Secret

Swamp...well, not so much a secret as much as just off the beaten path. We went down to Schoharie Crossing yesterday morning, birding, but nothing was stirring but a few crows and a man walking his dog.

So we drove over to the bit of Bear Swamp that we call Lyker's Pond. I am sure that it is not its official name, be we all know where we mean when we talk about it.

There was a little grebe noodling around in the water when we got there, but the light was bad and once he saw us he was nothing but a splash and a vanish. Cool to see him though.

And then there was the Winterberry Holly. How I love to see it out there flaming in the woods, bright as a dozen flocks of cardinals, and as merry as Christmas against the greys and browns. 

It is one of those things I tend to forget about, rather than anticipating each season like the scent of the River Bank Grapes in June, so it comes as a sort of a surprise each winter.

Kind of like a Christmas present that shows up every year. I wonder if it would grow along the Long Lawn, where its feet would be good and wet....how cool would that be?

Construction Pro

There is nothing like having one in the family.

A week ago our back porch was missing half its boards and hanging from the roof, with the bottom not touching the concrete floor.

Skunks got in around the door and tore up the trash.

We talked about fixing it for years...

And years....

And years.

Then our favorite construction pro and his dad decided to actually do the deed.

Original plans called for saving as much of the old wall as possible, but it fell apart as soon as Alan banged on it, so they built an entirely new wall.

We have also lived without ether a porch light or outside lights for at least 20 years....no one wanted to mess with the old knob and tube wiring....

Now, we have light both inside and out. Outlets to plug in freezers so the lead cord no longer has to be run out the window.

Looks as if we are moving up in the world. Nice job, guys, thanks.

Inside

Painter, designer, builder, and electrician in chief

Here's Lookin' at You

Nectarine, the last official barn cat,
although there are a couple of strays around now and then.

Moonshine

Plus a small, but nagging, mystery solved. Every time I walked past our grain tub turned dumpster, I heard this weird rattling, like a bird in the bushes, from the other side of it.

When I looked, there was never anything there. I heard it every day.

It drove me nuts (not a long trip on the best of days.)

Finally, yesterday, I was out walking with the camera when I heard it again. Nothing there.

Again.

But when I went up back to get a pic of the heifer, there they were. On the other side, of the top of the dumpster thingie behind the brown rolled up awning, were twenty or thirty of these guys, all taking baths in complete privacy, in the rainwater that collect there.

They flew away too quickly for me to get a shot, but at least the mystery is solved.

Feedin' da Cowz

Peggy's daddy had this stuffed toy cow, stuck away up at his mother's house.. Yesterday they introduced it to Miss Peggy.

 To say that it was love at first moo would be an udder statement.

This morning she lugged it out to the living room and came out to the kitchen exploring.

And found her mama's pie punkins. I said, "I'll bet your cow is hungry. Why don't you feed her?"

And so she did.

The cow was originally a throw he won at the fair....they stuffed it with pillows at some time along the way...and now we have a happy baby tucking her cow in (That is her very favorite blankie, which is always grubby beyond belief because she bawls when we wash it) and filling her with punkin.

Rootin' Tootin' Shootin'

So while the turkey was browning and celery being chopped, a wounded deer was ended,  pain stopped in his tracks, and a buck tag spent on mercy.

We know his back story, that stout 8-pointer, of the person or persons unknown who shot right over our cows, among which he was standing, while the men worked a few yards away, in the driveway.

With no regard for buildings, or people, or cows, posted signs, or laws, someone took a risky shot, after the legal hours of hunting, and did mortal damage without killing.

Boom. Bad shot.

He was tracked,long hours into the darkness, by someone who actually has a clue, while the authorities hunted for the illegal hunter.

Alas, the buck left for the road, and the hunters hid well.

And then, after five days of what must have been horrible misery...I will spare you the details....he came back and was found....and it is all finished.

You don't want to know the bad parts; he was neither going to live, nor die easily, but it is done.

I am fine with hunting. We eat well because of hunting. But for Pete's sake, you turkeys from town.......there are plenty of deer out there. Don't shoot around farm buildings and animals. That can quickly become a tragedy or a felony. And if you can't hit what you aim at effectively, or won't man up and find your wounded, stay at home with a Bud and a hotdog. There's a TV channel for that.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all. Hope you enjoy a day that is safe and happy.....

Under Construction

Tuff Tom says.....

Making the turkey today. Will bone it, chill it, and reheat in gravy tomorrow. That cuts down....marginally...on the madness.

