The Shores of Home

A pair of giant  boots greets me as I walk through the dawnlight kitchen with the Daisy Doodlebop. 

Both my feet would fit in one with room to spare.

A laundry basket that is not mine next to the counter. A baby swing, a lambie rattle, piles of books I have not and will not ever read.

Signs that a family lives here. Our boy is home from the wilds of Washington DC. Peggy perches in the kitchen most days, and Becky keeps her books close and her other books closer.

I read all the time people whining about their grown children moving home for a while due to the bad economy or unexpected circumstances of all sorts. All I can think is, for Heaven's sake, suck it up. Not too many generations ago life was fluid. Family ebbed and flowed around a grandparent center, like seas washing on the shores of home. 

I love it that our kids all come and go. Sometimes it gets crazy, but even when everyone is home this house is so big we still have two empty...well, unoccupied, they are far from empty....bedrooms. There is room for everybody and some to spare.

Everybody is gainfully employed and doing their part to keep America moving and growing. Building, fixing, feeding and cleaning up our country. Nuts and bolts jobs of which Mike Rowe would approve, with skills that are being lost all too quickly, as people walk away from the land and the tools that tame it.

And I get to play and flirt with dear Miss Peggy, who has recently discovered that she has feet, which never get lost unlike her binkie and bear, which elude her baby reach a hundred times a day. Feet are always right there handy to play with if she gets bored.

Life is good.

The Waiting Begins

Cinnamon

Thanks to some very kind friends we got to keep my older cow, Bama Breeze, rather then sending her when we sold the cows. The auctioneer said that even though she was expecting a calf, she would probably be sold for beef, because she is a three-quartered cow, that is, one of her "faucets" doesn't work right.

You can milk a cow with that problem, just fold over one inflation and milk the other three, and we did and will, but many farmers don't want to take on such a cow.

It was hard to part with any of them, but Bama has always been a big favorite of those of us who milked her...mostly me and Becky. However, our friends made it possible for us to keep her, for which we are most grateful.

She is, as far as we know, due to calve the 28th. Last night she was bagged up tight and this morning the cows didn't come down, even to the gate, near which they usually sleep after they are done grazing.

Liz, being brave, as she isn't used to it, took Jade's four-wheeler up to find them.

They were okay, and she brought them in, but Bama looks as if she may calve today. Thus we decided to keep them in the barnyard where they are easily accessible if help is needed and we put our beef heifer, Cinnamon, in a stall in the barn. Her favorite pastime is abusing poor old Bama and it wouldn't be good if she was butting her and shoving her around while she is having her calf.

So today we wait. And check. Maybe tonight too. Maybe all next week. You never know with a cow and they just won't tell you.

Things are Hatching

Downsizing from Dairy

With only two milk cows left, I guess I can't call this place a dairy farm any more. Of course we do milk old Neon Moon, for the house and for the calves, and some day Bama Breeze will have that calf....but there is no hungry herd waiting in the barn any more.

Thus I changed the template of this blog...finally...to reflect that...and took off the "not your average stay at home mom..." part too. Coming up on the ninth anniversary of the day I decided that it would be fun to blog. Guess you could call me a stay at home grandma now.

This does not mean that agricultural activity has ceased at Northview Farm. We are as busy as ever, I swear. The boss is making hay between the rain storms, and has managed to keep most of what he has on hand from getting rained on...quite an accomplishment this year. He has always made good hay. 

Lots of gardens. Lots of woodchucks. They are eating all our beets!!!! We picked peas and beans yesterday before the storm and had them with dinner. Yum.

The kids have the place full of poultry, including turkeys, chickens, and guinea fowl....and of course, the old peahen.

 You should have seen us the other night when the red sex link hen decided to dump all her brand new guinea keets out in the yard and abandon them.


It was evening chore time, calves to feed, the cow to milk, the pipeline to clean and sanitize...when the drama happened.

The poor little keets were just hatched, some of them still damp, and they could not take even a few minutes without heat. Thus Becky put them all in her shirt while the rest of us ran for.....stuff.....

A pair of light bulbs in a holder that we use to keep the milk pump from freezing in the winter. A lead cord. Newspapers. Wire. Etc. Etc.

Within a very short time an emergency brooder was built, and most of them survived and thrived.....although it does puzzle me every time I come downstairs in the dark and see the light in the heifer barn.

There are plans for other animals, as  time allows. We have always raised good pork, and we have two cows to supply milk. The kids want lambs. I love sheep, but the boss is not enamored, so that is on hold for a bit but....

