Happy Birthday

 

Matthew, hope you had a good day and thanks for a nice morning of birding!

If you Bale it they will Come

Matt

Is a wise guy....

Some of our very favorite hay customers stopped by the other day. We always love to see them....at least in part because the crew includes my baby brother, Matthew, his lovely wife Lisa of South View Weaving fame, and their son, Kegan.

As always, a good time was had by all...especially the photographer.

And speaking of wise guys, guess who ducked behind the wall
and waved when I tried to take his picture.....

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day

To my dad, who pointed me at the birds and little fishies, and all the other wild outdoor things. All my life he has demonstrated and shared a love of learning that keeps me racing against time even now. Hope you are finding good books to read and enjoying those apple bites. 

And to the father of my children, a guy who will sit patiently in the car for four hours while I go on a birding trip and then be willing to forego his planned auction visit so I can do more. I missed a life bird not going on the second half of yesterday's birdy expedition, but I was pretty pooped and we got a little Schoharie County birding done as well. It was all good. I'll get that Louisiana Waterthrush some other time.

To my dear brothers, both fine men, who have raised a number of delightful offspring.

To the fathers of our amazing granddaughters, who are of course, the brightest and most entertaining young ladies in the world.

And to all you dads out there. Hope you can feel the love flowing through all the neckties and grill accessories straight to your hearts, at which they were aimed. 

Love to all.

Watching a wild storm come in across Beardsley Reservoir, while the birder
clambers out across a narrow peninsula stretching out over the lake.

Also, Happy 34th Wedding Anniversary to the same guy above. Two holidays for the price of one. We somehow survived farming together for decades and are still having fun. Hard not to like that.

This pretty bird was right next to the auction barn, being harassed by a flock of
Common Grackles

Happy Birthday, Mappy

If you see this guy today

He's probably smiling

Or helping somebody in some way

Or messing around with these things

Cause that's what he does

Whatever he's doing I hope you will join us in wishing him a very Happy Birthday
Love you, Mappy!

Happy Birthday to my Irish Twin

For the next eight days my younger brother and I will be the same age. Happens every year. When we were kids he reveled in it, catching up with older, and sometimes cooler just because of that, me.

Then our nation's birthday would roll around and for the next twelve months I would be the older sister again.

However, now that we are both technically senior citizens, (although, really, we don't seem quite that old or at least not to me), I get to gloat a little.

So welcome to the nearly-old-fogies club, Michael; hope you have a wonderful day with many happy returns of same.

Love you....your temporarily parallel sister.

Happy Birthday, Mappy

If you see this guy...which is kinda unlikely, but always possible....wish him a wonderful birthday. Hope he and the family are having a great time.

By the way, he is the guy who will always come to the rescue whenever you need a knight in shining denim, an all around great guy, and a wonderful brother.

Love you, Matthew.

Normal

Talking on the phone with my baby brother. On the mend enough to laugh a bit, if still weaker than a kitten and dizzy and all that stuff.

In comes the boss and writes me a note. There is a white chicken on the bridge and it won't let him cross with the skid steer. He needs to get it over there to plug it in so its cold-blooded engine will start in the morning. 

But the chicken says, "Thou Shall Not Pass."

The boss wants to know if I know anything about the chicken. Having been in bed for several days I don't know anything about anything, so I send him to Becky to call Liz to find out about yon chicken.

I won't repeat the response, because it was profane and didn't auger well for the bird's future. 

However, when he went back outside it was gone anyhow. 

Then came the dog. Mack is such a heinous little Hell hound that I really can't let him loose in the kitchen unless I watch him very closely. I felt sorry for him, having been crated a lot the past few days of my illness, so I had him on a leash, upon which I was sitting, while I tried to talk to my brother.

In between, I was untangling him from the chair...the dog, not the brother...and giving him a little more slack to get the ball he just rolled out of his reach.

