Saturday November 14th... Scott and Bonnie Will Soon Cast Off, Up The Hudson...

It's Coming Rapidly Folks!

It really doesn't matter that Vick's best friend Bonnie and her husband Scott are coming from central Jersey, by way of the Garden State and NY Thruway or whether they would be navigating a ship up the Hudson River... they will be traveling in about the same conditions....WATER...and lots of it! It has been raining, non-stop, all night long and everything in the yard is soaking wet. There are puddles of standing water everywhere. Even the hospice gift shop has puddles surrounding it. We installed a footer drain all around the foundation to drain water away from it, so there wouldn't be any standing water near it, but it is lying wet around the perimeter of the shop anyway.
Wow, I can't believe we are almost half way through November already! Before you know it, we will have already eaten our Thanksgiving Day dinner and we'll be taking the Christmas decorations down, preparing for the long spell between the holidays and spring. I'm sure that winter will fly by too, because we want to work on the inside of the gift shop, the hay loft and front office area of the barn. Hopefully, Adam will get the soffit closed up for us this week, to stop the cold air from whistling through the loft this winter. We also need to get a large load of hay this coming week, if it is at all possible. We gotta call Johnnie S. down the road, to see if he still has lots of hay to sell. A hundred bales would be nice for starters. Our friend told us about a place in Coxsackie, where we can buy shelled corn in bulk rather cheaply, so we're gonna see about a truckload of shelled corn too. Having hay for the Alpacas and Angora bunnies, plus corn for the chickens stored here in quantity, makes for an easier winter.
Carol, one of our artist friends, was just here for eggs and informed us that she has arranged for her once-a-month painting session in the library to start again in January. She cancels it in the summer months because everyone has other interests then. It's a nice time when all the local area artists meet to paint or draw and just what Vick and I like to do most winter evenings. I thought about joining the writing group that meets weekly in the library, but you know...I don't think that's for me. I'm more of a "to myself" author, writing what I feel and in my own style. I'm really not...nor have I ever been, a conformist to anything set in stone. I usually marched to my own drummer in about everything I've ever done, or continue to do to this very day. Sometimes that is not such a popular avenue to pursue, but that's how I've always lived my life. DIFFERENT... quite different indeed.

Friday The 13th... We Ain't Sceared-Da-No-Nuttin'......... Spessly a dumb ol' number thirteen!!!!!

I always find it a bit funny how some people won't get out of bed on Friday the 13th. Some won't go anywhere, others call off of work and won't drive. Not us!!!! We got up early this morning and spent the day with Vick's Mom and Dad in Albany. At one point, we took a break and stopped at the price chopper for coffee and bagels, where we all sat at one of Price Choppers tables and sipped hot coffee, munched on toasted bagels and chatted the better part of an hour. Later at home, we showed them the gift shop and in the afternoon, took off for The Door Jam, in Shokan to pick up the wooden grids for the windows. We also picked up the crank and locking levers with trim pieces before heading to Lexington to have dinner with Vick's brother & family. A good time was had by all there and we then headed for home. When we arrived, we turned the dogs out to run, fed and watered the stock in the barns, then placed the grids into the windows to see how they looked. Man ol' man, did they ever make a difference. They were definitely worth the money it took to get them and the other hardware packet.

We stripped the guest room bed and remade it for our company from New Jersey tomorrow. Vicks oldest friend and husband are coming up for a visit and hopefully will stay over night so we can chat and catch up on each others lives. This will be the first visit to the farm since Vick moved from Jersey, so we're hoping they enjoy it and the scenery. We will probably enjoy dinner at Hollowbrook Farm Restaurant if they do stay over. They should arrive tomorrow afternoon around 1:00PM. Hope they have an enjoyable trip up the thruway and a pleasant visit.

Thursday Eve, November 12th... The Gift Shop is Ready for the T-111 Ceiling...

