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Some pretties
1 hour ago
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Name the hawk
So full of pigeon that it didn't want to fly. Video later.
Photos by Liz, who has a better camera
Photos by Liz, who has a better camera
I got out of milking early yesterday
To cook dinner. The chicken came from a local farmer, (and lucky me, I have four more).....it was cooked in a turkey bag with lots of carrots, potatoes, an onion and a couple cloves of garlic I grew last summer. Oh, and a dash of Mrs. Dash and a sprinkle of Italian herbs.
And if you have chicken, then you must, of course, have a big bowl of dressing. This was made with all the little odds and ends of stale bread left in the bottom of bread bags. There was an amazing number of them with the kids all home. Usually the doggies get them for a little treat or they go over to the pigs, but this time they found better use....plus I added a whole loaf of oat nut bread, since that was all we had. Interesting texture using that instead of white. Lots of crunchy little oats in there. Also of course, six large onions and most of a head of celery sauteed in butter and seasoned with Morton's Sausage seasoning. We bought several jars of that about ten years ago to flavor some sausage...then the butcher used his own instead so we ended up using it all these years for stuffing...which worked out quite well, since we changed to a butcher we like a lot better and we love the sausage seasoning for our stuffing.
I hope that like us you have lots of leftovers so you can make interesting things like chicken pot pie...
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
What we saw
Yesterday was simply fantastic for bird counting, what with it being a warm day with a big storm predicted for today. The birds knew bad weather is coming and they were out in droves.The only downside was hideous holiday traffic, with at least one serious car accident that we passed. Before my counting partner had even arrived I walked out behind my parents' house to count the mourning doves, blue jays and gold finches that were just waking up there. The binoculars I trained on the Norway spruces that line the boundary between their yard and the neighbor's picked out a brown lump that clearly wasn't a mourning dove. It was plainly a small hawk, who obligingly gave me a good look at her tail before flying away, indignant at being driven out of her sunning spot-she was a sharp shinned hawk.
We also saw several red tails and a kestrel, neither uncommon, but often hard to track down on count day. During our first four roads we saw a large flock of snow buntings, (actually in a field less than half a mile from the folk's house) a flock of well over 95 crows, although they moved too much for Alan to count any higher for sure, some turkeys (just yards down the road from the snow buntings). (Not to mention lots of other birds.)
As time went on, pretty near all the normal species were represented, chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, woodpeckers, both downy and pileated (although not a single hairy this year) one grackle, which seems an unlikely critter for this season, but I saw a cowbird just last week, so I guess not all the black birds have migrated, lots of blue jays, tree sparrows, hoards of starlings, rock doves (which are pigeons all the rest of the year) a handful of house sparrows, one house finch, etc. etc. Oh, and mallard ducks, Canada geese and a bunch of small, brown fast fliers that were probably teal, but too far away to be positive.
Then perhaps an hour and a half into the count I saw a very bright, white, something that was not a lump of snow in a snowy tree right behind a house in our territory. We stopped the car, because it just looked like "something". It was hawk-shaped, but glaringly the wrong color. I could not believe my eyes when I trained my binoculars on it. It was a snowy owl, all tucked up among the bunches of snow piled on some oak leaves that still clung to the branches. It was a treat for my brother, niece Tawny and Alan who had never seen one before. We sat quite a while watching it and went back in the afternoon to try for a photo, but alas it was gone. However, a great blue heron flapped slowly by just down the road and gave my young nephew, Kegan, his first big "ooh ahh" bird of his counting history.
All in all I think everybody had a lot of fun. It was great to have Alan and Tawny, both 17, show themselves to have learned to be great bird spotters over the years. It takes a few years for the kids to learn to pick out roosting hawks and distant turkeys from among the brown and tangled trees and bushes that line the roadsides, but these two really have "the eye" now. Tawny picked out one of our red tails from a grapevine-draped elm tree in a small woods, where I certainly never would have spotted it. On the downside, I had to drive for a while for the first time, having always been a spotter in the past. My poor brother worked all night, then drove home and came to the count. He reached his limit in late morning so the boys and I did the afternoon. Spotting is a blast, like treasure hunting in the sky. Driving, especially three days before Christmas is ugly! People don't like folks who drive slowly with their flashers on, staring at trees. They express their displeasure...trust me. I have a new appreciation for my dad, my next younger brother, and my baby brother, who have served as drivers over the years (baby brother is doing it these days). It is hard and thankless and a lot less fun than being the one staring into the tree and hollering out, "Stop, it's an ooh ahh bird!"
