Can it be Ninety and Still Feel Like Fall?

Yes, it can.

Take in Day, Fonda Fair

Looks like Rose Magnolia will have to be scratched. Alan starts college today and both girls have full work weeks. Nobody to stay with her, as we have to keep the ball rolling....or the hay harvesting...here at home. What can you do? I managed to get my photos printed yesterday. Wishing I had bought new little frames for the 4X6 ones, as mine are scratched and detract pretty badly from the pictures. I have to take them.,..and a Boston rocker (thank you Alan for looking around the living room and finding the biggest thing you could to enter)...over today.

Speaking of the fair, here is a link to an interesting photo posted on a blog that is an adjunct to the newspaper for which I produce the Farm Side each week. Check it out. I am expecting to see and photograph all sorts of interesting things at the fair, but this is so not one of them....just go look....I am not sure whether you will be glad you did, but go anyhow.

Becky is trying to work it out so she and I can make it to the Charlie Daniels concert. Hope that works out. Saw him perform at Saratoga back in the day, but it has been more years than I care to mention...

The Fonda Fair

Sunday Stills...Statues or Figurines

This little carving was a gift from my mom

One of my favorite toys when I was small.
Very plain plastic horses cost a nickle up at the dime store.
Just slightly fancier ones were ten cents.
This guy cost thirty-nine cents and it took me a good while to save it I can tell you.

My dad carved this wood duck in 1983

For more Sunday Stills

A Wonderful Dairy Story

Read about a nice young person's visit to a family dairy farm for a day.

HT to A Dairy Goddess

NY Confirms EEE

From NY Ag and Markets:

NY CONFIRMS FIRST EQUINE CASE OF EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS

Two-Year Old Oswego County Gelding Showed Symptoms; Died of Mosquito-Borne Virus

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced the State’s first confirmed equine case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis, also known as EEE, this year. The affected horse was a two-year old gelding kept in Oswego County. EEE is a rare viral disease of horses and humans that is spread by infected mosquitoes. To date, there have been no reported nor confirmed human cases of EEE in 2010.

“New York’s abundant water sources and humid climate unfortunately make the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and the EEE virus,” Commissioner Hooker said. “Therefore, we highly encourage horse owners to protect their animals and consider vaccinating for EEE. The EEE vaccine has proven to drastically reduce the incidence of the virus in horses and can be easily administered by a private veterinarian.”

The infected horse was a two-year old gelding that was purchased at a New York auction earlier this year. The young horse had an unknown vaccination history at the time of purchase and was not vaccinated after purchase. Last week, the gelding was showing typical signs of EEE, including loss of appetite, circling and leaning against the stall, and after examination by a private veterinarian, was euthanized. Brain samples were sent to the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Laboratory and tested positive for EEE. To date, the other horses on the same premises are not showing any signs of EEE and have since been vaccinated.

Farm Side Fridays

The Farm Side, the newspaper column I write for our local weekly, is usually on the pay page.

Thus normally I don't link to it.....

However, this week, there is a link in the daily email so I will share it with you.

If you wish to read the critter that was the forerunner of Northview you can do so here.

Apple Season has Arrived.

On the way over to the fair for the Holstein show the other night we followed an isolated, but intense, thunder storm to Altamont. The gigantic, flashing, grumbling cloud spewed rain and lashed winds as it hurtled eastward, then jingled half a dozen double and triple rainbows behind it. We stopped near an orchard to take a photo of a particularly vibrant one, arching all brilliant and glorious over shaggy farm fields. It was a quick point and shoot, across in front of the boss and out the car window so there was little time for frame and focus.

Not Early Yet

In the dark before early, the moon poured like water over nighttime scenery; the heifer yard became the bottom of the ocean. The sea of burr cucumber mantling Wally's kennel like kudzu (he guards the barn now) into folded coral, bending into itself all convoluted dark and shining.

A shoal of heifer sharks slept on the barn ramp, full of haylage and sweet corn leaves from garden clean up. The ink and water color of sunrise was just a hint on the other horizon, pointing out the east to anyone awake to watch it.

I was.

Getting the house chores done so the day can be dedicated to finishing up the garden. The beans rendered up an incredible fourth picking yesterday. This has surely been the summer of the green bean. Onions and shallots are dug, potatoes awaiting that service (how can the ground be so darned hard after all the rain we've had?) There is a chill in the air that is suggesting that first frost may come early this year.

I am not ready....but I need to get that way. Brought the first house plants in already....

Getting Up in the Dark

Is not on my favorites list, but it is time to be getting used to it now. In just one week we have gone from two morning singers, the indigo buntings and the carolina wrens to nobody but the roosters making a peep in the morning.

I miss them.

