Winter Debate..Cows in Cows Out....

If we let the cows out each day we don't have to manhandle the big round bales into the barn, unroll them, and feed them out. The boss uses the skid steer to put them in bale feeders and they go outside to eat them all by themselves.

Of course there is a certain amount of work in turning them out and putting them back in. And there is always the possibility of the barn freezing while they are outside. Still they like to go out and we like to let them.

However on some mornings it is just too icy for them. Today the boss had a bale up and  ready to put in the feeder. He got off the skid steer, looked at me where I was holding the gate, and shook his head.

"They can't go out on this," he said. 

Too slippery.

So he dropped the bale into the barn, the girls unrolled it, and we all fed it. While we were at it we put the night bale inside and split another one up between the pens and the yard cattle so everyone is fed for the day and ready to go for tonight.

Got a cow bred and buttoned everything up so the boss can go over and pick up our beef. Sure looking forward to that after having an empty freezer for so long.

FYI family members.....meatloaf tomorrow.

The Northview Doggies

Got their own post at this fun dog blog, Coffee with a Canine. Pretty cool.

Windy

There was no sleeping through it this morning. Maybe around 4 AM gusts started hitting the house that made the timbers crack. Not creak. Crack.

And the glass in the windows and the plastic over them clattered and fluttered as if possessed.

In case I haven't mentioned it before....I hate the wind...guess I would make a lousy sailor.

Meanwhile, you might want to check to see if your state is one of those death spiral states mentioned in this Forbes article. Naturally NY is high on that list. High taxes, poor business climate, poor regular climate, ridiculous regulation, NYC, and now, the most draconian gun control legislation since Hitler. Yeah, NY is in a death spiral all right.

And note the takers vs. makers argument. The boss's family has been saying this since I met them nearly thirty years ago. Interesting that the concept has finally been noticed in other circles.

Too bad, because it is a pretty state, with impressive natural resources, an amazing amount of wild land, farm land, and lots of nice little towns. If NY were entirely made up of the Adirondacks and the upstate farm lands, the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes and all that other good stuff, it would be paradise. Except that it is run by downstate and Albany...and summer is about six months too short.

Well, enough ranting. Time to see what the wind has done.

Happy Birthday

Becky is the one holding the pony

To my favorite library trustee and book procurer. Love you! Hope you have a wonderful day today!

Shooting Varmints with a Canon

Here, under the bird feeder, we find the not-so-elusive Notabird

Begone yon pest before I find me another 'N'

Snow Cows

As mentioned before one of the barn cleaners froze when the cold snap hit. Both cleaners have ancient chains, which don't put up with any nonsense. To try to run it when frozen would have resulted in hundreds of bucks in repairs...at least...and the barn still wouldn't have been clean.

During the freeze we couldn't turn the cows outside while we worked on it because all the water lines would have frozen. It is the warmth of the cows, with their big fermentation tank stomachs, that keeps it warm all winter.

Thus we moved manure around the stable to places where there are no cows, or just calves etc. It was not pleasant.

Until today. Today it got up in the 20s so the ladies could go outside to frolic with a couple of tasty round bales and the boss and Liz and I could fork manure. And shovel manure. And pry gutter cleaner paddles up from their frozen little beds. And scrape and chip and when we were done put down lime and sand and fresh bedding.

With three fork operators and two wheel barrows it went amazingly quickly and hallelujah!!! the chain didn't break or derail or feed itself merrily out into the manure shed. No corner wheels popped. No belts broke. No cows fell down going out or coming in.

Couldn't really ask for a better outcome, except that I cracked my stupid foot when a gutter grate tipped under me after I slipped in a pile of the stuff we were motivating. Note to self you KNOW that grate will tip. Watch where you are going!

While they were outside it snowed a bunch and when the girls came inside they were covered with snow. I expect by chore time they will be all dry and fluffy and look very nice. 

On the Home Front

The sun is so low in the sky that even the sparrows have shadows

Got to get the stable cleaner going today. It has been frozen for several days. There will be forks and shovels involved. Got to pay some bills. Got to call in the cutting instructions for the beef. The latter is a job I truly hate and wish I could shuffle off onto someone who understood meat cutting better than I do. We always end up with weird odds and ends that I know I didn't order.....

