Is this some kind of Joke?

My sentiments exactly.....

Know Your Farmer

Not to be an alarmist or anything.... I hate to spread possibly unnecessary concerns. 

However, I've been getting a teeny tiny bit worried. In light of the recent closures and partial closures of so many US protein processing plants, now might be a good time to get to know your local farmer.

We've been trying, since we sent our own last beef cow to the processor, to purchase local beef whenever we can.  Some farms sell their products by the cut or pound, which is how we prefer to buy. Others sell shares or standard packages of assorted cuts. Chicken and pork can be a little problematic to find, but many farmers raise and process beef cows, oftentimes having it USDA inspected and certified. Many farms also sell lamb. I haven't purchased lamb locally yet, but I'll bet you it is a lot better quality than store bought.

Prices we've paid for beef are sometimes a little higher than store retail, but quality usually is better as well. We just bought a few pounds of locally-grown hamburger last night, plus to our great good fortune our boy and his wife shared some meat from their last beefer with us. 

If we have the choice we buy meat that has been cryovacced, as it keeps for a really long time. We are still eating a few cuts off our last cow and she was processed a couple of years ago. 

Another thing we have been doing routinely for a couple of years is buying whole pork loins instead of pork chops. It's a simple matter to cut your own chops to the thickness you prefer and is usually much cheaper. Then package and freeze. Loin quality is uniformly excellent, and there are no bones. Bones in chops increase the price you pay per pound of edible food. No waste with boneless.

Anyhow, if you happen to be reading this and sell homegrown meat retail, please feel free to leave a link in the comments. I have a feeling there may soon be plenty of customers.

Devil's Deluge

Late afternoon. 

Liz took Jill out on the hills for a run. Border Collies have to run and Jill is no exception.

It had rained off and on all day, with a few gusty winds thrown in to blow it around.

Not much of a deal though.

Sitting in my Sunday chair when something caught my eye. Not a Bald Eagle flashing past the big living room windows, as often happens.

Not a starling headed for the rooftop.

No, a wall of darkness, flying at us as if to tumble Hogwarts. And rain, a devil's downpour, blown horizontal by a gale.

The sky went from meh to mighty in the space of a second.

I have to watch storms. Cannot sit in my chair and ignore them. I have to look.

Yesterday I REALLY had to look as one of my favorite folks and a much loved pup were out on the hill in it. Mother worry overload.

Seemed like a long time before I saw them from my perch on the stair landing where I can see out over the barnyards and the road down from the fields. I ran for towels and put up the baby gate that confines wet pups to the kitchen.

Liz came in laughing at the storm. Jill came in soaked and covered with burdocks. 

Some toweling and grooming later all were fine. Wish you could see Liz's photos and videos of the incoming storm and outbounding dog. The storm was malevolence personified. The dog was hilarious, leaping into every pool and puddle at a dead run, flipping, flopping, and then flying out again to tear in circles so fast she could barely keep up with her feet.

Me, I just settled back in my chair, grateful that they were both all right. 

And went to bed early to pull up the covers and shut out the sounds of the raging wild winds. 

What a night

Joyous Son Rise

Hear the exaltation in the song of the Field Sparrow.

Happy Easter dear friends and family.

On the Land

We love to watch the progress of this field down by the river each year, from stark snow stitched with rows of golden stubble to waving tassels of pale yellow with plump fat ears dangling below.

Yesterday preparations for planting were in full swing.

Dawn Chorus Salute

Came downstairs to a robin quartet, all caroling in unison. Shadows laced the walls around me, reflecting thoughts of super moons and terrible losses.

To find that they were not projected by the moon but rather by work lights down on the Thruway.

There was no moon.

It's raining.

The song goes on and and on though, chickadees summer calling, Carolina Wren rhymes, a distant train mourning in deep whistles.

All singing and crying for John Prine I think. And the rain is tears. 

He wrote so much in beauty and meant so much to our family back in the days when my brother Michael and I played music together at family gatherings, him lending his beautiful voice and amazing talent to all, me playing backup just a little.

Paradise has long been one of my father's favorites and he always asked to hear it. For me it was Angel from Montgomery. I still love that song, even though arthritis stopped me from playing guitar some years ago.