We solved...or rather Alan did...the not-quite robin singing every morning up at camp question. I hadn't said anything to him about the drive-me-crazy-every-morning birds that made the forest ring all around the camp, but he decided to look up the call of the scarlet tanager. He has been seeing a lot of them around and wanted to see if he had been hearing them too.

And there it was, the almost robin. No wonder I never could spot one no matter how many times I walked around the cabin peering into the trees. They may be bright red, but they are not big on showing it off. I am satisfied now at the solution to that puzzle. Next summer I will know.

Looks like we may get a decent rest of the week and the guys are champing at the bit. Hay! We must finish hay or we won't have enough feed again this winter. We lost a whole field of mowed sudex to this rain. It molded on the ground and they must now chop it on the ground to get rid of it.

I don't know why we keep getting all the rain for the whole state every year....three years in a row now of enough rain to support a rain forest. This little section of the valley gets dumped on time after time. We will get a downpour while our friends in Glen have a good day baling.

Sure hope they can get a lot of second and third cutting this week before Alan goes back to college. Crossing fingers for no breakdowns.

Wordless Wednesday

For All You

Beautiful, glorious, wonderful, pedigreed cattle enthusiasts out there. I stumbled upon this fantastic blog and spent more time than you could imagine scrolling through page after page of show and auction photos. The worst part of that is that I am going to spend even more time doing the same the first chance I get.

If you want to see some pretty cows......

You Might be a Farmer If

You know that velvet leaf works great to clean your dipstick when checking your tractor oil.

Weather and Wrens, plus Macro Monday

Katydid

Rain, not just a sprinkle but a never ending downpour. Sluicing, slashing, screaming, splashing, yeah that kind of rain. While farms all around us, even just up-county, have faced a summer of mini-drought, here at Northview it has rained at least three days of every week but one or two. The men have gone nuts trying to put in baled hay. It takes a couple of days to dry it and those couple of days have been so hard to come by.

When we complain about excess rain people look at us like we lost our noodles or something, but every two or three days I dump the wheelbarrow that sits beside the stove...half-full most of the time.

Slashing rains finds leaks....leaks that probably just developed from the slashing rain....don't ask....

And wrens. I love wrens. The cheeky, uppity house wrens that take over the place like they were paying the taxes, or the Carolina wrens that just showed up to serenade me every morning, they are great favorites of mine.

Thus I was so sad when I found a dead one...or what was left of him, just a head and enough feathers to guess what he was. I was also perplexed because I found those tattered relics on the carpet in the front hallway where the birds sing outside the door to get that sought-after concert hall effect. How the heck did he get into the house? And how the heck did our fat, never-been-outdoors since he was a kitten, Elvis the Schaufelcat, catch him? The stinker....every time I have fed him since I have chastised him verbally about his diet and his terminal wren breath. Eating my wren is pretty close to over the edge....

Then yesterday as we looked out at the deluge, knowing it was nearly time to go out in it, get the cows and get our jobs done, Alan heard something. He thought it was outdoors. He perfectly mimicked a wren's alarm call and asked me what bird made that sound.

A wren I answered.

A few minutes later he again roused me from my stupor to point out that said wren was on the upstairs banister. The indoor banister, just outside our bedroom door.

Let's just say that catching an agile wren in a huge, cluttered monster of a house (with ten-foot ceilings) with many rooms and doors and windows is challenging.

Just a little.

A bit the worse for wear after all his thrilling house exploration he finally was released into the bushes out front, whence we set about dealing with the water.

Enough already.

Enough rain.

Enough cruddy weather (the boss is reading me the forecast as week speak...rain every day all week.)

And enough wrens in the house. We still have not figured out how they are coming in, but we closed all the doors so they can't slip around screens or anything.

One certain term comes to mind here.......arrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!

Lots more Macro Monday here

Farming and the World Economy

This is an outstanding article that tells it like it is in a place where it might actually be noticed. Kudos to the author!

Child Abuse

When I read this ad headline I knew what they meant. I kinda wonder about what folks who aren't familiar with quarter horses might have thought though.

Sunday Stills.....Metal

For more Sunday Stills.......

Farmer Connect

Lemmie at the fair. She was reserve champion Holstein

We drove a couple of hours today to look at a bull that was advertised in Country Folks. He wasn't quite what we had in mind, but the folks had another one that we were crazy about and the dam was just as nice so we are negotiating on him.

Rose Magnolia at the fair.
She was grand champion milking shorthorn over a small,
but very nice quality entry. I was stunned and I don't mean maybe.

It was so cool talking to them. When we went into their kitchen we were total strangers. At first conversation was best-behavior-basis, a little stilted, feeling each other out, testing, one, two, three, will you understand what we are thinking? Will we "get" you?

After a few minutes cautious talk about hay and weather, the conversation turned to old cattle sale catalogs and we were off. It was a wonder we weren't next door neighbors or something so much did we have in common. They are good friends with our milk inspector. They like the old bulls, attended Backus auctions, kept big bulls, and on and on.

