over 8" deep in parts of the pasture where it drifted and filled the hollows. There is some bare ground and it has a nice look to it; all that winter white gets a little boring. Been doing a little tractor work filling in some holes but the real effort won't begin until the ground is dry and can be compacted. Then I can recut the area across the road where I have the trailer and get the drainage set before putting stone down.

This winter was worse than any of the previous ones and I don't know why. It seems that we spent more time edigging out and watching the weather channel to know when to go for hay than in the past. I felt it physically more this winter. Some slips and twists on the ice and in deep snow left my back and sciatica doing war dances at 3am.

We're gearing up for the first show but need to get the vet out to do the health papers for the three that are going to the show and the three that have been sold. Of course, we have water running down the path from the pasture to the corral and moving critters thru that slop is no picnic. Guess we'll do the six mentioned above and get the rest down after the show if they won't come down earlier. They basically get their vaccination and a pour on parasite gobbleupper. It's not unusal to find some lice in the spring but I hate to find it at the show. All exhibitors have been thru it but you still like to think you are better that the rest.

This is going to be a busy year w/ two shows, a county fair, a small farm expo, two assoc. business meetings w/ the NEHCA meeting being combined w/ our national org., to celebrate a NH farm's 50 years of having Highland catle, a June trip to Co for a 50th anniv., and a trip to Charleston & Savannah in Nov. for our 40th (take note kids, don't miss this one).

Just thinking about that pooped me out. I'm off to read my book.

2005-03-22T06:58:00.000-08:00

Guess who is now the Chair of the WC Farm Bureau SAF committee...yup, yours truly. Kind of funny how it all worked out. First off, I didn't realize that I was on the Committee and second I had no idea as to what SAF did or stood for. When I raised these points I was assured that everyone has the utmost confidence in me but no one actually knew how I wound up on the Committee which is all fine and dandy because everyone on the Board needs to have a job, I just had too find out what this one was. As it turns out, this may be a good match; SAF stands for Securing Agriculture's Future and I guess that means in our county. I actually have people on my Committee who seemed to know about me being the Chair for sometime and wondered why I hadn't said anything about what we were supposed to be doing. Got it all sorted out and this will a good group. I have Dave, who runs our radio program, Marion our news editor and publicist and Marlyn (and that is the correct spelling) one of the most knowledgeable farmers in the area. We are going to kick butt!!! From what I can figure out this is a new position and it is the clearing house for all the ag inquiries, speaker requests and media events, sort of a image management function to promote a positive role of ag in our county. I see Dave William's subtle hand getting this position created and me assigned to it because I said that we need something like this 6 months ago. Truthfully, I like the way it is positioned on the board and we will do a great job once we figure out what it is.

Sunday we went to Border's (sorry, Jen) to pick up a book we bought for Dante and Bertha. It is about the Italians who settled in NE PA. Joyce was paging through it and found pictures of Coccadrillis (Dante's family) working the dairy. We haven't given them the book yet but I will be interested in hearing who these folks are, I suspect one of the pictures is of Dante's father.

Weather is warming up w/ days above freezing and the nights below freezing so, dear reader, what season is it? Yes, I know it is spring BUT it is also maple sugar season. This is when the sap starts running and the trees need to be tapped. They make good syrup in these parts.

Today I may get six big bales from Rich and begin to reconfigue the corral. We want to get more animals in the chute to cut down on handling time so I'll move the chutes forward and turn them so the headgate is parallel to the road and perpendicular to the stock trailer when I back it in for loading. All it takes is some imagination, a tractor w/ a bucket loader and steel tipped boots.

Well, I'm off to the races.

2005-03-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

Don't tell me I'm forgetful!!! The other day I was going into the corral to mess w/ the calves. I had the gate unchained when neighbor Harry stopped by to chat. Well, of course, I had to hear all about bike week in Daytona. I had an appointment to get the taxes done at 11am and I realized that it was getting close to that time. So we parted and I kept my appointment. Later that day J and I were driving by his house as he was coming from the opposite direction. We stopped to exchange afternoon pleasentries and he mentioned that the calves were in the road a little while ago and he got them into the corral w/o any problem. He said that they came thru the corral gate as it was unlocked. That was the gate I was unlocking when he came by earlier. Guess I was distracted BUT I'M NOT FORGETFUL! Glad that's cleared up.

Dave, one of the twp supervisors, stopped by this am to see if it was OK to chip the brush pile across the road which is left over from the road work last summer (we don't rush things around here). We said OK because it is better than burning and we can use the chips around the yard. We got to talking about things in the twp and he said that my comment at the last meeting about needing zoning or else we will get all the businesses that no other twp wants got some good response afterwards. Some folks approached him and said that they hated the idea of zoning but hated even more the idea of becoming the repository of less than desireable businesses. The short of it is I am now the first member of the planning commission and will start getting members on board on a clandestine basis, at least until the change of supervisor in the fall.