But, we have a heat wave. The kitchen floor is warm enough that it doesn't burn bare feet. It is a whopping 18.8 degrees outside, practically summer. It has been so cold lately that normally shy birds will come right to my feet because they are so eager to see the feeders filled. Thus I got the first decent pics of ever of dark-eyed juncos.

And last night as I sat here at the kitchen table a faint hint of wood smoke, twirled our way by winds from the south, reminded me of incense in church on high holy days, very sweet and mysterious. It was nice.

The low tonight is supposed to be 28, warmer than we have seen in what feels like a long time. As nearly always at the retreat of a cold snap, there is supposed to be some lousy weather, but warm is welcome.

Sunday Stills...Brought to You by the Letter F

Freeze Frame

 

Frozen Feathered Friends

Frozen

A cold week here in the Great Northeast, so many things were frozen.

For more Sunday Stills....

The Gowanus Dolphin

The story came through my Facebook news feed, wherein I subscribe to local and national news, farm sites, and the lives and times of good friends around the world.

I thought, wow, that looks exactly like the place where Alan is working. Sure enough....after a long day of his mom worrying because there were no phone calls or texts....I got to talk to him and it was right where he is. Some of the news stories even show the equipment he works with.

His first ever sighting of a dolphin. We were never able to take the kids to Florida or any of that stuff. What a shame that it had to end so sadly.

At least the broken phone, which prevented him from keeping me apprised of his progress towards home, has been replaced.

****Oh, and that red-tailed hawk....um...that is not a red tailed hawk.....oh, well.

Different

With the near arctic cold, there is no room for error, not an inch of wiggle room. Every chore that involves the animals, the wood stove, or the water must be attended to first time, every time or the consequences could be deadly or at the very least, costly.

The vacuum trap is frozen on the milking system. Nothing to be done about it until the weather changes. Thus only the boss starts the vacuum pump, which runs the milkers. As a manly man he has an ear for machinery...so do I really, but I am absolutely delighted to allow him the responsibility. He opens the caps on the line so air can flow freely and waits, listening carefully, for everything to thaw out and warm up enough so that they can be closed and milking can begin.

Water hoses have to be coiled and stored in the milk house between fillings of tubs for pens. Usually they are hung on the wall, out of the way, from spigots not in use for other jobs. Now I can't even lay them on the floor away from the cold walls, because they freeze from end to end.Thus we run the water  from the milk house now, a messy, bunglesome job, but it must be done.

The stove must be kept full constantly. Normally two or three times a day is plenty, but now the fills it five or six and checks it every time he walks from house to barn or back again. He must feel like he's chasing his own tail the way he runs around these days.

Ready for anything

The girls' horses get extra bedding and hay. Their buckets were being thawed in the kitchen sink until someone complained about hay clogging the drain.....now they are hauled to the milk house, thawed and filled with warm water, twice a day. 

Thirty degrees seemed wintry and cold a couple of weeks ago and I didn't think highly of the ice that formed each night. However, I am ready for their return....any day now....

And just think, any day now, it is almost February after all, the maple season will begin. I hope this cold spell will cause the trees to really crank out some sap for the maple producers this year. Good stuff!

When Good Barn Cats go Bad

Eastern Sports and Outdoor Boycott

Good article on this here. I am sure many of those boycotting will lose some money by doing so, but they will pick up goodwill from their customers who value their rights under the Constitution.

****Update: sometimes protests work.

Yup...Still cold

Gorgeous day. Brilliant sun reflects off wind-polished snow. Windows glitter with curls and bouquets of frost flowers, sharp and faceted....gems of all colors.

The vacuum pump was frozen when we started milking. Set us back a good half hour. Major effort going to be needed  to keep it warm tonight, as it will be colder still.

Heifer hose was frozen, so has been taken down, taken apart, tucked in the milk house to thaw.

Skid steer wouldn't start. Battery charger and patience being applied even as we speak. Meanwhile cows are getting a few of our remaining square bales, as no one is going to be rolling round bales up the hill and into the barn without it. Despite the difficulty of pushing the round bales into the barn and the challenge of unrolling them and sharing them out, I love feeding them because every cow and calf gets a great big pile of long-stemmed, fragrant, summer hay. It is a joy to watch them eat it and to smell how good it is. Our hay guy does an amazing job!

