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.... 

Red Sky at Morning

With wood thrushes singing up in the old horse pasture. Birding is slowing down as fast as the days are shortening, and it is so humid you could wring out the air like a sponge, I swear. Word is that a strong cold front will be coming through later, with attendant winds and storms. Yay. Perfect hay weather....or maybe not....

Writing two Farm Sides this week, as we will be away next week, so I got up at quarter to five for some quiet time without interruptions. The sun was not up yet! Yep, the days are already getting noticeably shorter.

Got one column done, down to the final proofread and I have a couple of others at least started.

Here are  research links I thought were interesting.

Velvetleaf

State Invasive Hit List

Meanwhile, has anyone seen the camp list, which WAS in my wallet, but no longer is?

Dreams of Dog Days

Notice Nick, on the right, carefully not looking at Mike so they don't have to fight.
Also avoiding the hated camera. Do all BCs hate cameras?

Recently spent some gift money at Amazon. It may have been unwise. I used the whole shootin' match for dog books by Don McCaig.

Known as the Mark Twain of dog writers, Mr. McCaig not only gets it about dogs in general, and working border collies in particular; he is also able to put it in words so the reader gets it too.

Or if you once had border collies and don't any more, he makes you wonder why. Not that I don't love Daisy and all....

But he wrote in A Useful Dog, of how the BCs were careful not to look at bum lambs brought into the house on a particularly cold night. If they didn't look, they didn't see them. If they didn't see them, then their delicate sense of order and propriety was not offended. And they didn't have to do anything about them.

Yes, I remember that...not about lambs, but about things they knew were awry, but beyond their control. That careful not-looking, the opposite of the intensity of their actual eye.

As if they knew and understood the power they possessed and held it in careful abeyance.

All the chapters of the little book were like that. A great deal said using few words. Much understanding within small covers.

I am saving Mr. and Mrs. Dog, which just came the other day, for camp, and waiting for Eminent Dogs and Dangerous Men. I have had Nop's Trials and Nop's Hope for a very long time....and read and reread them. They are all good, but I like the non-fiction better....

These are solid dog books that deserve a read if you are a dog person. I know I will enjoy the other two.

However, now I want a puppy. I am not sure how wise that is, but I miss the three collies that used to call this place home. Maybe it is finally time.

Mike, a good dog

New Feeder

Since it became difficult to find bulk wood shavings for bedding we have used our lean to sawdust shed for a calf pen with varying degrees of success. 

One of its biggest drawbacks is that we always end up throwing feed on the ground, where a large percentage of it gets walked on and wasted.

We decided to put our four yearling heifers out there to get some sun and exercise, but we didn't want to deal with the feed issue.

So we talked about putting in a feeder. The boss had a big, green feeder panel he was using as a gate, so we changed that out and put it across the corner of the pen in front of a window we use to feed through, and replaced it.

Voila, all you can eat buffet.

..........as long as you can eat hay.

As you can see, Abbekirk, Cedar Key, Loki, and Tequila are liking it just fine. 

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!

Upper Garden Done

Becky and I finished it today. Everything is planted, except possibly some pumpkins or gourds in some new ground. (Dear friend, Numberwise, we kept you in mind as we filled the rows. Extra pretty much everything if it grows, which is always an issue, especially in a wet year like this.)

A sad day for us though.....

After two weeks of having our boy living at home and working just a few miles away, he is back in our nation's capital, far away from hearth and home....or heart and home, as it should be. It was nice while it lasted, although I wasn't crazy about the job he was on...right out in the middle of that mean old snake of a river that runs past the place. They don't call it the Mighty Mohawk for nothing. My dear  brother is still there for a while...hey, Mappy, watch your step out there! With all this rain it is extra high and mighty.

This morning brought adventures in guinea hen chasing. Liz had them in a coop with a broody hen, sitting on turkey, guinea, and hen eggs. Suddenly they decided that beating her up and breaking the eggs was the thing to do.

So we had a capture committee meeting and put them in the same house as the peahen, although not in her coop. They had better behave!

The boss is baling some hay, not the best as it has been rained on a bit, but I have never seen a year where we weren't grateful for every bale we put up. I am sure not looking forward to unloading it, but it's got to go in. Gonna rain again tomorrow.

Sunday Stills....Power Lines

I have always like the way these power lines look from across the valley
They also run right across the west side and back of the farm

For more Sunday Stills.....

Chatting with Peggy

Peggy is quite the talker for someone turning four months old today.

A (Mostly) Good One

Big tree down up at Jade's grandparents' place
All photos by Liz

If you have to get old, birthdays like yesterday are the way to get it done. From shopping with our boy, to fireworks viewed just by propping up my pillows and looking out the bedroom window, it was a good day.

A tree base picked up their tractor mounted snow blower

Best visit ever with the folks, laughs, and memories, and banana cake. I mean, how many people turn 62 and still have their mama bake them a fantastic, fabulous, really good cake? Becky got me a cinnamon cake too, so I had TWO birthday cakes. Talk about lucky.

Another big tree

And funny shoes that are as soft as clouds too. Al bought himself a pair of these nifty bright blue and green sneakers last week. They looked comfortable and he let me try them on. Felt really nice. Yesterday he bought me my own pair, and yeah, they feel even better when they fit.

Amish neighbor's barn
This was full of people, but they all got out ok

We didn't see much of the kids and the baby though. They were out all day and into the night cutting up trees that fell on their family's stuff. Big mess I guess. Liz was kind enough to let me share some pics she took up that way. Looks like it is going to take a while to get everything straightened up. Everyone was going to go up to help, but plans got changed a couple of times so....

Speaking of fireworks, I could see three displays at once, when I went up to bed last night, one off in Johnstown, one a bit farther west, don't know just where, but we could hear them and see them really well, and then the one at the race track, which is built on what once was the farm next door. Those blossomed right over our barn roof (giving me more than a few misgivings) and I could literally see them just by turning off the light. I am hoping the cows are still in the pasture, as I am sure they didn't appreciate all that hullabaloo right over their heads quite as much as we did. Poor girls.

That white spot is Jade's old boat

God Bless the USA

And he does, every day

Enough, Really, Enough

After years of trying finally got a lightning shot
Not exactly stunning, but satisfying just the same

With the storms already. We got the usual, high winds, some lightning, a lot of hard rain. However, up county where Jade's family lives, it was much worse. No word on whether it was a tornado or not, but trees fell on the buildings where they keep some of their garden equipment and got their tractor snow blower and their old boat and side bar mower.

Worse though, it took out the Amish neighbor's barn, while all the people were inside. No one was hurt, but what a mess. 

I guess the kids will be sawing wood for a while. 

Hold, Enough