Boy, will my headstone be full. Hope it isn't coming sooner because of the introduction of zoning. Got to go and finish the water.

2005-03-17T13:10:00.001-08:00

So here I am sitting in a green plaid flannel shirt listening to the Chieftains. Yup, it's St. Paddy's day. In less than an hour we'll pick up Bertha and Dante to go to lunch at their son's restaurant in Honesdale for CB&C. NPR is playing all the old stuff from a century or so ago. This music is ageless.

Finished the taxes and met w/ our accountant earlier today. This is the first review and she will can w/ questions for the next week or so. Farming can be complex.

We were in State College, PA on Sat. for a MAHA information Meeting. The agenda consisted of presentations from the PA Beef Council on Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL). This program will allow you to track an animal from birth to death and every stop along the way. if it should come down w/ some bug like mad cow then you can see where it has been and take appropriate action. That night we had dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn and kicked around how our respective assocs. could work together and save some expenses. I think I ruffled some feathers by not letting some unproven assumptions go unchallenged. "Let's see the data" "what are you basing that assumption on?" "That's just speculation; let's get back to the facts we have to work with". Felt like I was back in the business world but the discipline is good. It did raise some issues that I agreed needed to be looked at...so I looking.

Cows are doing well and no one is looking like they are going to calve soon and that's good news. Although the weather is moderating we can still have some calf killing storms up 'till mid April. I have the feeding planned out so that the wrapped bales will end the first of May and small bales can take up the slack after that until the full spring grass bloom.

Yesterday we were at a program sponsored by our vet. Besides lunch it addressed the Johnes disease which may be linkeed to Crones in humans and some new vaccines that use modified live vaccines as opposed to killed vaccines. The vaccinations stay effect longer w/ modified but couldn't be given to pregnant cows. Pfizer has found a way around that problem. So we will work w/ our vet to se if it is worth converting to a modified live vaccine rather than the killed that we have been using. The killed is a 9 way but the modified is only a five way so another vaccine may have to be used as well. Well, that's what we pay her for and she is good at it. And you thought it was all fun and games out here.

Well, I've got to change clothes before heading for civilization.

2005-03-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Finished the taxes and met w/ our accountant earlier today. This is the first review and she will can w/ questions for the next week or so. Farming can be complex.

Well, I've got to change clothes before heading for civilization.

2005-03-08T05:47:00.000-08:00

Some one told me it is March; it that true? Where did Feb. go? I'm looking out the window at snow and blowing wind and you say it is March. See what working on taxes will do to your mind. I bit the bullet and made an appointment w/ our accountant for Thur. so I can't procrastinate any longer...the CPA awaiteth!

Yesterday J and I went for her knee checkup . Good news is that the left knee is doing well but the right is now in need of some serious attention. Doc gave her a shot to relieve the swelling but if it progresses as the left knee did we may be looking at surgery w/i a year or so.

Jen asked sometime ago "who do you write for in your blog"? I didn't answer because, as usual, I was in a hurry to get somewhere else. But the question got me thinking and I appears that, given my lapses in posting, I probably write for you, dear reader, even tho you never comment on what is written (except Jen). I certainly know what's happening on the farm so I have no need to do a mind dump so it must be for those who are there as bystanders, interested but not engaged. And that is fine w/ me.

Well, I'm off to feed some big bales and not looking forward to poking my nose out the door. Then, it's back to the taxes; ohhh what a witches brew they have become.

2005-02-28T06:11:00.000-08:00

Tap...tap...tap upon my window pane. It's not a raven but a frustrated female cardinal attacking her reflection, go get 'em girl!!!

Spent the last week feeding hay, filling water tanks and sorting stuff for the tax preparation. I haven't been out very much and have sort of lost touch w/ what's going on and that happens when you let yourself get cabin bound.

Actually a little home boundness isn't too bad because I do have a lot to do that requires I sit and e mail the Highland cattle world. Our BIG joint spring meeting in NH requires that a lot of preplanning take place and that is what we are doing now. For example, we rented the Hanover Outing Club's facility for the AHCA Director's dinner and now have to find a decent caterer. And there are goodie bags for the attendees as well as NEHCA mementos that we will want to sell.

And in two weeks we will go to State College, PA for a MAHA Informational meeting and have a joint planning session w/ MAHA afterwards (as the president. I will represent NEHCA along w/ our magazine's editor).