And it really is a beautiful day. The sun is bursting in through the window over the sink, turning Aunt Ann's wandering Jew into a rainbow of green, red, and purple. Orange geraniums nod happily against the icy panes and there are warm sunspots on the floor. If that darned Pumpkin cat stayed in the house, she could be sleeping on one right now..

The boss came in to tell me to stay in where it is warm while he deals with all the stuff...but I think after the milk truck picks up...if that started today...I will go out and work anyhow.

It's Cold

Not Alaska cold. Not Dakotas cold or Canada cold. Just NY cold, damp and unpleasant.

I woke up in the night to the oddest thing. I actually lay awake for a while wondering and kind of worrying about it.

It was dead silent. At one AM in the Mohawk Valley, not a truck was rumbling, not a train was grumbling, nothing was moving.

It is normally very noisy here. The train tracks across the river. The NY Thruway down at the bottom of the hill, a couple of state routes nearby. They frequently awaken us in the night. It seems as if there is a train every minute or two, and truck traffic is a constant.

It cost us the chance to maybe be a movie set a couple of years ago.However, last night it was utterly quiet, sometimes for five or ten minutes at a time. For a while I worried about disaster or derailment. 

The last time I remember it being so still was the original 9/11 when planes and trains and trucks were all stopped for a while.

After a bit a few cars went by and two widely separated trains...I drifted back to sleep...guess it was just the cold keeping everyone off the rails and highways.

Does this Make Sense?

I need your help as kindly, well-meaning, friendly editors....ones, who understand tax structure and ramifications better than I do....preferably before tomorrow morning....thanks!
What I'm looking for is whether my conclusions...that Obamacare will affect property taxes, because of the Medicaid mandate...are correct.

Will the Affordable Health Care Act, often nicknamed Obamacare, affect property taxes for farmers and town folks here in NYS? Combine these two quotes and see if you come up with the same conclusion as I did.

First, from a flier by the Fulton County Board of Supervisors, which was included in each landowner’s tax bill.

“NYS Medicaid Mandate: NYS has the most expensive Medicaid program in the nation. State legislators have authorized optional services for recipients that exceed what is required by federal regulations. Spending per recipient is the highest in the country and nearly exceeds those of California and Texas combined. NY is one of only a few states that mandate county governments to pay a portion of the State's cost. In 2013 about 49% of the property tax you pay will pay just one bill-Medicaid"

(According to the NY State Department of Health, Medicaid in the state spends “ $53 billion to serve 5 million people.)

Next, a quote from the dairy farming magazine, Top Producer, detailing how the new law (Obamacare) will affect dairy farmers.

 “The law will also extend Medicaid coverage and insurance subsidies to all low-income Americans.”

Combining the two quoted stories, it would seem that if Medicaid will be offered to more people across the country. If even part of the additional cost is passed along to counties, at least here in NY, then the answer may indeed be yes.

In the county to our north, unfunded state-mandated programs account for 80% of the property tax levy. Here in Montgomery County the same mandates are likely to have a similar effect on the amount of hard-earned cash land and home owners need to pony up each year.

Farmers are particularly likely to feel an extra pinch, since they generally pay taxes on large acreage in order to grow crops and/or feed animals.

Fail

Or very nearly so. When possible I take Sunday morning milkings off. It offers an amazing opportunity to rest and recharge, even if I don't do much more than putter around the house and do laundry. I loves me my Sundays.

However, stuff happens on Sunday. What with my arthritis and all, although I milk the longest string of cows, with Becky's help, I probably don't do quite as much of the hay hauling and shoveling as others. Instead I am the detail person.

I turn things on...like the cooler for the milk...turn things off...like the water for the heifers...check this, check that. Remind, remind, remind....did you do this, did you do that? An endless loop of reminders and checking.I write reminders on my hand with a sharpie so I don't forget myself......always scrubbing off the used reminders.....

However, yesterday the girls were in the hay mow and manger feeding out hay while the boss milked the bucket cows. There were two milkings in the tank, enough for a multitude of bowls of cereal, cups of coffee, or just cool, delicious glasses of milk to drink.

And then he forgot to swing the pipe that directs the milk to the tank, OUT of the tank, so no milk from cows that have had antibiotics gets into the milk supply. The only treated cow is Rosie, and it has been a while since she was doctored. However, the official tests for antibiotic contamination in milk are extremely sensitive. Every load is tested. Should someone make a mistake and milk a treated cow and miss it a whole tanker load might be ruined. Guess who pays for that.....normally I am in the milkhouse at that point putting up bottles of milk for calves for the next feeding. Instead I was in the house washing work uniforms and playing computer games.