We also saw several red tails and a kestrel, neither uncommon, but often hard to track down on count day. During our first four roads we saw a large flock of snow buntings, (actually in a field less than half a mile from the folk's house) a flock of well over 95 crows, although they moved too much for Alan to count any higher for sure, some turkeys (just yards down the road from the snow buntings). (Not to mention lots of other birds.)
As time went on, pretty near all the normal species were represented, chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, woodpeckers, both downy and pileated (although not a single hairy this year) one grackle, which seems an unlikely critter for this season, but I saw a cowbird just last week, so I guess not all the black birds have migrated, lots of blue jays, tree sparrows, hoards of starlings, rock doves (which are pigeons all the rest of the year) a handful of house sparrows, one house finch, etc. etc. Oh, and mallard ducks, Canada geese and a bunch of small, brown fast fliers that were probably teal, but too far away to be positive.
Then perhaps an hour and a half into the count I saw a very bright, white, something that was not a lump of snow in a snowy tree right behind a house in our territory. We stopped the car, because it just looked like "something". It was hawk-shaped, but glaringly the wrong color. I could not believe my eyes when I trained my binoculars on it. It was a snowy owl, all tucked up among the bunches of snow piled on some oak leaves that still clung to the branches. It was a treat for my brother, niece Tawny and Alan who had never seen one before. We sat quite a while watching it and went back in the afternoon to try for a photo, but alas it was gone. However, a great blue heron flapped slowly by just down the road and gave my young nephew, Kegan, his first big "ooh ahh" bird of his counting history.
All in all I think everybody had a lot of fun. It was great to have Alan and Tawny, both 17, show themselves to have learned to be great bird spotters over the years. It takes a few years for the kids to learn to pick out roosting hawks and distant turkeys from among the brown and tangled trees and bushes that line the roadsides, but these two really have "the eye" now. Tawny picked out one of our red tails from a grapevine-draped elm tree in a small woods, where I certainly never would have spotted it. On the downside, I had to drive for a while for the first time, having always been a spotter in the past. My poor brother worked all night, then drove home and came to the count. He reached his limit in late morning so the boys and I did the afternoon. Spotting is a blast, like treasure hunting in the sky. Driving, especially three days before Christmas is ugly! People don't like folks who drive slowly with their flashers on, staring at trees. They express their displeasure...trust me. I have a new appreciation for my dad, my next younger brother, and my baby brother, who have served as drivers over the years (baby brother is doing it these days). It is hard and thankless and a lot less fun than being the one staring into the tree and hollering out, "Stop, it's an ooh ahh bird!"
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Gone today
Off to participate in the annual Audubon Christmas bird count, hoping for ooh, ahh, birds!
Best wishes to you all.
Best wishes to you all.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Monks harassed into getting rid of chickens
I hope PeTA is proud to have driven a group of Trappist Monks into getting rid of their chickens by relentlessly harassing them about their egg business. The monks say that they couldn't continue their lives of quiet contemplation while being pestered by these pestilential pests. Talk about cruelty! Taking away these men's livelihood just to make news headlines seems pretty darned cruel to me. Their capitulation must have been frosting on the activist's nasty cake. Those folks will rejoice when all domestic animals are dead, as they view them as unnatural exploited abominations. (You hear that Mikie? Nick? Gael? You unnatural hounds you). Pretending to care about comfort for farm animals is just that-pretending. Complete and total animal liberation is the animal rights goal and that includes dogs and cats, right along with chickens and pigs.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Old Crow
Old Crow, black oarsman in the sky, winging west from the hawk party in the orchard (you had him right on the ground under the biggest apple tree today, you dark marauder, you).
