Kidnapped

I was snatched away in a pickup truck last Wednesday afternoon and taken far from home.

My captors tortured me all week. At night I was imprisoned in an air conditioned room...they bought an AC just for my stay....and slept on a bed as soft and fluffy as a summer cloud. They spent the daytime hours showing me around the Finger Lakes region and feeding me. 

This included the older pirate's amazing cooking while the younger pirate supplied triple berry crisp that was to die for. She makes a mean dessert I gotta tell you.

Somewhere along the way, the older pirate became an inventive, and clever cook. From sammiches piled with amazing deli meats to ribs he smoked personally and at great length, there were tempting treats every day. A good thing I was released without ransom or I would not be able to get out of this chair.

And the coffee was outstanding. I am not a fan of perked coffee, but they get it right. A big step down going back to instant this morning....

Sam

Cam

Thor

There were dogs. The kids' dogs are friendly and funny....not to mention gorgeous. I love them and miss them already.

Skulldoggery being planned here I'll bet.

The pirate crew took me to the Windmill on my birthday, the Fourth, and bought me a banana plant, along with a really nice lunch/breakfast.  Hope I can keep it alive for a while, as I have killed a couple of other bananas over the years. ***Montgomery County needs to pay attention and establish such an enterprise. We have plenty of Amish craftsmen and gardeners and lots of English farm product entrepreneurs as well. We could do that here for sure.

There were birds...birds everywhere. They took me out to Mossy Bank (and never once threatened to throw me off even though I had been driving them nuts for days) where we heard Blackburnian and Black-throated Green Warblers and saw Hermit Thrushes and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

We ventured out on Canandaigua Lake on their boat, the Goblin, where we fished and looked at birds and houses on cliffs with elevators down to the water and staircases built right into the cliffs and found Purple Martins too. I found the stairs and trams fascinating. Talk about going to great lengths to get to the water! The trams are especially cool. Cabin 1 at Pecks could use one of these, although I don't see it happening any time soon.

They took me to Wegmans. Why is there no Wegmans closer than Syracuse? Why? 

Then there was a nice party, where I learned the delights of playing corn hole. Who knew? The kids have talked to me about it since the first time the older pirate met the younger pirate, but I just didn't get it. 

I get it now. I laughed a lot and had a go at tossing the bean bags a couple times. Didn't get any on the board, and nearly hit the Camaro once, but I am sure I will get better with practice.

They are planning on bringing their boards down so everyone here at Northview can play. I can't wait. The boss is going to love it and will prolly play like a pro. All that baseball he played when younger and that awful, deadly arm he always had ain't gonna hurt him any.

Anyhow, if you missed me over the past five days or so, I was busy having a great time with Alan and Amber and her family and their lovely and lovable doggos, Cam, Sam and Thor.

A small part of the view from Mossy Bank Park

The kids were so kind to me and entertained me with so much fun that I am still grinning.... and I have a heck of a lot of photos to edit yet.

There are two downsides though. Having spent so much time enjoying their company, I miss them more than ever. Usually I just accept that video chat and lots of texts and phone calls are a pretty good way to keep in touch. However, there is simply nothing that will replace real hugs and face-to-face talking and listening. With their schedule the way it is, especially Alan's work, I am afraid it is going to be a while before I get to enjoy the real deal again.

And while I was gone the House Wrens took over the sitting porch and the ornamental bird house there and I am no longer welcome. Maybe I will just go back to Amber and Alan's pleasant porch. They make S'mores there. 

Thanks kids, for a wonderful weekend...you can kidnap me any time you want to. I love you guys.

Thanks also to the girls and their dad who kept things going at home while I was otherwise occupied. Came home to a cleaner house than I left, laundry all done up, and a generally welcoming situation.....good deal....

Color my World

Indigo Bunting

Viper's Bugloss.......I think

Vetches

Everlasting Pea? Showed up for the first time
ever on the side of the barn driveway. Weird but pretty

Bug Porn...Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

Brown Thrasher

Dill

Stable Boy to Star

I always loved harness racing and much admired Billy Haughton, one of the greatest drivers and trainers of all time.

He was born in the same town as I was and worked down here in Fonda and Fultonville as a boy.....went to the same school as the kids too.

 "For Haughton himself—a onetime $7-a-week stableboy from Fultonville, N.Y.—it is the good life: "..From An Emperor in Harness...

And from a 1986 Hoofbeats, "Billy Haughton was born November 2, 1923, in Gloversville, NY, the son of William F. and Edith Greene Haughton, and grew up in the nearby, small community of Fultonville. His love for horses was said to have come from one of his ancestors who emigrated to the United States from Ireland. Unofficially, Haughton's love affair with horses began with a pony named Betty which his father bought when Billy was five years old. Betty was hitched to a makeshift sulky fabricated from a basket cart, with Mrs. Haughton's pantry-shelf brackets serving as stirrups.