The world is shedding talent and shredding hearts at all too fast a pace these days, spiraling down and down and ever downward. I cried for real for the first time yesterday. Not for any one of us but for all of us.....stay strong and safe dear friends and family. Much love from Northview Farm.

In a Small Town

The dance of the sugarplum......gulls

Things are different.

I've watched with horror the news stories of people willfully attempting to injure others by spreading this dread disease. Seen stories and photos of fools at the epicenter crowding together to watch that government ship pull in and cramming the subway as if togetherness was all the thing these days.

City stuff...all city stuff.

Tree Swallows

And then there are the small towns. I have seen a few and only a few incidents that made me cringe. A gaggle of bikers in leathers hugging one another in a parking lot and jumping up and down and making a show of themselves. Not impressed. Also probably not local folks. A few ill-advised play dates and the like.

But mostly, even though there are people on the bike path, fishing at the river, or walking the riverbed in the parks, they are almost all widely separated. I've seen lots of dads and moms out in yards playing with their kids and dozens of rainbows in windows showing solidarity and caring.

Local law enforcement is doing everything they can to help people weather this terrible storm too, from collecting pet food for food pantries and shelters to keeping us posted on numbers and news.

Then this morning our dear town clerk let me know that our tax payment, which has been in abeyance as offices are closed, will be processed today. Thus I can be even more careful not to overdraw the bank account today and tomorrow. That is the sort of kindness and thoughtfulness that sets small towns apart from soulless cities. 

Thanks Roxanne, that was really nice of you.

Stay safe and strong dear friends and family. I hope you are all finding ways to keep your minds distracted from the 24/7 horror show raging all around us. The state is encouraging people to use birding for that purpose.... so that is working.....at least in the daytime...for me.

Much love from Northview Farm.

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

Appomattox Court House

We shoulda been headed for the Outer Banks this weekend for a week of Civil War battlefields, beaches, and beautiful birds.

We went last year for the first time for the Birds, Beaches, and Battlefields tour and had the most fabulous time imaginable. And we did it all for under $800 for three people.

Cheap dates and all.

Alas this year we are home, along with most of the rest of the world.

Maybe someday......maybe someday.....we woulda if we coulda...

Meanwhile....

Love to all

Lyker's Pond

Is probably not actually named Lyker's Pond. Might be part of Bear Swamp, or maybe not. It's on Goldman Road, near Lyker's Road though. As a family we have been going there pretty much since we have been a family and somewhere along the way we started calling it that.

The boss took me to the tiny pull off long before there were kids. I have always liked to fish and look for birds. We took the kids there to fish for whatever the heck is in there...mostly minnows it seems...I don't think they ever caught anything.

However, we had messy pic-a-nics and good times. Ask the boss about the proximity of Lyker's Pond and Sprout Brook some time.

When the kids hit college over in Cobleskill the visits increased. If I drove Becky over we sometimes stopped. If I rode along with Alan to wait out a class and then go adventuring we stopped at Burger King and took our goodies to the pull off to munch and muse.

When we began eBirding we started going even more often. During migration we have sometimes even stopped a couple of times a day. Well worth it on the right days, as I have sometimes found over 30 species there. Last fall a Trumpeter Swan flew over!

Now a few other eBirders have begun to visit to scope out the beauty and scoop up the birdies. Which tickles me no end, as it is such a cool place and I love it.

Yesterday Becky took care of Peg so we could get out for a while. Disease and work schedules wait for no birds and we have been seriously curtailed in our travels.

Wild corn dogs going to seed

The peepers were literally deafening. I bird a lot by ear as I am kinda, sorta, somewhat blind....ish. Not happening with all that din. However, I soon picked out first of the year Chipping Sparrows singing their insect-like song all around and then a pair of Barred Owls, also first of the year, tuned up to the west of the pond. In broad daylight no less.

Score! And score some peace and happiness and forgetfulness for a few minutes. If you are a local birder I recommend a visit someday. There is a nice little parking place and good wide road shoulders so you can avoid the sparse but speeding traffic. There are a couple of other decent ponds on nearby roads as well, which you can probably find via eBird.