Eggs. J brought the nightly collection in and I washed them and layed them out to dry. Marvelous things, eggs. Because we have Aracouna crosses we get eggs that are brown, green blue/green, tan and white. The shapes varied; one brown egg looked like a torpedo, the greeny ones are almost round. What a fun thing to do as the night draws near; wash and look at eggs. Told you we are housebound; is it showing, yet?

2005-02-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

I didn't know it would work but it, believe me, it sure did.

Sat. I fed the herd 10 small bales w/ the tractor and pulled the big hay wagon down to the barn so I could hook it to the truck and go get 6 more wrapped bales. While the tractor was unhooked and I was getting ready to put some alfalfa into the bucket for the weaned calves in the corral, the tractor died, I mean it flat out flamed out. So I jockeyed things around a bit so I could get it into the barn and went to neighbor Jim's auto shop across the road to get someone to steer the tractor into the barn as I pulled it w/ the truck. You don't want a lightweight steering this sucker because the power steering is not working when it isn't running and it has a 600 lb bucket on the front end; it take grunt. So I got the gruntiest guy around; Big Ed, the bearded biker who makes cookies. We got it into the barn w/ little trouble and I set to work diagnosing the problem. The long and short of it was that I could pump fuel as far as the injector pump but not beyond. I went to bed anticipating a LARGE bill if the pump had to be replaced and that was the guess that neighbor Harry and I came up with when I talked to him late that evening. He was going to come over and give me a hand after church on Sunday.

Now it's Sunday and while I'm in church I say a little prayer in which I tell God that I know that he really doesn't mess around w/ things like balkey tractors but could he please just give it a touch and fix the problem w/o having to spend BIG bucks at the parts store. Came home, had lunch, hooked up the wagon and went for the haylage.

Coming home w/ two bales in the truck and four on the wagon I make quite a racket on our bumpy road. As I went rattling past Harry's he came out to talk to me.

"Whatcha doin'" he asked.

"Well" I replied, "I'm taking these bales to the pasture for the cows ; how I unload them I'll figure out later"

"Why don't you use the tractor to unload them?" he asked. "It's been running for the last 20 minutes" he said as he looked at his packet watch.

"Say what???"

"Yup, at least 20 minutes"

He then told me he had done everything I had done except he kept pumping the primer longer because it was nice in the barn and his fingers didn't hurt. We still don't know why it died or why it had no fuel past the injector pump BUT I remember my prayer and there was a very large, greasy fingerprint on the hood.

Today I plowed the drive w/ nary a twinge or concern. I now know how to fix my tractor.

As a side note, the reason I couldn't get my hay on Sat. was because Ted was out on a fire call. Come to find out someone drove his Nissan PU through the ice on Lake Ariel and it took them five hours to get the truck out. Same guy did the same thing last year.

I suggested that they bill him for rescue services from now on.

2005-02-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

So what else can I say...it's quiet this time of year. This week we fed the cows and got good and cold on the days when the wind was "whippin' down plains". The weaned calves are steady to the touch now and thanks, in part, to Jen who got them used to being touched qwhen they were here.

Last friday Sandy and we went to see The Andrew Lloyd Webber thing and it was really good. Having seats in the 6th row allows you to see not only the orchestra but, in tis case, the three Broadway singers.

Had our CSA meeting Wed. night and we are ready to try on a couple of different models of share compiosition and price. Liza sent me information on their CSA and I'll forward that to our share committee.

J and I went to Elaine's today for lunch and for once it was pretty quiet in there. I think the wind kept folks close to home because of the drifting. There was a 20 car/truck pile up on I 81 towards Wilkes-Barre last night. They say it was caused by lake effect storms from Lake Erie creating white-out conditions. I don't suppose tailgateing had anything to do w/ it.

We had a hen who was being picked on by one of the flock so had lost feathers around her neck. Haven't seen her for several days and thought the fox got her but, lo and behold, tonight there she was. The feathers have regrown but are white. We now have a Rhode island Red hen w/ a white necklace.

I'm starting the yearly tax thing and, as usual, it's like pulling teeth to get started. Even tho we have someone do the return I still have to reconcile the cattle count w/ births, deaths and sales. it is simply a taking of inventory. Some of my AT&T stock was sold as a result of the buyout by Comcast so I have to try and figure out the tax basis which isn't much BUT I'll do it just to get their goat.

That's all I can say on a windy but quiet winter evening.

2005-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Making our way thru winter and that is what it feels like...making our way thru and not much else. The weather has been decent if a bit windy. Big snow missed us by going further north. Sorry folks up north, that's just the power of prayer.

J is feeling better and we are going to the concert tonight The Best of Webber and Friends at the Scranton Cultural Center (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron but it is really very nice). Sandy is going with us as part of a requirement for her Arts course. I remember when I was working on my undergraduate degree and had a similar course. As a family we cruised the alleys and back streets of Chicago looking for street murals and creative graffiti. One of the best was done by the Latin Kings marking their territory as a warning to any gang intruders. Neighbors thought we were crazy taking our kids into those neighborhoods. Years later Dereck and Carmen lived in one of those neighborhoods.