The mistake was caught almost instantly. They were pretty sure no milk had gone where it wasn't supposed to but....that is not a chance you ever want to take.

Dumping all the milk as a precaution was discussed. Hundreds of dollars involved there. Lots of potential round bales of hay that we are buying for winter feed or money for the power bills and such. Not the best of options.

Liz decided she would run a sample up to the lab for us today, but that would mean even more milk lost, two more milkings, if we had to dump it.

Then a nice person I met on Facebook and only on Facebook suggested we call our new milk inspector to see if he could come down and do a quick test.

We did. 

He did. 

The milk was clear and all was well. 

I sent him some cookies I had baked to send to friends who are going through some bad stuff....I will bake them more today.

I was not at all happy with the individual involved in the mistake and did not help him find phone numbers or shoo cats out of the milk house or any of the other extra tasks he made for himself.

 However, all is well that ends well I guess, and I am sure am thankful to both the kind man who directed us toward a good outcome, and to our new milk inspector for coming out on Sunday, when he would have rather watched the football game.

Now, this week we will pull a milk sample from Rosie to take to our veterinarian to be tested so she can have her milk added to the other cows if she is clear. She has recovered quite well from her calving ordeal and, despite calving two months prematurely, is giving a goodly amount of milk.

Sunday Stills...the Big Sky

In the middle of snowstorm

After the storm

 And this morning

  



I could have made you quite a collage of dim, dingy, grey, cold skies this week. Almost every day offered yet another panorama of dull. I took pics. Not much would make them anything but boring. Then this very morning we arose to heavenly panoramas in every direction. The calm before the storm I guess as we are supposed to have a wild rest of the weekend with an ice cold week to follow.


For more Sunday Stills....

Saturday

Grandma Peggy's Pink Geranium

Like others I have read, some of them among my favorite blog friends, I associate things with the people who gave them to me, or who just owned them before I did.

Thus our dining room table, which belonged to my mother's mother before me....and possibly even to HER mother before her....has its own history and provenance, from Thanksgiving dinners with all the kids and our beloved uncle hogging the mashed potatoes over in our corner and calling ourselves the allied union, to cousins getting first aid on its shiny veneered top.

And this odd and that end and the other knick knack, bowl, or potato masher has a bit more meaning to me than just a tool that could be replaced with a fancier one if I ran to WalMart.

So it is with plants. I still have the very first plant I was ever given, an old-fashioned pink Christmas cactus my mother gave me when I still lived at home. I have a big split-leaved philodendron that came from a get-well bouquet sent to someone I cared about who died decades ago.

When the boss's mother passed on I kept all her plants. She and I had a stormy, difficult, relationship but I loved her deeply, and I know she cared a lot for me. In keeping the flowers and greenery she loved alive I feel a lasting connection, one that I seem to need as the years go by. Plus I love my jungle...it keeps me happier in the winter when everything outside is white and grey, and gives me flowers in the summer to bring the hummers closer.

Thus I learned to propagate her fox tail fern.

And over the years I have nurtured her double-flowered pink geranium. This is a plant of a now-unpopular kind, robust and leggy, and massive. If not cut back it sprawls for feet and feet and even yards, waving its rose-like blossoms at the end of teetering stalks.

Last fall I did hack it down, ruthlessly, but didn't have the heart to toss the cuttings out. I rooted them...all of them...in Grandma Peggy's....that's what my kids called her...antique mason jar.

Yesterday I potted them.

In the midst of the cold, dark heart of winter she was near. I hope she knows I loved her.

Teh Kitteh Conundrum

Things happen to barn cats. Coyotes. Cars. Cows. The list is endless.

Thus when you get a barn cat you really, really, really like, sometimes you make the ridiculous decision to take one indoors and make it a house cat.

Hah. Hardly ever works. Becky tried it with Pumpkin, the cuter and lovier of the logger kitties.

Pumpkin made her displeasure known in various ways until Beck finally took her back to the barn before she managed to kill herself.

She was VERY happy to be there and raced up and down the manger like a mad thing, played with her sister, played with strings, played with hay, and generally rejoiced heartily.

Now guess who is at the back door howling to come in......


****I wonder if this has anything to do with the turkey we fed her last night....