Suddenly I glanced down and rapidly excused myself to bro. There was a fat green caterpillar rummaging around the floor dragging a chair. See, Liz puts up an old green sheet between my two dogs' crates and Ren when she passes, because to say that they loathe each other would be to put it kindly.

Mack had wound himself up in the sheet until he was completely covered, no head, no tail, etc., but unperturbed was chasing his ball around, dragging the chair that it had hung on.

He was so entangled that it was a challenge to get him out, but honey badger...or Jack Russell don't care.....

 It's a wonder anyone ever calls me.

Buddies

Sometimes it is all about the journey and not the destination These guys had a great day out in the fields and woods last week and came home grinning and joking. Only saw one deer and it wasn't in a safe spot to hunt it, but they seem to have had a real good time.

Brotherband

Doin' Stuff

Of course I love the Brotherband books....just my kind of thing. Much to teach, all contained in a darned good yarn.

Even more so I love my own small brand of brothers, who are fine and fun, and although they don't venture to explore the seas of Scandia, they do have some good stories to tell. They also teach the young who are learning......things to help with life's good yarns.

Today is my baby brother's birthday. He is far away, at work in another state, but I hope you will wish him a happy...

As will I....Happy Birthday, Mappy. Thanks for all that good brother stuff over the years. Love you!

Happy Birthday

To the older of my duo of handsome brothers. Good men, both. They both do things for people and care for people routinely, not because they expect thanks or reward, but because that is how they are wired. This one makes great music as well.

Been lucky that way. When they passed out little brothers I was first in line for the top of the line.

Happy birthday, Michael. Hope it is a wonderful one. 

National Siblings Day

My brothers are special men, capable of many things. From making music, to making buildings stand up, to raising wonderful families, they have done much with their lives and still are......They have been good to me and for me all their lives. Happy day guys....this one's for you. 

I Hope You Can Stand

I was trying to sneak up for some candids, but Kegan spotted me right away

A little more stuff from the fair....this time my dear brother and his  son working on getting their hit and miss engines running in their display at the fair. They make the cornmeal and it is delicious. I have a bunch in the freezer and as soon as the weather warrants I will be baking corn bread with it again.

This Guy

Is working far from home, missing his family and his farm, as well as missing all the sunny days during a miserably rainy hay season.

He is also having a birthday today, so if you see him, wish him a happy.....he is a great guy and a real good brother.

Happy Birthday, Mappy.

Irish Twins

If you see my next younger brother today, wish him a very happy birthday. I will try to give him a call later.....

He's the one with music flowing from him like a spring, or a well filled with magic. We  love to listen to him play and sing.

He used to relish this short time each year when he and I are the same age. I wonder....nah....it's probably not nearly as much fun any more as it was back when we were ten.

Anyhow, have a happy, Michael. We love you dearly. Maybe you could come up to camp this year.......

Happy Birthday, Mappy

Although my younger brother's name is Matthew, we often call him Mappy. 

There is story behind this......When we were little, running tame through the doors of our mom and dad's two shops in Fonda (Montgomery's Antiques on one side, Tryon County Books on the other) we three kids often plagued our landlady. We were bored and she was there.

We must have been awful pests sitting in her kitchen and talking at her of our deeds and misdeeds. She was a fixture in our lives for a very long time though, and we liked her with just a tinge of fearful respect. You did not mess with Veronica.

She was of Lithuanian origin and had a bit of an accent. And she loved Matthew, who was pretty much a baby then. Her baby, as far as she was concerned. Her "Mappy" could do no wrong.

Fast forward to today. He is still one heckuva guy. He will help anyone in their time of trouble, or help just because he can and wants to. He can turn his hand to pretty much anything that he wants to, and is a lot of fun besides. Never a dull moment around Matt.

I am sure he is working today, at his dangerous and demanding job, which involves drilling holes and filling them up again.....in a somewhat more complicated manner....

Anyhow, Happy Birthday, Mappy. Hope you have a great one!