Another time we went to see the Chicago symphony. My employer was a sponsor of this series and we got passes to the preconcert cocktail gathering and met the maestro, Andre Previn! Not bad for a kid from the westside of Chicago.

I hope Sandy enjoys tonight's performance.

The truck was scheduled for its annual inspection in January but I'm finally getting to it. So I drove the truck to Scotty's and J followed. I went inside and saw something I wanted her to see. There was his Dad's almost completely restored 1937 Chevrolet sedan in glossy black and it was elegant! They have been working on it for three years at least and all that remained was to get some better door handles and gas cap. It will be on the streets w/i a month.

Scotty called it a neighborhood car and said that I was to come over and get it and take J for a ride. I can see us cruising down the back roads on the way to Keating's for homemade ice cream.

Last Tuesday we were preparing for our Church's annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Early in the afternoon I got to the Church and there was a fella waiting for me. He was a photographer for the local cable channel and had shot some footage of the lads getting ready for the supper. He mentioned that he was off to do a country scenery shot for use as a backdrop for the 5pm weather slot. Dave suggested he talk to me and come to the farm for the shot. We talked and off we went.

Got to the farm and went in w/ the truck. The cows were up at Chainsaw Hill so he could set his videocamera on the tripod and record away w/ S. Canaan and the Moosic Mtns. as a backdrop. He was interested in the cows and wondered about their disposition. To demonstrate, I walked up to Lincoln the bull and scratched his head and ears. I didn't realize that the camera was still rolling and that is the footage they used that night. Wish I could have made a copy of it but they are not our cable provider.

While we were looking over the countryside I pointed out Scotty's hangar where the Piper Cub is housed. The photographer asked if it was yellow, which it is, and he said that Scotty had taken him up in it some years back. Small world in these parts.

2005-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Where has all the time gone, gone to greener pastures?

Joyce got back from Denver and the funeral and brought a full blown case of the flu w/ her. She was on bed rest all day Sat. and got up for the ballgame yesterday. Cancelled the doctor appt we had for today for a knee check.

So I've been caring for all.

Sat. we sold 2 of the older cows (Smokie & Hydro) and the weaned bull calf Rob Roy for pasture management of a wildlife sanctuary in NJ. I'll deliver them first of April. Should be a good deal for both parties.

Did a feed budget and we should have enough haylage and small bales to last until the grass begins in early May.

Weather is in mid 40s so we have thawing. I'm plowing all driveways to get the slush off and naybe get down to some bare ground. Not much time to do anything else.

2005-02-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

Spoke to Joyce last night and Margaret had a fine service. Lots of folks there who J hadn't seen for years. Her borther Bob is in the hospital for observation and tests. He fell several times over the weekend. Oh, the joys of aging.

On the farm front, all is well. My nephew Christian, was here for a day or so and we had good "guy time". He is an architect by profession and a builder, tinkerer, sculptor and thinker by avocation. He has seen Spirited Away several times because he is such a fan of the director and we had a good discussion on Japanese films such as The Seven Samuri.

Prospective buyer coming on Sat. to look at Smokey and Hydro. He is in the environmental restoration business and wants a couple of Highlands to rennovate a 30 acre piece of land that is a bit overgrown. These are two mature cows who are still breeders but we haven't been satisfied w/ their offspring so it's time to find them a new role in life.

Got to go and get the week's hay ration.

2005-01-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

"There is a time for..." and so it goes, this endless cycle of birth and death. This week Joyce's oldest sister died in Colorado at the age of 89. Margaret was not on the best of health this last year but still it comes as an unwanted sense of loss. She spent her life as a teacher in eastern Co. often teaching in a one room school house. Joyce had her as a teacher for 7th and 8th grade and Margaret played no favorites. The school had no running water and an outhouse and was heated by a potbelly stove. The kids that rode horses to school as Joyce did had to care for them at the lunch break while the other kids got to play.

Some years back, Margaret was honored as the Colorado Teacher of the year because of her work with the children of migrant workers.

Joyce is flying to CO on Tuesday for the funeral on Wednesday and will return on Friday. Guess I'll get to know the road to Phil. pretty well before it is all said and done.

Our nephew Christian is in Boston this weekend at Brandeis Univ, for some event and will be stopping bye on Monday for a visit. I have to get J to the airport by 7:30am on Tue so I'll be back in time to spend the day w/ him. I'm not sure how many folks are going to come w/ him but, whatever the number, we can make do.