Everything we could do outside is now completed on the gift shop as of this afternoon when we finished up the road side end battens and window trim. It really looks great and since I cut the ends off of the rafters, the ceiling is ready to go up. It looks great right now and will be fantastic when the ceiling is closed off. We will also install the vent soffit and gable vents next, along with the porch ceiling and then we will take a break until we get the wood stove installed, the wiring in and the insulation put in. We are thinking of buying a bunch of six inch beaded board, referred to as WP-4. It's a really nice, chamfered board with a double bead running down the center...great looking for a ceiling and walls. We can buy so much each month and install the ceiling over winter, then after the wiring and insulation is in and inspected, we can install the same stuff on the walls in various patterns. By spring, we should have this puppy done and ready to open.

It will be nice to take a little break from this project and work on a few other things we have to do before winter rears its ugly head. There aren't a lot of things mind you, but some to do just the same.

We also want to be able run to Vermont, New Hampshire or any other place that suits our fancy...just to see what we want to see, when we want to see it. I believe we have achieved that position in time and we'll probably take advantage of being able to enjoy these little day trips soon. Hummm, coffee and cake in Bennington sounds good Vick...what do ya say to that on Saturday or Sunday?

Looks Good Eh?

As seen from the road....

Here are all the boys grazing on what grass is remaining into fall.....

30 Guinea Fowl are a bit noisy sometimes.....

Here is KayLee looking for her dinner...

Bollero caught with his eyes showing...seldom does that happen...

The end to a perfect day......

Thursday, November 12th... Just Another Day in Hootersville, NY... Jeeze Um...

Never...I repeat, Never make fun of another place in the world being backward and unsophisticated until you look closely at the place you reside! I know people made fun of my little hometown of Granville and the larger metropolis of Lewistown, just a little further down the road. Lewistown, PA... was an "All American City", and boasting an unemployment rate of some eight percent in the mid-seventies, when the President of the United States bestowed the honorary status of the above distinction for making such a fantastic economical recovery after the great flood of 1972. Even there, which we residents all thought was a joke, had a post office that was open throughout the lunch hour. Our town council and workers also worked a full day at performing their duties.
Here, our illustrious post office closes from 1:00 PM until 2:00 Pm every day...with the three or so employees all sitting together for that hour, interrupting everyone's business for that hour of the day.
Worse yet are the offices of the town hall, where most officials work a terribly arduous day of 8:00Am until 10:00. No.....please don't be mistaken, it's not a fourteen hour job...simply the two, little hours between the 8 and the 10 in the morning.
We have been working on the gift shop and are now at another standstill as we await the code enforcer... which is among the missing again, just as he was when we called for the inspection of the foundation before pouring it. I'm glad we finally took a few pictures and went on with the pouring of concrete, because he has never shown up yet...and that would have been a long time to wait, because we called for the inspection in the early spring. Oh well, I think we now have to wait, because we surely can't wire and insulate, then close the walls up without his inspection.
Want a good laugh? As I am writing this, a knock comes to the door and guess what? It's the building inspector, here to inspect the gift shop. That took all of three minutes and a few uh-huh's, a couple humm's and an Okey doughkey and we were inspected and can now do the wiring and insulation. He was a nice, friendly guy though. That was a refreshing change and I appreciated that...at least.

Wed. November 11th... There Are Good Days and Then There Are Bad Days......

What I considered a good day all day long, took a massive nose dive just a few minutes ago when Vick opened an email from a good friend, saying her husband has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Not only does he have a mass in his lung, but they say it has metastasized to the liver and bone. He starts Chemo shortly and goes for other tests to see if it is really in the liver or bone, and we pray for the best. Our heart goes out to Harvey and Joan as we ask all of you to pray tonight for a great and kind man and his wife. We offer the hope of knowing that Lance Armstrong also was diagnosed with all this and he beat it and is now a survivor. There is always hope! Hope that Harvey will also be a survivor. Joan just lost her sister to cancer a few weeks ago also, so this was her second dose of bad news. Let's pray to God this evening and ask him to turn this around and cut both Harvey and Joan a break. Faith and prayer is one powerful tool...so please friends...find a place for Harvey and Joan in your prayers tonight.