Other than taxes and paying off the remainder of what it cost us to make milk the years after 2009, we run this place very cheaply. A good part of day-to-day living expenses could probably be paid with the income from diversified livestock. Or we can eat them ourselves. Even when we couldn't afford to butcher a beef and were living on game that awful winter, we ate well.....

So anyhow, things have changed, but they have remained the same too...

Little Things

Can mean so much. Last Saturday, Alan took his sister, his fiance, and a friend to NYC for a quick tour of the most popular sites. While they were at the World Trade Center Memorial, they took the time to find this name on the wall....Carl Anthony DiFranco.

Cold chills ran over me when I saw this photo in a text he sent me.

You see, I feel as if we knew this young man, who perished so suddenly and needlessly in that horrific act of terrorism.

Thank you kids, for being so incredibly thoughtful as to interrupt your day in the big city to find and photograph this for me. It meant a lot.

When you Know More than they Do

While perusing the newsings today I discovered that Wawona Fruit Company voluntarily recalled a couple months worth of stone fruit production, for possible listeria contamination.

They ship to Walmart. We almost never buy fruit at the store, simply because we can't afford it. However, for camp Alan treated us to some to enjoy, lots of lovely blueberries, grapes, raspberries, and of course....you knew this was coming....nectarines and plums....from Walmart, of course.

And like most people do when they buy fruit...we ate them.

Concerned about the potential for health issues I called the company at this number 1-888-232-9912. After well over half an hour on hold with truly horrendous music playing in the background.

Eventually I couldn't stand it any longer so I called Walmart customer service. Hold only lasted about eight minutes there, although the music was also horrid.

And I might as well have taken a walk in the yard. The young lady to whom I spoke offered NO HELP AT ALL. She even argued with me that the recall was of bakery goods...had to put me on hold twice more to go look it up.

And then she told me to call the company....., but, but, but, I already did.....guess we will have to wait and see if we get sick. 

Photos of the recalled products.

Keepers

Wow, a cousin!

Yep

Wanna go fishing, cuz?

We did find some keepers though.

Hey, this is pretty cool. First time fishing....

Catch and Release

Sunfish

The fishing was spotty last week at camp. One of these. One of those. Two of something else. Fun and all, but no incentive to keep anything for a fish fry.

Thus no fish were harmed any more than necessary during last week's fishy adventures.

Fall fish

A just-under-keeper-sized small mouthed bass
which put up a heck of a fight....and yes, they were all caught from the comfort of the front porch,
which reaches right out over the water.

We did take mug shots though.

A Stopping Place

In what looks as if it is going to be a week-long bookkeeping marathon. Besides having let my data entry slide since we sold the cows....shame on me... I have also been put on the spot finding documentation for a state grant we applied for in 2012.

Been at it all day between alarums and excursions, ranging from finding replacement tee shirts for men perspiring in mows and wagons to catering to barking dachshunds requesting walkies.

But now it is time to pause and help milk the cow and feed the calves and await the return of state folks to their desks manana.

 I like all those jobs a LOT better than bookkeeping, so all is good.

Drama and Disaster in the Local Dairy World

Over the past week the windows of a local farmer's tractor were shot out and several other acts of vandalism were perpetrated on his haying equipment. Another has lost a baler to thieves, there may be a hay rake missing, and who knows what else.

There are rewards being offered to try to catch whoever is doing this, but it is going to be hard to get them I fear.

I didn't write about it at the time, but our chopper and a couple of other pieces of equipment were shot early this spring, and of course you know we have been hit by thieves several times. 

Hopefully whoever is doing this will be caught promptly. All people need is to not be able to safely leave their equipment in the fields overnight. If you see anything that looks wrong, please call the police!

Then there was the horrific fire that took out the entire dairy barn of some well-liked folks we know in the Amsterdam area. The Koronas are some of the nicest folks you could meet, always a fixture at the fair, and at Farm Bureau affairs for as long as I can remember.

The fire broke out while they were milking their cows and utterly devastated their buildings. They asked for help to get the cows moved somewhere where they could be cared for and milked.

It was heart warming to see the caravan of trailers that showed up to move cows to a neighbor's barn during the fire. In fact, as soon as we read the news on Facebook on my phone up at camp, the kids and my brother, who camps next to us, ran home and grabbed two trailers and some cow halters, and headed to their farm to do what they could.