Warming trend this week; highs will be in the 30s. When I went for hay yesterday I wanted to put it in Willy's field which is next to our upper pasture gate but the road was too snow packed and I wasn't sure I could maintain traction pulling a wagon w/ 4800 lbs on it. So I stopped at the barn, unhitched the truck, hitched up to the tractor and went up the hill. I lost my nerve when I saw how much loose snow had drifted into the opening to Willy's pasture. The tractor can go where no man ever ventured but loose snow can be its downfall. If I couldn't make it into the pasture and get the wagon over the hump I was done for. A wagon w/ a steerable front end as all hay wagons are can't be backed up any distance and certainly not downhill and on a curve. So it was back into the pasture I went; I getting too old for adrenalin rushes.

Today we are having a Winter Picnic at our church so I'm kind of cooling it in the AM to give my back a rest and be ready it give it my all this afternoon.

2005-01-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

Getting down to business, the cows got 17 bales yesterday and the temp in dropping once again. Spent a couple of hours getting the wrapped bales off the wagon so I could pull it out into the field, turn it around so it could be hooked to the truck tomorrow when I go for more wrapped bales. Problem was that the light snow had drifted around the wagon and I was climbing thru stuff that was knee deep and very uneven underneath. Nevertheless, Luke & I prevailed and went home at dark to a fine pork roast from our freshly processed pig. Donny and the boys were there because Joyce wanted to watch Chase for a while. Sandy was at school missing all the fun.

As promised, I'll expand a bit on why I kind of took off on the MIT prof for walking out when she heard something she did not like. It is not that I don't like academics. To the contrary, I think they are very fine, especially when served as a side dish (just kidding, of course). If I had the opportunity, forsight and ability 50 years ago I probably would have pursued teaching at the university level as a profession. But lacking all three of the above I went in other directions.

The ax that I am grinding is to be used on elites and elitism. Walking out of the room smacks of "Well, I nevah! Jeeves, show the gentleman the door!". In an article I recently read, the author said that one of the problem w/ imbedding reporters with the troops was that they had nothing in common w/ the "true" troops, i.e. the noncoms , tech specialists and enlistees. This was not due to a liberal vs conservative gap but a gap due to class difference. Years ago this would have not been the case. Many reporters came from working class backgrounds and their writing reflected it both in the subjects they chose and their writing style. Today, journalists are products of schools of journalism and generally come from at least middle class and probably upper middle class backgrounds. So their perspective on issues may be more of a class difference than an idealogical difference. I can certainly see it around here w/ some of our more affluent neighbors and their relationship w/ the rest of the folks.

It was not very prevalent in my business life until I had to deal w/ the Sec'ty of State's office. There, especially among the foreign service professionals were the elite. They stood out in dress, manner and attitude. There was no penetrating their inner circle and the way they could just dismiss you and your ideas with the wave of a hand or lifting of an eyebrow was irritating. And they all knew the code, at least those who were in the inner circle. I remember talking about this w/ a couple of professionals from another agency who dealt w/ State on a regular basis. One woman said that many of these alliances were thru family, prep school and ultimately Yale. It is probably broader that that but her point is well taken; we do have an elite and they think they are running things. Don't let W's cowboyness fool you, he is Barbara's son and the lessons were well drilled into him. Maybe this is part of why I couldn't warm up to Kerry except as an alternative to W.

When I worked in Australia, I picked up a popular phrase there and it stuck; "cutting down the tall poppies". They didn't like anyone who thought they were better than themselves. If they saw it in a politician, it was a kiss of death. I have adopted this attitude and love to bait and then cut someone when I see this coming out. Sometimes we think that because we have more education we are a bit better than others. Not so in these parts; try welding a frame together w/ a Masters Degree for heat.

'nuff said on this matter.

On to finishing the DVD reviews.

Lost in Translation was lost on us. Bill Murry gave about the most unenergetic performance since Robert Redford in Downhill Racer.

And the Cyndi Lauper video was...drum roll... DYN-O-MITE!!! What a talent! Her rendition of At Last is still running thru my head. The Latin flavor she gave to Stay is staying w/ me as I do a few dance steps thru the snow. Growing up in Chicago must have been a lot like her time in Queens except the street signs were different. I'm glad she is back.

I'm out of gas, time to go do the water.

2005-01-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

A plowin' we will go, a plowin' we will go, hi ho the dairyo, a plowin' we will go. Spent 6 hrs yesterday feeding the cows and plowing out most of the farm. The snow as light but deep where it drifted, No complaints at this end. Got and e-mail from Al on Cape Cod and he had a chest high drift at the end of his driveway. It sounded as tho he was expecting the power to go at any time. On the news this AM was the power loss on the Cape. I'll e-mail him to see if it hit him. He nhas a great fireplace and is well stocked w/ wood (you are well stocked aren't you, Al?).