Meanwhile, the back porch is also under construction, and a darned good thing. We wanted to use the existing wall and build around it but when Alan started to work on it, it practically fell off the house. 

Nothing left of it. It's a wonder it didn't fall off on someone's head! So he built a whole new wall on two sides, and caulked and painted and it is gorgeous.

Now the guys are off getting wiring to put an outlet out there and I am making applesauce. And Liz is going to be cooking for her in-laws here too, so, yeah....it's a madhouse.

Thank you, Bird Flu

Most years we buy a fresh turkey when they go on sale, as close to the holiday as possible.

Then we also purchase a frozen one and save it to enjoy later.

Fresh birds were so expensive a week ago we decided to forgo one and buy a frozen one.

What with the army that marches through here every day, we like a big one, over 20 pounds...way over, if that is an option.

The girls went to get me a bird yesterday so it would have time to thaw. However, wherever they went all the large frozen turkeys were already gone. They ended up getting me a fresh one after all, and only just a 20-pounder.

S'okay, at least we have a turkey. And if we didn't we have venison. And beef.

Hope you all have a delightful holiday and not be too tired out when it is over.

A Title, a Title, my Kingdom for a Title

Sunset yesterday wasn't too shabby though

Yesterday, the wind was howling, 

And the clouds were scowling.

As they scudded 'cross the hill outside the not-quite-daybreak window.

It set the dogs to growling

Then barking when the door slammed open, torn by hands of angry autumn gale.They made me feel like howling too.

Oh, how I hate November.

I hustled out on the hill to do the best I could with it

.......and then....came the next day, today that is, opening with an incredible cast of stars, sparkling and burning holes in the unlight sky. What color is that anyhow, that they shine against at 4 o'clock in the morning? Blue doesn't do it justice, nor black, but it is certainly some color.

At any rate, you can easily stand to stand under whatever color it is for a while, shivering puppy in tow, and just watch the stars as they twinkle... You can describe it scientifically, or just enjoy it like a little kid, looking up for the first time..

Then the horizons go all liquid and melt like northern water, all the colors of a deep, smooth  mountain lake, and just as indescribable. 

Crows wake up and shine their wings west by northwest, speaking to each other of the cornfields they will raid and the hawks they will encumber. There are hundreds of them every day and they foretell the weather. If it is gloomy, and rainy, and threatening to thunder they fly low and quiet, getting out and getting it done. On brighter days they are high and noisy and all about their business and everybody else's too. I love to watch them passing by.


 I built a fire this AM, as yesterday's went out, heat sucked out of the house by all that cold wind, until mere wood could not keep up. Then sat on a log by the stove, in between sorties for kindling wood....(do you mark down in your mind every stick and twig of dry wood around the place against a day like this like I do?).....and watched them passing over and the sun coming up and the frost melting in patches off the barn roof.

I hate November.

Some days more than others. 

Happy Birthday

To a very special young man

Check

Amazing red sunrise...check...alas gone too fast to get inside and grab the camera.

DMP filled, deer processed, tagged, called in, placed in freezer and/or oven for supper tonight...Check

I made the huntin' photos tiny,
so you only have to see the details if you click and enlarge.

Three hay customers attended to, hay sold, loaded, tied down, and taken away...Check.

Plans finalized for cow pen....check.

3 Coyotes shown the error of their ways....check.

Laundry, dishes, little doggies....check, check, check......

Busy day....yep, that too...

Stuff still going on.....check....

JRT

A Jack Russell Terrier is made out of rubber. Not just light-weight rubber band rubber either. 

No, JRTs are formed with the rubber they use to make tires for those giant Ukes down in open quarries and mines...you know the ones that can haul half a state in one box load. Only stronger and bouncier.

Inside that high grade rubber covering is an assortment of high tensile springs, coiled utterly tightly, with hair trigger releases. The merest puff of air will set them loose. Or a tap on the door. Or the Carolina Wren scolding an imaginary cat. Boinga, boinga, boinga.... Like a jack-in-the-box....or should I say Mack-in-the-box?

The springs are connected to each other with bungee cords, serious, hearty, hefty bungee cords, dare I say, presidential bungee cords, strong enough to hold a piano, should it wish to bungee jump.

A big piano, with an exuberant demeanor.

JRT schematic 

On the bottom are paws, four of them, each tipped with a full set of Damascus steel swords, small swords mind you, but sharp and tough. Tough enough to grind up the piano after it bungee jumps, leaving only expensive sawdust behind. Mere human hide is shredded like tissue.