Fluff of mourning doves, half a dozen, soft as the snow flakes piled on twig and fence bars, blurring the roof lines on the barns.
Jingle bell tree sparrows chiming through burdocks, over box elders, and around the corn crib, then flitting down behind the silo.
Tuxedo junco, flickering white tie and tails at the banquet under the bushes.
Plinking downies, whistling cardinal, Sam Peabody whitethroat...it is a beautiful bird morning in this Christmas postcard world.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The gift that keeps on giving
Joni pointed out in the comments that a calf fills that description quite nicely. I was reminded of how true that can be last night when we were finishing up milking. I walked around to the north side to see a new calf that was born yesterday morning. It hadn't stood up yet when I first saw it (actually Liz and I delivered it) and the kids wanted me to see how tall it was. (Tall, very tall...too bad it is a bull.)
Along the walkway an older black calf was tied. For a second it struck me...'I don't know who that calf is or why it is there, but that is a "Trixie" baby". You can't miss them, Trixie babies. The old cow sure stamped them and after all these years you can still see that strong, put-together look she passed along to her descendants.
Then I remembered that they moved calves night before last and that particular black calf is in fact Lucky. She is indeed from the Trixie family, and, despite the fact that Trixie herself died having Frieland LV Dixie, who died herself as an aged cow several years ago she has the look of her.
Liz and I tried this morning to count the generations that have passed since the boss bought Trixie for me as a Christmas present when we first knew one another. There was Trixie herself, dam of Emmie, dam of Ella, dam of Estimate, dam of Elendil, dam of Lucky.
Over twenty years have passed since we got her.... Mears Grand M Trixie.... at the Mears dispersal one cold miserable winter day. She gave me four daughters, Emmy (Woodbine Ellason), Melly (Shade-Acres Elevation Frosty), Fond Little Trixy (No-Na-Me Fond Matt), Dixie (Walebe Jewelmaker- a barn bull we owned) and one son, Frieland Patriot (Paclamar Bootmaker), that we used in the herd. Her last daughter won more ribbons than any other cow we have ever owned.
Today on a casual walk through the barn you can find Eland, Lucky, Elendil, England, E Train, Lakota, Dakota, Egrec, Encore, Cookie Crunch, Takala and Dixon descended through her daughters and Beausoleil, Bama Breeze, Bariolee, Volcano and Magma descended through her son.
To me that is truly a gift that has kept on giving. I only hope that twenty or so years from now, November will have offered Liz a similar list of good cows and great memories.
***November is by the bull Four-of-a-Kind Eland out of a Comestar Leader daughter Alan used to show and is half sister to Blink, the French fry calf.
I used to try to breed my cow, Frieland Profit Eland (out of Emu, out of Ella, out of Emmy, out of Trixie) to the Eland bull in order to get a calf I could name Frieland Eland Eland, which has a certain ring to it. Alas she only provided me with bulls from that cross.
Along the walkway an older black calf was tied. For a second it struck me...'I don't know who that calf is or why it is there, but that is a "Trixie" baby". You can't miss them, Trixie babies. The old cow sure stamped them and after all these years you can still see that strong, put-together look she passed along to her descendants.
Then I remembered that they moved calves night before last and that particular black calf is in fact Lucky. She is indeed from the Trixie family, and, despite the fact that Trixie herself died having Frieland LV Dixie, who died herself as an aged cow several years ago she has the look of her.
Liz and I tried this morning to count the generations that have passed since the boss bought Trixie for me as a Christmas present when we first knew one another. There was Trixie herself, dam of Emmie, dam of Ella, dam of Estimate, dam of Elendil, dam of Lucky.
Over twenty years have passed since we got her.... Mears Grand M Trixie.... at the Mears dispersal one cold miserable winter day. She gave me four daughters, Emmy (Woodbine Ellason), Melly (Shade-Acres Elevation Frosty), Fond Little Trixy (No-Na-Me Fond Matt), Dixie (Walebe Jewelmaker- a barn bull we owned) and one son, Frieland Patriot (Paclamar Bootmaker), that we used in the herd. Her last daughter won more ribbons than any other cow we have ever owned.