Today I'm off to get the pig Carey's butchered for us. This will last thru the fall I'm sure. Except for poultry and fish we aren't purchasing much from the meat section of our supermarket and hope to shrink that sometime soon. If I were raising kids today I'd seek out sources of naturally raised/grown food and consider the additional cost an offset to future heathcare cost. I think this is especially true when you consider that employer provided healthcare is getting expensive and, in some cases, not available. Keep those kiddies healthy by feeding them healthy food AND shut down McDonalds, Burger King, etc.

Is their toughness only in the talk??? When the professor from MIT walked out on Larry Summers (Pres. of Hvd) because she "would have either blacked out or thrown up" I thought this was of as much interest as his comments which I think were meant to provoke discussion. But what it did do? At least for one member of the audience, it caused her to take a hike. Is this how the true acedemic reacts when things go badly, they take a walk? Picture her at MIT and learning that her grant to explore changing lead into gold is rejected. Bam!!! Down goes the foot and out she goes. I can see a revision to that time honored phrase "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". Change that last part to "the tough get walking".

2005-01-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

IT'S COMING!!! First major storm of the season. These piddling 4"-6" of snow won't hold a candle (and wouldn't want to) to what coming from the west...and I love it. I don't like the results but I like the anticipation, the waiting. Even tho it is -9, I'll be outside feeding the cows some dry hay to supplement the haylage and...waiting. I want to see the first flake and then the next and the next. I do this w/ the summer storms as well; I wait.

With winter storms the first clue is visual but the summer storms can be announced through sound and scent as well as sight. Big summer storms have a smell that is like nothing else. Sometimes it is the smell of dust being driven by the approaching colossus and sometimes it is ozone. If ozone, I make a beeline for the house; don't want to get caught in the pasture on a tractor w/ the smell of ozone hanging heavy in the air.

Toward the end of Saving Private Ryan, the troops were waiting in a town knowing the German army was approaching...but when? And as they sat and talked (nervously?) the slightest metallic sound could be heard behind their conversation and it stopped the talking. It was the sound of tanks. Just like a storm, you know it is coming but when?

There's a T-Rex out there and you know it but all seems normal. Then the silence begins and you listen for the first inkling of something you do not want to hear.

I watch for the first flake that I do not want to see; I know the work that follows.

2005-01-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

I watched the horses yesterday as I plowed the upper pasture gate entrance. The temperature was in the low teens but they were frisky and enjoying something, maybe just being a horse with other horses. They have a gracefulness that can't be matched, even by cows. Maybe it is in having a light spirit that one can feel as free as these were acting yesterday. I want that lightness of being.

We watched a DVD that Jen & Dereck brought over the holidays but couldn't fit into the schedule. It is Spirited Away, a Japanese animation about a little girl who finds herself in a land of spirits going to a bath house for rejuvenation...and that is about all I understood. It was beautifully done but w/ no background in Japanese culture and beliefs we missed the many layers of meaning that I'm sure were there. Oh well, it's back to Lonesome Dove.

It is touch and go as far as getting hay. With the really cold weather Rich's tractor won't start. As an aside, he uses 30 wt oil in all his vehicles because he thinks that multigrade oil burned out a motor in the '60s. And of course the tractor won't turn over BECAUSE THE OIL IS TOO HEAVY! When he told me that at Elaine's Restaurant, you should have heard the chuckling from the regulars.

At the same time we have been having snow squalls that make the roads slippery. So if and when the tractor starts I may not be able to use the big wagon due to road conditions. I can handle 2 bales (2400lbs) in the back of the truck but not a brakeless wagon w/ 4800lbs following me on slippery roads. Timing is everything.

Today I'm filling the water tanks and, although it is warmer, the wind is up. I move the tank hose every 30 minutes or so and my tracks from the last trip are obliverated by the time I make the trek up the hill.

I'm going out to do some plowing; the driveway is getting a bit too narrow.

2005-01-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

The blog is acting goofy so this post may be a little erratic.

All is frozen and silent, just the way it should be in January. It is so much easier to get around w/o the mud clinging to everything.

Gave the cows small bales yesterday and refilled their mineral container. Is was mostly the kelp that was down probably due to its high salt content. Luke ran the length and breadth of the pasture; he is a real winter dog.

Took the tractor to the top of the farm and looked for tracks...of anything. Nothing to be found. It is very quiet up there.

I'm interested in starting a journal documenting the farm environment, you know, a couple of sketches, a short writing trying to capture what the sketches are portraying. I have no skills in this area but it is more for internal consumption that sharing (as is most of what I do). When Jen, Dereck & the boys were here we went to Bethlehem, PA and the Moravian Bookstore. There I found a book on starting a journal. I now have some material to work with and just need to set some time aside and give it a shot.