A few years later, Mr. Haughton bought a used, standard sulky, enabling Billy and his pony to imitate the full-sized horses and drivers racing at the Fonda, NY Fair, across the Mohawk River from Fultonville. In his early teens, Haughton groomed horses at the fairgrounds. Ironically, however, his first racing experience was as a thoroughbred jockey at the Fonda Fair. During his high school years, Haughton continued to work as a groom, then entered Cobleskill Agricultural College near Schenectady, NY, where he obtained a degree in animal husbandry."

He went on to do great things. A lot of them. Nice to think that this area produced such a great horseman.

The boss remembers him coming back to town to visit his mother, and has a plethora of stories about him growing up as his mom and dad knew him then.

Curses Foiled Again

Guess that is as close.....

We were just offered an opportunity to not only possibly win Moose Quest, but also to document said success...not to mention get to visit and enjoy one of our dearest friends in the most amazing setting you could imagine... 


and then the car got cranky.

We have been looking, albeit perhaps not quite as enthusiastically as we should have been, for a replacement since the Outer Banks trip. However, used vehicles of similar vintage, make, and model, or even anything close seem to be in short supply around here. There are plenty of Durangos for sale for uncomfortable five-figure prices, but we like to eat regularly and all, so we are not eager to buy one of those. Even though they are real shiny and all. Plus it wasn't all that bad.

Then night before last when we went out scouting for Eastern Screech Owl Quest it had a little mechanical emergency. Or maybe even a big one. Decided that it didn't really want to climb hills any more.

So we called a local dealer about potential repair. Um, no. The cost of the work would be about twice what the car is worth. And that was a baseline estimate. 

The kids have suggested another guy who has done some work for them a lot cheaper than that. I guess we will let him take a look. Mebbe. I would kinda like to keep this car as opposed to taking on any debt. It has the grand virtue of being paid for and it has heated seats, which will henceforth be one of the main features, along with 4-wheel drive, that I will be looking for in a car or truck.

But alas, no Moose Quest, much to my dismay. And it is raining...very lightly...but raining...on the first hay that has been mowed here this year. The boss put a few test rows down yesterday to the tune of a forecast that only called for widely scattered thundershowers the whole weekend. Then we woke up to drizzle. It isn't wet enough to have to wipe your glasses when you come inside from outside, and if it dries off it won't do any harm at all, but dagnabbit!

Anyhow, hopefully we can find something reliable to drive and tough enough to tackle our driveway or else find someone to repair the car so we can at least get to camp, which is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, whoever is doing all that rain dancing, stop already. Thanks.

Dueling Chorus

The Northview singers at O-dark-thirty-ish this morning. Excuse the shaky video...

97 Milk

Remember a few days ago when the boss and I found a bale board over on Route 20 in Schoharie County?

Imagine my delight the other night when the artist and author of our bale called and we discovered that it was none other than our longtime friend and former milk tester Ann Diefendorf. Ann is still testing a large number of herds in the area.

We always enjoyed her visits back when we were milking cows and "on test", milk testing being a terrific tool for measuring cows' output, components, and udder health. And my very favorite hat is a soft green Vermont DHIA one that I received at a meeting Ann and her husband, Tim, sponsored for local producers. I'ma gonna hate it when that one expires.

Anyhow, Ann painted the bale board at McFadden's, as well as a number of others, which she distributed around the area.  There is another bale at RTE 20 Sharon hill,  and a third at Eric Manchester Farm on Rte 7 next to the Cobleskill -Richmondville  high school. There is also a banner and the truck sign below. Ann sent me a couple of her photos and allowed me to share them with you.

Mad props to Ann for working so hard for dairy promotion and to all involved in the campaign to get whole milk back in schools. A plethora of studies have shown that whole milk enhances a healthy diet even more than its low fat neighbors, and certainly a heckuva lot more than nut juices and sugary drinks.

Also kudos to moms and dads who know that whole milk is best for kids and grown ups alike and who serve and enjoy it often.

Study

Study

Study

Studly

Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act

97 Milk

And don't miss this

Out Behind the Barn

Brown Thrasher

Last summer the boss bought a back blade for the tractor. The latter has been in the shop for a bit getting some hydraulic issues fixed up, but now it is home and the implement has been implemented.

Eastern Wood Pewee

Meanwhile I have been beyond frustrated at the circumstances surrounding trips up the hill to the fields. The grass was higher than my head...in the road. Ticks being what they are, for the past three weeks or so I have not been able to visit the Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows up back.