However, the number of people with trucks and trailers that showed up to help was so great that by the time they got there all the cows had already been moved. I hope you can see that video at the link to get an idea of the number of vehicles and people that participated.

Makes you grateful to be a part of this rural community.

Here is a pic of a poor kitty looking for solace in the wreckage of her home. And here is a place where you can donate to the rebuilding fund if you so wish.

Our hearts go out to the Kornonas for their awful loss and to our neighbors dealing with outlawry right here in the Town of Glen. Farming is never an easy job......

Update: Here is a request from another friend closer to the situation than we are,

"Marianne, can you pass the word that they need all the little stuff like halters, towels, 

brushes, buckets, bottles, meds and so on. All the stuff we all take for granted because 

it's all laying around our milk houses. Thanks!"

Sunday Stills....the Letter B

Bird with Blue

Black Duck

For more Sunday Stills......

Bright Bug

Gravity Doesn't Work on Baby Ducks

  The very first day at camp we were met by this mother Black Duck and eight ducklings. The second day she lost one, but by the end of the week she still had seven, which is quite an accomplishment with all the pike, pickerel and bass in the lake, plus many hunters on shore and wing.

I got a kick out of watching how the little ones skipped over the surface of the water as if they weighed nothing at all.

I'm Back

What camp be like.


What coming home from camp be like.

Sunday Stills, Entrances and Gateways

These are some of the doors in our house. For more Sunday Stills.....

Upset about Dinosaur Hunting

Liz takes on the folks who believe dinosaurs still rule the earth...along with some AR fanatics. Good job, kiddo.

Au Revoir

Peggy loved the fireworks last night

So long, farewell.

Off to camp for a week. Supposed to be kind of chilly, but I'll bet that will mean good sleeping weather.

Have a great time while we're gone and give the folks in the sidebar a look in if you get a chance.

I'll be bach.

Guns and Locomotives

Here is some cool stuff the folks have up for sale on eBay.

Colt 9mm Luger Instruction Pamphlet

Marlin Parts Catalog

Winchester Ball Powder Loading Data



Lionel Transformer Instructions

And LOTS more

They have so much cool stuff.....check it out...I just know you will love browsing through their virtual shop.

And here is their real shop too.

Loud

This is sure a noisy place. In the backyard a crow is honking like a cranky commuter in heavy traffic. On the front porch the Carolina Wren is tea-kettling all over the place, so loud it echoes out here in the kitchen. (I am wondering what is up with that. Are they going to use the little bird house there?they keep coming in to check out the back porch hard hat too.)

The mysterious house finches are queuing up on the new arbor, demanding vociferously that I hie myself out there and fill the bright yellow feeder.

And a fine assortment of other feather fussers is fidgeting around making a lot of noise.

C'mon guys, I'm trying to write here. I mean, two Farm Sides in one week....geez Louise. I'd much rather grab the camera and come outside and play, but this is a work week ya know.

The Coffee Saga

Or Florida to the rescue. We still haven't found Taster's Choice locally, even after contacting the company (!!!!!)

However, my dear brother and sister-in-law from Florida stopped in where Becky works today and dropped off a jar for camp.

My happiness knows no bounds. We have been drinking the dark roast version....which is.....okay...just barely.

But now we have the real thing for those delightful mornings on the porch, with pole, camera, and coffee....

Thanks!!!

It Just Keeps Gettiing Worse

One of the strange sunsets we've seen lately

Every week, sometimes even every day, the state has been experiencing severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. It is not abnormal for there to be tornadoes here, now and then, and thunderstorms are a feature of summer here. 

That is normal and expected.

However, although it is perhaps only a perception, it seems as if they are occurring rather more frequently in recent weeks than has been the norm.

Last night was no exception. It was perfectly calm, although really nasty humid, until around eight-thirty or so. Then the huge wind tuned up again, and clouds worse than those in last week's big one boiled up over the western horizon.

The men ran from window to window, and door to door, watching them writhe and pup and spawn. Huge tunnels formed in them and then closed and dissipated. Tongues dropped and then recoiled back up into the seething clouds. 

 It was scary. 

They called me down...thought I was sleeping...Nope, I was going from window to window, upstairs, watching, ready to call for a trip to the cellar if it got worse. 

And then it was done. Cooler. Less humid. So far we have found a few boards off the barn...not sure yet how bad that is, but so far no big damage.

However, in another part of the state, where we know folks, and Liz had lots of farmers in her milk inspector days, things were bad. There were deaths and wanton destruction. I dread to hear the news this morning....