I may drag the XC skis out and ski the big pasture. It is flat w/ some nice side slopes. The snow is light and fluffy but sitting over a frozen crust that can't be walked on but may be skied. Gotta wait for the wind to die down tho, wind chill may be around zero. Anyway it will be good exercise and a way to check the cows w/o using a vehicle.

2005-01-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

We're slooowly moving on. The ice and snow hamper the way things are normally done. It normally takes me one hour to feed the cows, Tuesday it took me 2 1/2 hours. Yesterday it took 3 1/2 hours to completely plow out the house, barn and driveways. And then the fog rolled in. At least we have no mud slides or tidal waves.

I'm just about finished w/ Annie Dillard's For The Time Being. Great book; I wonder what it's about. Some writings are like that. In her book and elsewhere there are quotes from well respected people. Annie has the guts to say that she doesn't understand what it means. Which makes me wonder why we put up w/ some of the writing we have if we don't understand it.

I remember rumblings about Proust and James Joyce being so difficult to decipher. Ever wonder if maybe they were just poor writers who couldn't express a cogent thought in 25 words or less? Some of the Rabbies Dillard quotes are revered for their sayings which sound like they spent years hangin' w/ the Zen men.

Language is so important as a vehicle for communication but stringing words together and hoping it conveys the intended thought is like throwing jello against the wall and seeing what sticks.

This is what you get when you let an old businessman and now a practical farmer loose w/ time on his hands. Maybe a test developed by th New Yorker mag should be given before certain writings are allowed into our hands. But then, give me a box of crayons and let me loose on the great American novel and the results may be as bad as I'm carping about here. Maybe The Jabberwocky was just ahead of its time.

2005-01-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Snowy days are not for the faint of heart if you live on a farm and have animals to tend. There was no Dillard reading until bedtime, nor was there hot chocolate, snuggles or a nap. Instead I plowed and fed the herd for four hours which took us well into the night.

Yesterday I picked up 3 1/2 tons of hay from Richard but before I could get it I had to greatly enlarge the area inside the pasture gate that I made w/ electric fence. I wanted to be able to pull the whoile wagon load and truck into the pasture, have room to unload from the back of the wagon and still drive the truck out leaving the wagon in this enclosure.

Why, you ask? The temp fence is up to keep the cows from rubbing on the snow fence AND it serves to give me a cushion when I open the pasture gates, i.e. the cows are on the other side of the temp fence. They have been known to crowd the gates when I have a fresh load of hay. Another reason is that in the winter when the roads are snow covered, which is most of the time, I can't pull 3 1/2 tons of hay up the hill w/o loosing traction. Loosing traction on a hill w/ a wagon attached it a feeling you wouldn't want to get very often sort of like turning the wrong way at the top of a ski slope and doing the black diamonds instead of the bunny slope. So I drive the long way home and come to the pasture gate from the top of the hill.

After I pulled the whole load, all 44' of it, into the pasture it was dark. Got the truck unhitched but I pulled up too far and was sort of close to the temp fence. I wiggled the truck out, which has two wrapped bales in the back, and was able to back out using only the side mirrors. This worked OK until I got to the road. At this point the road is still on an incline and turning left (away from the pasture) which means there is a grade moving all life to the left and that is where the back of the truck went. There was no use playing around w/ it so I trudged down the hill to get the tractor and Joyce. As a team we got the truck out fairly easily and up to Willy's oasture where we unloaded the two bales in the back. Then it was time for supper.

Today the world is encased in ice; probably no second coming for the next several hours at least.

2005-01-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

What a pretty day. We fed the cows in one of the higher pastures which has hemlocks and other conifers behind it. There is about an inch of snow and it rests gently on the branches even to the tips. It is so inspiring that we decided to leave the tree w/ the lights and popcorn and cranberrys that is on the deck up through the winter. It is now a "winter tree" not to be confused w/ a Christmas tree; wouldn't want folks to think us strange.

This is the kind of day for cleaning the office, preparing the 2005 budget, thinking about getting a used round baler, reading Annie Dillard and Fredrick Franck, going down the hill to see the new saw mill and drinking coffee. What to do...what to do?

2005-01-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

Overcast w/ a slight drizzle and warm, high 40s, so I'm eating pistachios and cleaning the office.

If you do this farm thing correctly then winter is the time for healing and preparation. After the harvest the ground needs time to repair; frost heave to loosen the ground that was compacted by the machinery, snow that will force the remaining plants to come in contact w/ the soil to add to the decomposition process and rest.

The short days and long nights are spent repairing or just tuning the equipment in antipication of spring, or, as in our case, the hay season. I'll probably reorganize the barn and old basement to try to get things to be in the right spot when I need them.