Baltimore Oriole female

However, this week with high hopes for actually getting some dry hay the boss went over the main farm road the past couple of days. Although it is still a bit swampy in the spots where there is clay, it is at least possible for a short person to navigate to the 30-acre Lot without encountering too much grass.

The first walk yesterday, besides offering at least 10 pairs of Bobolinks in the 30-acre Lot, with plenty of Red-winged Blackbirds too, also yielded three pairs of Eastern Meadowlarks. I can't remember ever seeing more than one or two individual birds here on the farm and then only during migration. The Brown Thrashers are finally back as well, although the pair that nests in the rose bush next to the long lawn seems to be absent.

Bama

Best bird though was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling from behind the barn this morning when I was out with Mack. As soon as dogs were done and I gulped a swallow of first coffee I hustled out there and stood in the newly worked up road hoping to see him.

But no, he had moved along. However, below is a little video clip of a few of the birds that were singing. I am so excited about early mornings now. The Farm Side is done and submitted so I can get out early and go out on the hills...up behind the barn. 

You will need to turn your volume up, as this is recorded with my camera. Sorry about the motor noise.

The Only Jammies

Alan! Alan! Alan!

More here Oh, here is the old one...much better.

Household Olympics

A not so subtle editorial comment

Many years ago a Farm Side column featured the farmer Olympics, with events like walking safely to the food bowl with a bucket of milk for the cats, while they surged around your feet like furry surf. Others involved baling twine and emergency repairs if I remember rightly....

The Olympics are different here now with much less time in the barn for most of us. Therefore some of the the amazing competitions take place indoors.

One of the more popular events is Junk Jenga Reversio. Instead of pulling out bits while keeping the pile from tumbling, participants add just one more thing to the contents of the trash container.

And one more thing.

And one more thing.

No one likes to actually take out the trash, so this event is wildly popular with athletes, although somewhat less beloved by coaches and officials. 

All too many mornings find the results of the previous day's heats teetering threateningly, food wrapper on top of vegetable can, chip bag nudging dog food box, with a shaky foundation of paper towels under it all.

Today was no exception.

I would stack my trash stackers up against anybody's.

They are really good.

Or bad, as the case may be.

Birding Field Trip

Common Yellowthroat... one of my favorite warblers.
Such bold and busy little birds

I went on one last Saturday. It was put on by the Hudson Mohawk Bird Club and led by David Harrison. The birding was well above my pay grade but oh, so much fun.

The group walked about 12 thousand of my steps through mixed habitat ranging from woodland to overgrown fields. Others saw 40 species; I missed some, but got 36.

High points for me were the county birds I was missing for the year, Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager and Magnolia Warbler, plus the opportunity to observe people who are much better birders than I in action. The latter two birds we see most years either here on the farm or on the Brand Rd./Rankin Grove Road extension, which is under construction this year.....major construction, as in if you like living you will bird somewhere else. The road is closed with eager dump trucks backing down it really fast and driving out even faster. One of my favorite spots and I miss it a lot....maybe next year.

Anyhow, 12 thousand steps was pretty much enough for me, and the boss wanted to go over to the beef auction, so we skipped the second half of the day.

On the second half of the walk the group found a Louisiana Waterthrush, which would have been a life bird for me. Darn it. However, when I contacted the trip leader to thank him for a wonderful experience, he described the exact location of the elusive bird.

Beautiful wooden decked bridge, the only one I have ever seen

We hied ourselves over there this morning to arrive in a miserable drizzle, but oh, what a beautiful spot. We spent quite some time staring at the banks of the stream there, to no avail. After a while the boss's knees got ouchy and he retired to the car...where a brand new Country Folks, plus Lancaster Farming awaited him.

I climbed partway up the hill and finally hauled myself over the guard rails, which were waist high to me, so I would be safer, as the road is narrow, and while not much traveled, there is a blind curve and the one truck we met was pretty swift.

Because the stream is dancy and vigorous, it was hard to hear birds. However, a noisy Downy Woodpecker drew my attention to the top third of some trees on the other side. 

Louisiana Waterthrush, my first ever

And there it was. Bird number 160 for me in the county this year and a life bird as well.

Bale Boards

We found one! The message is not exactly the same as the 97% fat free milk one, but this is great!

It's over at McFadden's on Route 20 in Schoharie County btw.

The First

Paragraph of this Friday's Farm Side....

"A bully moon in full regalia gave me the third degree the other night. Not a truncheon in sight, but she shined her blinding spotlight right into my room and chased my sleep from pillow-to-pillow. Arghh, but not-so-soft, what light through yonder window breaks, and in all-night misery the sleeper wakes?"