On the front we find the laser eyes, able to detect the tiniest morsel of something the JRT shouldn't eat, including little tacks that fall out of the junk drawer, Peggy's favorite toys, raisins, socks, boots, bags, pens, oh, never mind, they can detect anything......everything.....faster even than the guy with the big S on his shirt and the red cape.

The sniffy smeller is also located at the front and is capable of finding chicken poop from half a mile away...whereupon the Hoover mechanism kicks in.

Flappy ears on top are even more sensitive and can hear Box Elder Bug feet as they scurry across the floor, triggering the powerful herding instinct of the JRT.

Also out front is a set of pointy little shark teeth, stolen from an infant hammerhead swimming in the Romanche Trench. These teeth are fully capable of shredding all materials, from paper to hardwood flooring and are always ready for action.

At the rear is the latest model of waggy-tail, which wiggles faster than a flea on a red-hot griddle, especially when trouble is in the offing. With a JRT it's all trouble.

The whole shebang is covered with rugged leather hide in a perfect tan-and-white pattern, with pink on the underside. The pink is delicate and dainty and gives an utterly false impression of what is contained within. It does serve however, to make the ticks quite visible, so the morning rings with, "Oh, no, another tick! Get the tweezers."

Because a JRT is low-slung like a Ferrari....only faster.

Powering this pint-sized juggernaut is a self-cooling, chicken meat (or at least that's what they claim on the can) powered super computer.If you think that Android or iPhone is powerful...well, the guys that run Anonymous don't have computers this powerful. It can process information at a speed far beyond that of mere light, and the rest of the package can propel the creature to something he shouldn't have..... faster than a mere human brain can realize that it is going to fall on the floor.

This brain is held within a bony structure no bigger than a tennis ball, and yet produces nine bazillion megabytes of madness per second.....

All this might seem a trifle intolerable, especially for a sedentary person, tasked with keeping up with this little wild thing....

However, at the very front of every model, right between the shocks and the front quarter panels, we find the love center. Jack Russell Terriers produce love faster than a romance novel and stronger than Valentine's Day. It is impossible not to love them back.

Yeah, we love our Mackalacking, Macanudo, Mack Truck, Mad Max, favorite dog in the world.......Mack, indeed we do.

Show Support in a Positive Way

Be nice even. As you have probably seen on your Facebook feed, a vegan activist started a petition campaign to Wal*Mart protesting the sales of a livestock hauling trailer toy.

I won't go into the arguments against the toy. Specious hyperbole comes to mind when I read them. I am sure not going to share a link to such ill informed drivel. Heck, far from only hauling cows to the auction or the processing plant trucks like these are often used to transport the most valuable show cows in the nation..to the shows and home again......

However, to the animal rights folks, any animal contact is bad, no matter how caring and careful. 

We could all rail and wail and carry on about the petition, but instead, along with getting some more accurate information out to folks who want to know, some of the young movers and shakers in agriculture have found a positive and innovative way to spread a good word. 

They have started a campaign to purchase farm toys and turn them over to the Toys for Tots drive.

I salute them! We had thought to buy one for Peggy for Christmas, as she loves her farm toys and tractors, but this is even better. We are already teaching her about ag and she loves every minute. Other children might not share that opportunity.

Here are links to some of the folks involved:

Ryan Goodman, I am Agriculture Proud

Dairy Carrie, The Adventures of Dairy Carrie

Katie Pinke, The Pinke Post

Diana Pritchard, Righteous Bacon

My Q-tip and I

Made a tomato.

Actually we seem to have made several of them. It appears that maters are self-pollinated, although bees and the like can help the process.

However, wind seems to be more important to the deal.

Although this place is mighty drafty, the breeze doesn't seem adequate for tomato production, so I jiggled these blossoms around a while back with a Q-tip, and much to my surprise yesterday found little fruitlings.

Now it is just a matter of waiting for them to turn from green marbles to little red globes of absurd sweetness that simply explode with perfect flavor when nibbled....or gobbled, as is more likely by far.

Procrastination

Sometimes it works out well. That thing you were worrying about doesn't happen or goes away on its own, or turns out to be for the best after all.

And sometimes, not so much.....Something you didn't do comes back to bite you in the nether regions with teeth filed to a fiery point and trouble on the move.