Yesterday was a pleasent day and I saw Scotty flying over the pasture in his Piper Cub J-3. This is the plane he bought in 1951 and has flown it ever since. Being a 1946 model it does need its share of repairs. Last summer it needed some recanvassing. This is not something you do in a heatless hanger. Scotty decided to take the plane to his auto repair shop, store it in one of the two bays and work on it as time permitted...not a big deal, been done before. The first thing to go was the wing leaving a fuselage, rudder, engine, etc. in the hanger. Sometime later he decided to move the rest of the plane to the shop which is about 1/2 mile south on Rte 296. Now this is not a busy road but it does get traffic occcasionally. As I got the story, Scotty originally planned to tow the plane (minus the wing) down the road to the shop. But, he and George got to fooling around w/ the plane. With George sitting on the tail to keep it down off they went to Rte 296, turned right and headed down to the shop. So here's the scenario, Scotty, who is in his late 70s is "driving" a wingless plane down the road w/ a guy sitting on the tail trying to keep it from lifting off. Luckily the traffic was light and the State Troopers were off having coffee.

The repairs were made and the plane is back in the hanger...any idea as to how they got it back? And now I ofter think about all those wasted years i spent hanging around w/ the "proper" people and wonder what other life skills I could have mastered?

2005-01-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Tooooo quiet!!!!!

Dereck, Jen and the boys left around 11:30am. Joyce and I promptly sat down w/ a cup of coffee and watched the Rose Bowl Parade. There is no way I can describe all the action over the last several days but Jen did; go to the link for her blog (Jen's blog) on the left side of my blog, give it a click and get a wonderful capsulization of the time we had together.

Yes, Jen, I will post the airplane story the next time I update the blog, probably tomorrow. For now, we are slowly moving from room to room putting stuff away, moving chairs, listening to the echos of boys laughing, etc.

2004-12-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

And today the boys are...it seems like the boys are having a ball doing all sorts of things. Tuesday we all put some small bales in the truck and drove up to feed the cows as a supplement to the wrapped bales. Well, three boys riding on top of the bales giggling all the way up was quite a sight.

Yesterday Dereck, Jen & I went to the mall to do some shopping. (They bought a clamshell carrier for the roof of the van to haul all their gifts home.) when we got back, just as it was getting dark Joyce had the boys out sledding down the slope in the back yard. They must have gone a couple of hundred feet before crashing into whatever was below; maybe the garden, maybe the chicken coop; whatever it was they enjoyed it. And standing at the gate watching the whole thing was Lincoln the bull and one of the cows.

This has been a good visit. The boys who think they are just having fun are actually helping quite a bit. They pull out the hose to fill the water tanks, shovel the walk, throw down hay bales, load the truck (w/ some help from me), spread the hay when the strings are cut and rub Molly, the donkey's nose to let her know she is loved.

I think they leave on Sat. Place will be quiet...too quiet???

2004-12-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas on the Farm
We got up
we opened presents
we ate
we sat around
we changed the blog
Oh, you want to know more???
Well, let's begin w/ yesterday.
First thing in the morning Jen, Tommie and Sam let the chickens out, gathered the eggs, checked the water and counted the cows. Dereck fixed eggs and bacon (from our animals) for breakfast and it was consumed before it hit the table (well, almost).
It was feeding day for the herd so in the afternoon I loaded the truck w/ 20 bales of dry hay to supplement the alfalfa baleage they were in the process of finishing. Came up to the house and picked up J and the boys. Next J drove up to the top gate w/ Sam, Luke and I riding on the tailgate; Christian was in the cab w/ J. The cows were waiting and the fun began. The boys and I put a bale in the treeline every 20' or so, cut the strings and spread it. They had a blast doing what we have taken for granted. The cows did their bit by following the hay and giving it a toss. When we came back to the barn, the boys threw 20 more bales down so we are set for another feeding. Tomorrow they will go w/ us when we feed the wrapped bales w/ the tractor.
Last night we went to the 7pm Christmas service at our church which I think was enjoyed by all. Lots of singing (Lutherans LOVE to sing), stuff for kids and a memorable sermon.
Christmas day w/ youngun's...forgot how exciting it is. We usually take turns opening presents and the kids waited for their turn BUT you could feel the waiting/anticipation hanging in the air like an aroma from a meal served some hours ago. Decision time...OK Guys; open your presents and don't wait for us!!! That left us w/ the fun of watching them.
Got to go, neighbor Jim just called and the deep fried turkey is done. Got to make room after eating the beef brisket Dereck made yesterday for our evening meal and we had today for lunch. A long walk to check on the cows will be in order after the turkey.