Below is a video of the male of a pair of Hooded Mergansers floating tranquilly among the peeper chorus. Turn your sound up if you would like to hear them.

Any of my sky watcher friends know what this phenomenon is called?
Not a regular rainbow, it was much brighter than the photos show and stretched
across a lot of the horizon. Thanks!

Stay safe and strong dear friends and family. Much love from Northview Farm.

Drag Racing in America

These young gents were weaving all over the road, really pounding down the pavement until they met the lady in the third wagon.

Somewhat subdued after that, but I wish you could have seen the horse pulling the front  wagon. Amish Thunder bird boy.

 

When the Newest Bird

In the mood for love

On your 2020 eBird county list is a Black Vulture, you tend to get a little nervous.

Especially when you count a pair of them right at home, right behind the barn.

At least they didn't hang around and I haven't seen them again. And they did get me back up over 90% in the county at least for a little while.

We haven't been out much, what with the disease and baby sitting. We make our winter loop in the car, as there are some decent ducks on a couple of ponds we frequent, and we go to Schoharie Crossing State Historical Site, early before everyone else is out. Not seeing much of excitement, but there are some cool ducks available for viewing.

Do you think he was looking at the skid steer?

Our skid steer quit and is currently experiencing major, and no doubt expensive, repairs. Meanwhile the boss was forced to find a different way to get wood from the barnyard to the stove. He says what he is doing now, dragging logs with the tractor and cutting them up in the old calf yard, is actually better, so there is that.

Home schooling is taking place via computer and packets delivered by our neighbor who combines farming with school bus driving. So far I haven't participated much as Liz is tending to that business.

However, I have been roped into convinced to play Farmopoly with someone who is more than slightly creative with the rules and quite fond of the stacked deck concept. And yes, I lost resoundingly, as did Becky. I am okay with that.

I hope you are all remaining safe, sane, and well. Much love from Northview Farm.

Bright spot in all the gloom provided by Liz.
Thanks!

Ears like an Owl

Jill waiting for me to kick the nab ball
Like every other Border Collie we have ever had
she does not admire the camera.

There's a little dog from Oklahoma living here with us now. She is trending toward middle age, tiny for a Border Collie, and smart as you might expect She is trained well and wise and fun. Her name is Jill. We all have loved her since the day she arrived a couple of months ago.

She also appears to have phenomenal hearing. She is Liz's dog and prefers her, but in a pinch I will serve well enough to provide walks, kibble, and pets, hugs and ball propulsion...did I mention she is a nut for a ball?

However, when push comes to shove and a choice is offered she is Liz's girl...well except for that one time when she bounced onto Liz's bare feet in pursuit of her ball. Claws out. That elicited a painful shout and she raced over to sit behind me and peer out around my legs for all the world like a little one hiding behind mommy's skirts....

But I digress. (As usual, right?)

Yesterday, mid afternoon. Dogs had all been walked and played with and fed and Jilly was sleeping in her crate in the pantry at the back of the house. Suddenly she began to moan and whine like she does when she hears someone, particularly Liz, coming home. Of course she knows all the cars and trucks. She IS after all a Border Collie.

It was close to time for Liz to come home from work so I perked up my ears Nope, nothing, nobody in the driveway.

I relaxed again for a moment when there it was....the rumble and grumble of that old Dodge lumbering up the hill.

The whines from the pantry grew stronger.

I was astonished. Jill had heard that truck way down on the road, probably half-way to town from her kennel in the farthest back room of the house. The driveway alone is two-tenths of a mile and, even with all the restrictions, traffic noise from the interstate and trains is constant.

What a dog!

That'll do Jill, that'll do.

Hope you all continue safe and well. At this second the Carolina Wren is Judy-judy-judying right outside the window and that makes me happier than I might otherwise be. Much love from Northview Farm.

Yep, still raining

Essential

Even though it is only March our local farmers are on the land. They are fertilizing, fitting ground, getting everything ready to plant, sometimes even when it is raining.

Whether Amish or English they are not stopping in their all-important quest to grow food for everyone.