Yeah, I had fun with this year's June is Dairy Month column.

I always do, every single year. From the history of ice cream to the first folks to make milk into other goodies, dairy is fascinating and June is Dairy Good.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day

To my dad, who pointed me at the birds and little fishies, and all the other wild outdoor things. All my life he has demonstrated and shared a love of learning that keeps me racing against time even now. Hope you are finding good books to read and enjoying those apple bites. 

And to the father of my children, a guy who will sit patiently in the car for four hours while I go on a birding trip and then be willing to forego his planned auction visit so I can do more. I missed a life bird not going on the second half of yesterday's birdy expedition, but I was pretty pooped and we got a little Schoharie County birding done as well. It was all good. I'll get that Louisiana Waterthrush some other time.

To my dear brothers, both fine men, who have raised a number of delightful offspring.

To the fathers of our amazing granddaughters, who are of course, the brightest and most entertaining young ladies in the world.

And to all you dads out there. Hope you can feel the love flowing through all the neckties and grill accessories straight to your hearts, at which they were aimed. 

Love to all.

Watching a wild storm come in across Beardsley Reservoir, while the birder
clambers out across a narrow peninsula stretching out over the lake.

Also, Happy 34th Wedding Anniversary to the same guy above. Two holidays for the price of one. We somehow survived farming together for decades and are still having fun. Hard not to like that.

This pretty bird was right next to the auction barn, being harassed by a flock of
Common Grackles

Happy

Day

It's the Little Things

Marshmallow season is in full swing

An early morning video chat with my boy who is far away in Canada with no functional phone.... suddenly the day is a lot brighter. Winnipeg is flat and cold as far as I can see...and far away. Did I mention far away?

Flippity Do Dah

Some of my good Facebook friends getting on MeWe where the world is not run by people who think that I should think differently....and the possibilities are....interesting.

I have been using it for a while now, but with no one I know available and no easy way to meet like minded people I really only stop in to check on a group I started there, Field of Birds, and to share bird stuff. Real friends will be cool. No big brother censorship will be nice too. I have had posts taken off FB that were merely scientific articles about birds. Hate speech to someone who hates birds I guess.

Common Gallinule...in the pouring rain

Finding a Common Gallinule at a pond we visit. Not technically a rare bird for Upstate NY, but they aren't exactly thick on the ground...or on the water...either. We are up to 155 species in Montgomery County so far this year. It is getting hard to find new ones with migration mostly over for now and all. If you see something exciting please let me know. Have binoculars, will chase.

The LogNess Monster of the Mighty Mohawk

Not such a little thing, but it has been great to see the hay fields clean and clipped with first cutting stored away for winter, and to see corn planted, sprouting, and after the insane rain of the night before last, jumping double its own height overnight.

We may be retired, but a farmer's heart is a farmer's heart. And you can forget what everybody told you about NY being all about Manhattan. This is farm country up here in Montgomery County. We love our cows and crops and we like to see them prosper.

Kill the Dust Mop

Cottonwood stars surround the moon

I've searched in vain for a dust mop of a sort that I like for quite some time now. They do not make them liked they used to....literally.

I had one that I liked once though.

It was back when I lived in the woods. One day the elderly man who lived up the road showed up with it in his hands. He had walked the significant distance from his house to ours carrying it. 

At first I didn't know what to make of his arrival on the door strep, floor cleaning tool in hand.

Then he explained. His beloved wife of many years had died suddenly the day before and he thought I might like to have it.

Really I guess he needed someone to talk to...we had chatted in passing a few times in the past...and it seemed a good reason to come and tell us. I thanked him profusely for his puzzling gift.

And I kept and used it gratefully...because that was when they made them like they don't any more...but was always a little sad about it. However, nothing lasts forever and it is long gone. I don't remember his name and lost track of him a long time ago. Poor man.

The other day, after several eons without one and faced with two long-haired dogs worth of shedding in the house I tried to get one. However, a lady was engaged in deep thought in the kitchen tools department and every time I tried to step up to the rack she hurriedly hustled in front of me. Okay then...maybe another day....of course I reported on my experience on the way home.

So Friday the boss and Becky both bought me new ones, separately and independently. 

The one the boss found is something like a feather duster on a stick. Absolutely the nuts for getting down cobwebs, and bless his heart my taller-than-I guy decimated several rooms worth with it.

This morning, however, as I started out the door at doggo walking time, Mack spotted it.

Instantly he hit high-terrier mode and dove into it as if he'd found a badger in the house that needed killing.

I laughed so hard I could barely pull him off it. Thankfully no harm done though.....so now I have two dust mops...or maybe three...I've lost count. At least until the dog kills the fuzzy one. 

Notadustmop