You may remember when a varmint, maybe a fox, maybe not a fox, got on the back porch, wrecked the trash bags and alarmed Daisy...it was before the advent of Mack.....

The whatever...... coulda been a raccoon.... tore up the corner of the heavy hardwood that frames the door and made a mess.

For ages and ages, every now and then the boss would threaten to fix the hole.

In fact just yesterday...or was it the day before....he said, " I WILL get around to that someday."

I wasn't really all that worried about it.

Until this morning when I found a note on the computer when I got up....

"Skunk on porch. Be careful when you walk the dogs."

And so I was.

There was no smell, just dog food cans strewn all over and shredded aluminum foil.

Liz says there were two great big ones there when Jade tried to go to work this morning.

I am thinking that maybe the time for procrastination has passed and action is in order.

Just maybe.......

Less Bleak

It is surely November, the month of grey and brown. This year at least, what with a number of sunny days that are reasonably warm, the silver frosted grass of sunrise spends noonday neon green.

However, there is no question that summer is long gone.

Any tips on fertilizing these tiny maters?
This plant will be two years old pretty soon...it fed us treats all summer

But...... down among the chocolate mint and the orange mint a Johnny Jump Up peeks out, all purple-spotted and freckled-white. In the cold its colors are much more intense than in the warmer season. Its tiny blossoms seem to glow.

Now and then the Calendula sends out a shaggy bloom or two as well.

However, we must turn indoors for a real garden experience....well, other than planting the garlic, which we did on Monday....yay!

It is less bleak in here than out there. 

Out there

Hey, Dad, this Bird's for You

Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, and who knows what else

My father is 84 today. Although some of my passions seem to have been inborn..... horses for example.... I was horse crazy from infancy....and some grew on me over the ages, like gardening and dairy farming, birding is all Dad.

Today it is pretty much my favorite thing, after spending time with family, of course.

Hunkered down after the attack.
This is how we first spotted them, a very tight knot of a big mess of birds.

Dad got me interested in birds, which I have been since as early as I can remember. Oddly enough, although when I was six or seven I didn't know a Rusty Blackbird from a California Condor, I remember seeing white-eyed, brownish black birds that weren't grackles, when we still lived in Gloversville.....we moved from there the year I turned eight. How I wish I could see one now!

He also fed the fire so to speak by getting me involved in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, in which I have participated eagerly for more years than I can count.

I thank him for that and for feeding interests in nature, biology and history in particular, and in learning in general.

He is a pretty great dad.

I hope you will join me in wishing him a very happy birthday and many more of the same.

I love you dad!

American Crows, gleaning a corn field after all the excitement.
If you are interested in Bald Eagles, there are almost always spot them near the boat launch
 and surrounding fields. Lots of other goodies there too.

***A little about these photos and video. Alan and I spotted these gulls and crows on Saturday and pulled down into the Schoharie boat launch area to see what was up. Turns out a Bald Eagle was stirring up the gulls and crows were mobbing the eagle. It was pretty cool.


 

I Always Wanted

A tank in which to go riding around the farm, frightening trespassers and having a high time.

While we were on the road a couple of weeks ago Alan bought this baby as a tiny little kit in an envelope and suggested that I put it together. It sat behind my computer for weeks until yesterday when he asked where it was......

And then he put it together. I could never have done it. It came as little sheets of stamped metal, thinner than a credit card and only about twice the surface area. The pieces...some of them....were no bigger than the end of a pencil. Some were even smaller. I do not have the patience....or the coordination......I quivered with impatience just watching him at it.

However.....

It is now a sturdy little critter tucked away in my China closet. For reference...that circle in the photos is my Irish ring.....

Better Hurry

Some of our loot

Our favorite orchard, Bellinger's, just up around the corner from here, is closing for the season tomorrow (Sunday) at 5 PM.

Alan and I ran up today to pick up some last tasty apples and  other stuff for the winter. I put my apples in a tub in the front hall and as long as I pay attention to bring them into the warmer part of the house during below zero weather, they keep for weeks and even months. I really love apples and feel rich if I have a store of them...

We bought some Suncrisp, some Ida Reds, and a couple of pie pumpkins and a squash for Lizzie. We had a nice visit too, as always. 

I love visiting.....it's a pretty spot.....tidy red barns nestled among trees groaning with apples and farms all around, green, and blue and beautiful.

I'll miss them! Don't miss this last chance to stock up on several late season varieties, squash and pumpkins, honey and such, and maybe grab some cider and cider donuts to keep the growling November winds at bay.