Today on a casual walk through the barn you can find Eland, Lucky, Elendil, England, E Train, Lakota, Dakota, Egrec, Encore, Cookie Crunch, Takala and Dixon descended through her daughters and Beausoleil, Bama Breeze, Bariolee, Volcano and Magma descended through her son.
To me that is truly a gift that has kept on giving. I only hope that twenty or so years from now, November will have offered Liz a similar list of good cows and great memories.
***November is by the bull Four-of-a-Kind Eland out of a Comestar Leader daughter Alan used to show and is half sister to Blink, the French fry calf.
I used to try to breed my cow, Frieland Profit Eland (out of Emu, out of Ella, out of Emmy, out of Trixie) to the Eland bull in order to get a calf I could name Frieland Eland Eland, which has a certain ring to it. Alas she only provided me with bulls from that cross.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Redneck window cling
And no, this is not on my car (although it does grace-or should I say disgrace-) a vehicle parked quite near mine.
A story
I was peacefully reading down the blog roll this morning, having arisen a lot earlier than I had any reason to, when I came across this on Jeffro's the Poor Farm and read it all without stopping.
These three links contain a story. I hope you have time to read it.
The Lawdog Files
A Day in the Life of an Ambulance Driver
Perspectives
If I didn't make it to your place, it is because I was reading this touching story about small town life...and loss.
These three links contain a story. I hope you have time to read it.
The Lawdog Files
A Day in the Life of an Ambulance Driver
Perspectives
If I didn't make it to your place, it is because I was reading this touching story about small town life...and loss.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Stormy weekend, windy Monday
I guess the worst is over, although the weekend mostly lived up to the weather fellas' dire predictions. Liz made it into school for her advanced ruminant nutrition final, although there were accidents everywhere. It isn't really all that hard to drive in this kind of snow, but you can't drive fast and careless, yakking on your cell phone and changing CDs. People have to try though.
The wind was wild last night. It shook the house (and this house is not easily shaken). This morning the sculpted snow drifts are scattered with box elder seeds. They cling much more tightly to their parent trrees than do the seeds of most members of the maple family, but last night's wild tumult freed them. Next spring the hardly, weedy, little trees will crop up everywhere. (I can't believe that the company that I linked to there actually SELLS them. It seems like selling dandelions. If you want a few thousand, just give me a shout next spring.)
The common winter birds are here in force. I sure didn't need to pish to call them out of the bushes Saturday (which is a good thing, since mostly the only thing that comes when I do is Gael). They wanted to fill up their tanks and practically mobbed me when I went out to fill their feeders. Today they are gleaning the brushy areas more than eating at the feeders. (Maybe they like box elder seeds.) Or maybe they just don't like the wind.
Hope you are warm. Hope the guys can get the hydraulic lines back on the spreader tractor (heifers pulled them off and everything is frozen-boss is not happy.) Hope summer is thinking of us down where it is hibernating.
The wind was wild last night. It shook the house (and this house is not easily shaken). This morning the sculpted snow drifts are scattered with box elder seeds. They cling much more tightly to their parent trrees than do the seeds of most members of the maple family, but last night's wild tumult freed them. Next spring the hardly, weedy, little trees will crop up everywhere. (I can't believe that the company that I linked to there actually SELLS them. It seems like selling dandelions. If you want a few thousand, just give me a shout next spring.)
The common winter birds are here in force. I sure didn't need to pish to call them out of the bushes Saturday (which is a good thing, since mostly the only thing that comes when I do is Gael). They wanted to fill up their tanks and practically mobbed me when I went out to fill their feeders. Today they are gleaning the brushy areas more than eating at the feeders. (Maybe they like box elder seeds.) Or maybe they just don't like the wind.
Hope you are warm. Hope the guys can get the hydraulic lines back on the spreader tractor (heifers pulled them off and everything is frozen-boss is not happy.) Hope summer is thinking of us down where it is hibernating.