Alan and I were looking at one another with laughter in our eyes because although the two farmers had never met and looked nothing alike, they were like twins. We stood or sat in their kitchen for hours regaling each other with stories about big, bad bulls, nice heifers, amazing auctions and so on, each getting to know the other's ways and background.

We finally had to get going and they had to get back to fitting for their fair and chores so we said goodbye....several times, always another little story or thought. We liked them a lot. I hope they liked us too. I suspect we will be buying their little bull after a bit. I sure hope we get to meet them again. Nothing like a meeting of the minds.

Twin babies born at the Miracle of Birth Center at Altamont Fair.
Mama seemed quite taken with them.

Food Miles, Calories and Fallacies

I was surprised to find this in a NY Times article.

This is a well-thought out piece worth a thorough read. I am so glad it is reaching a main stream audience.

Raptor

Kestrel

Barred owl...who cooks for you?

Sleepy screech owl, grey phase

Red-tailed hawk...its only flaw was that is was imprinted on humans.

Not red but brave and bold just the same. These are rehabbed birds that were being exhibited near the cow barn at Altamont Fair when I visited on Tuesday. Although they have all manner of handicaps, their raptor nature shown from their dark bright eyes. I missed the gleaming steel colored eye of the broad winged hawk. It was such a beautiful bird, but my focus was poor.

Colored Breeds Show

Down around the wagon by the gate at evening milking time.
Kinda like rush hour country style.

Starts in ten minutes. I am not there.

Maybe I can make the Holstein show tonight. That would be sweet as a certain dearly-loved family member usually shows up and I'd love to see him.

At least chores are done and we finally have grain.

And if you are looking to buy a beautiful children's book, I would love to send some business the way of the illustrator of this one. (You can see how fantastic her art is here)

It's a long story, but she brought our grain at 3 this AMand it wasn't exactly a good moment for her. Anyone that talented deserves support. And it sure goes to show you never know. Who would expect that a grain truck driver, incidentally a lovely and very sweet young lady, would be a published children's book illustrator too?

Back to School Shopping

(Don't you just love these irrelevant pictures?
This is a Scottish Highlander Cow over at the fair.)

I am done with school shopping, what with the baby in college and all, and it is not a task that I will miss at all. If I never again have to compete with herds of other harried parents for the last pack of three by five cards in the state or spend money we don't have for expensive gadgets that could be replaced by lined paper and a pencil I will rejoice with hosannas. To never buy another five-inch binder (yeah, I know what they cost) or graphing calculator will make me a very happy woman.

However, a post by my friend Ann, had me remembering just how creative a terminally lazy very busy and harassed mother can be. Three kids, one husband, elderly inlaws, the farm etc. had me at a dead run all through the school years. Band, chorus, 4-H, Dairy Quiz Bowl, Dairy judging, Dairy Ambassadors, who had time to shop? As soon as our kids could count, read, and conceive of spending money (I think Alan might have been nine) we pointed them towards independence by giving them a certain amount of money at the beginning of each frantic fall pen, pencil and over-priced clothing round up. (One year it was two hundred dollars for clothes, books, three by five cards from Hell, calculators etc. Those were the days.......I can't imagine spending that now and am glad I don't have to).

They were then permitted to each take a shopping cart and buy exactly what they wanted-the catch being that it had to go them for the whole school year. If they had money left at the end of their initial shopping session (when the prices are lowest and the crowds most insane) they could put it away for school needs during the ensuing year. If they had any left come summer vacation it was theirs for whatever they wanted.

If the clothes they bought were poorly made or seriously ugly, they had to cope with the consequences. Skimping on things on the class lists brought the teacher down on their heads not mine. (Well actually I put my fingers in my ears and hummed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony while the teachers yelled at me on the phone but the offspring had to come up with a way to fulfill their commitments....)

You might expect that this would be fraught with comedy and tragedy and that they ended up short of needed funds, out of paper and bereft of pens.
It wasn't.
They weren't.
Maybe because they were farm kids and simply had to be practical and independent to get from day to day, they did just fine right from the very first year. Alan and Liz, the practical pair, had money left for summer. Becky the generous might have had to borrow paper from someone half way through the year, but she got by and got to choose clothes that she liked (I shuddered but she was happy).

It worked for me too. I was there in the store to offer advice if requested but I never had to fight over what color or price of notebook or tee shirt. If they wanted top of the line stuff they made do with less...willingly because they got to choose between five notebooks for a dollar or one for five dollars.

Today any one of them can take X number of carefully hoarded dollars to the store and come back with the maximum amount of appropriate products that those dollars can purchase. They can grocery shop for the whole family on an extremely tight budget, buy vehicles, animals, feed, or whatever and the oldest is only 24. I know I was a real mean mom, but most days I am quite glad of it.