My heart lifts to see the rounded backs of rich black furrows rolling out behind the plows and even to smell the sharp tang of valuable organic material sequestered from cows involved in producing dairy products. 

While the world descends ever deeper and ever faster into a whirling spiral of terror, something is still right and strong.

i am ever so grateful for farmers and not just because I was one once.

Hats off to our neighbors with tractors and teams.

Hope you are all staying safe and strong. Much love from Northview Farm. 

Flight of the....

I have no woodcock photos,
so this load of sawdust...
made from wood
will have to do

Not the navigator....

Nor the bumblebee...

The flight instead of the Timberdoodle.

Better known as the American Woodcock, this fat little shorebird, who looks nothing like others of his ilk, is doing his thing these days. I first heard of this magical spring dance in Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac. I have always loved the outdoors and the wild things, but stumbling on that book in the college bookstore way back when was a real game changer.

Then I first experienced the joy at the cabin in Caroga Lake. We sat on the tailgate of my truck every night in fair weather, listening to the show across the road and straining for a glimpse of the dancer.

Light rain and dog walking in the early dark today. Not much traffic, which is the right kind of weather for this kind of doodling. First dog, no joy.

Second dog, Jill the Border Collie, and almost instantly the twittering tumble of flight feathers began. We have heard several others this spring, but none so very close and clear.

It was right behind the house. If there had been any light I am sure I could have seen it but for today just the music will do.

I am thankful for these things of spring, the four-robin chorus going on right now, the thin trickle of migrants coming through already, and the magical flight of the Timberdoodle.

Stay safe and strong dear friends and family. Much love from Northview Farm.

Staying Alone

Sunup at Schoharie Crossing
Nobody here but us and the birds

They say it equals staying alive. We have to go to the stores and mail out bill payments and all....eating is still popular here.....but birding was already a solitary endeavor, and we are endeavoring to make it more so.

It's not DiGiourno

We go to the river early before other folks are out. We bird from the car or in the wild places that no one else seems to have discovered.

Mr. Patience, Patiently waiting

Or at home, where the area around the house is thronged with birds, however common and tame.

It's as alone as we can make it what with folks who live here having to work at essential jobs.....

Stay safe and strong dear friends and family. Much love from Northview. 

Common Grackle is just that but pretty in spring plumage.

The FOY Dance

Tree Swallow from a couple of years back

Just a little relief from the virus fears and worries...performed when I see the first individual of a species for the first time this year. It's short. Look fast or you'll miss it.....and at that maybe you would want to.

Today it was the first Tree Swallow of the year dive bombing some Canada Geese down at Schoharie Crossing.

One swallow doesn't make a summer, but it makes me break out in dance. In public.....

Thankfully there is little or no public down at the Crossing these days, except the boss.

And I think he was asleep.

The Sunny Side

Ring-billed Gull

I try.

I really do. I understand just how fortunate I am.....to be in reasonable if not great health, to be ambulatory, able to see adequately, to hear quite well, and to be surrounded by loving people, literally living my own dream...that is in the country, on a farm.

However, after a week, or however long it's been of curtailed everything and a continuous onslaught of terrible news and terrifying headlines, I got up this morning grumpy. I didn't cheer up much as the day went on.

We stole a few minutes...literally...down at the Crossing, but had to come home to take care of Peg because school is...rightly...closed.

No biggie, although I miss the luxury of lots of time to wander and peer. However, just a short while after we came home friends emailed that there were two Wilson's Snipe and an American Pipit being seen down there. Peg was still asleep, having had some late nights lately. We just couldn't go.

We did go down later when we could but the birds were gone.

I was not feeling too sunny.

However upon checking my email I discovered that because I turned in over a thousand eBird lists last year Cornell gave me the rest of the year's free access to their new site Birds of the World.

I immediately typed in Wilson's Snipe and had me a good old time learning a lot more than I knew before. I didn't do more than dip a toe in the well of information available. There is an incredible amount of detail.

Talk about a sunny side!

I feel much better now. 

Hope you are all safe and well.

Gadwall

Update: When the boss was done with his work and Liz was home from hers, he took me back down to the river and we found the bird! Well, one of them anyhow. Life bird for me, a Wilson's Snipe!