Dan Fogelberg passed away
An incredibly talented man, who wrote and performed a number of my favorite songs, including Run for the Roses, Leader of the Band, Same Old Lang Syne, and so many other great ones. Prostate cancer claimed his life at only 56.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Letter from college (to Liz)
CONGRATULATIONS! As the Bachelor of Technology 2007 graduate with the highest grade point average in the School of Agriculture and National Resources, you have been selected as the recipient of the December 2007 Commencement Academic Achievement Award.
Not bad at all
Herd health yesterday. A chance to talk with our favorite vet for a few, which is always a treat. (We share a lot of interests, such as birding, quiet times in the Adirondacks, and the health of the Northview cattle. If life wasn't so busy I'll bet we would talk more often.)
It was a great day for preg checks. Both Lizzie's top show cows are in calf, my lovely Beausoleil is bred to Straight-Pine Elevation Pete (YAY!), poor little Chicago finally caught, and Lily, down to her last chance before the one way trip to the auction barn, got lucky too. There are a number of others, Bubbles, E Train, Zinnia. Just a good morning all around.
Mandy is bred to Silky Cousteau. Blitzie is bred to Citation R Maple. We are breeding a lot of the first calf heifers to R Maple (who was big news many moons ago) because he throws smaller calves. Despite the fact that he was born in 1962 and by today's standards has a horrible proof we have never milked a bad daughter.) I was glad I had Alan's show cow, Bayberry checked, even though I knew she was open. She was in heat just a bit ago, but she had developed a cystic ovary and had to be treated yesterday. She went cystic last year too, and it took us months to get her bred. She is a big sweetie and I want her to have every chance to do well.
The best part of it the day was that when we were figuring up at the end we realized that two of the cows were bred by Liz back when the boss couldn't work because of his shoulder. She was only about three weeks into her AI course over at school and had to breed four cows. Three of them caught, but Hooter lost her calf a couple weeks ago. I think it is a tribute to her AI teacher that she did so well. (Just wanted to give credit where it is due after my diatribe the other day...he wasn't one of those guys.)
***Another ooh ahh bird sighting...the girls told me yesterday on the way over to the college that Tuesday night coming home from a late AI class they saw quite a sight. There were a bunch of little rodents, mice, voles or the like, in the middle of 30 A, down below the turn off for Corbin Hill where the state forest is. Just as they neared them, not one, but two snowy owls swooped down to grab a couple. Wow! I am so jealous. Odd for them to be hunting at night, but the weather was horrible...
It was a great day for preg checks. Both Lizzie's top show cows are in calf, my lovely Beausoleil is bred to Straight-Pine Elevation Pete (YAY!), poor little Chicago finally caught, and Lily, down to her last chance before the one way trip to the auction barn, got lucky too. There are a number of others, Bubbles, E Train, Zinnia. Just a good morning all around.
Mandy is bred to Silky Cousteau. Blitzie is bred to Citation R Maple. We are breeding a lot of the first calf heifers to R Maple (who was big news many moons ago) because he throws smaller calves. Despite the fact that he was born in 1962 and by today's standards has a horrible proof we have never milked a bad daughter.) I was glad I had Alan's show cow, Bayberry checked, even though I knew she was open. She was in heat just a bit ago, but she had developed a cystic ovary and had to be treated yesterday. She went cystic last year too, and it took us months to get her bred. She is a big sweetie and I want her to have every chance to do well.
The best part of it the day was that when we were figuring up at the end we realized that two of the cows were bred by Liz back when the boss couldn't work because of his shoulder. She was only about three weeks into her AI course over at school and had to breed four cows. Three of them caught, but Hooter lost her calf a couple weeks ago. I think it is a tribute to her AI teacher that she did so well. (Just wanted to give credit where it is due after my diatribe the other day...he wasn't one of those guys.)
***Another ooh ahh bird sighting...the girls told me yesterday on the way over to the college that Tuesday night coming home from a late AI class they saw quite a sight. There were a bunch of little rodents, mice, voles or the like, in the middle of 30 A, down below the turn off for Corbin Hill where the state forest is. Just as they neared them, not one, but two snowy owls swooped down to grab a couple. Wow! I am so jealous. Odd for them to be hunting at night, but the weather was horrible...
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