We just finished the banisters on the porch of the hospice gift shop and finished the window trim and battens on the end opposite the road. We can do the window trim on the porch, but cannot do the battens until the ceiling is installed. We'll have to go to Lowe's or GNH for T-111 for the ceiling and once it is in place, then the battens can be installed against it. We also need to do the trim and battens on the road end, then all the outside work will be completed and we'll have to move to the inside.
How nice it feels to come into the house, after working outside. We have the pellet stove burning and it feels so cozy and comfy in here when your cheeks are cold and stinging... I wanted to make a trip to see my Dad before the foul weather, but I'm not too sure we'll be able to do so. We were trying to get the camper on the road so we could take off with the dogs, but Isabelle can't do our other animals now due to her health and Vick's parents can't stay to watch our dogs because of her Dad's health either. If we are lucky enough to find someone who can take care of our animals and the dogs, we would be able to shoot to Pa for the day and return the next day. It's about a 9½ hour trip one way, so you can't go, visit and return all in one day. If we can't make it before bad weather, we'll have to wait until spring and good weather returns. Maybe we'll find someone to watch our animals and the farm somewhere along the way. God has a way of sending Vick and me what we need when we really need it. Who knows...we still have a good friend in New Jersey that needs a place to settle down and retire in, perhaps being a farm caretaker on the back lot is right down his alley, since he loves this kind of life...Who knows...Who really knows?

Tuesday November 10th... A Turkey Bites The Dust Amidst The Hustle & Bustle...

WOW.... Here's a bit of news from Aug 20th that just found it's way to me... Funny we don't hear about these kinds of things like we do the other unimportant stuff we are fed immediately, Huh?
Obama Appoints two devout Muslims to homeland security posts. Obama and Janet Napolitano Appoint Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development Source for announcement: Homeland Security Press Room.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/obama-appointment-arif-ali-khan-asst-secretary-dhs.html

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is proud to announce that the DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim, who was born in Damascus, Syria as ADC National Executive Director as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).

http://www.adc.org/

Check it out for yourself! I'm tellin' ya folks...just as I have since before the election, during and right after.... This clown is handing our country over to the Muslims! They said they would overtake us without firing a shot and God forbid, they are doing it... right before our docile eyes.

Once Again Folks...Wake Up America!!!!

Well...... This morning, we're blogging without a way to publish it...at least at the present time, our internet service is out of commission. Also, I awoke to a dead turkey female along with the dead internet connection. Last evening, Joe was here cleaning the barns and I was puttering around putting things away for the fall season, getting ready for winter as you all know... and Vick came to me, to inform me that we had a problem with one of the turkeys. I asked what was wrong and she said that she was dragging her insides on the ground.

WHAT??? Sure enough, I looked across the yard, in the direction she was pointing and there was the female turkey, walking and feeding as if nothing was wrong, but she was dragging a large pile of intestines along behind her. We had to go to the Vet for meds anyway, so we asked him if there were anything we could do for the prolapse, but with the amount of bleeding present, I knew she was a goner. The Vet said he didn't think there was anything to be done, as we all wondered what happened to cause such an injury. I had taken wood shavings to the back shed in the truck just before we found her, but she was walking in the middle of the yard, unconcerned and pecking bugs off the ground, so we doubted that I could have run over her... likewise, we did not think Joe could have run over her with the tractor either, so we were stumped. I had hoped she would survive the night and the bleeding would stop, then we could address the intestines and possibly get them cleaned with saline water and get them back inside her, but how would you keep them there? Obviously, some tissue responsible for suspending the organs in the body had been injured and torn loose to allow the organs to drop and prolapse out the vent like that. Anyway, I was feeling achy and sore last evening, so I went to bed early, hoping she would be ok until morning, but that was not to be the case. Now, I must dispose of a wasted turkey... unfit for use. There was absolutely no body heat present this morning when I checked her, a sure sign she had been dead far too long with her insides intact, to be eaten now. This is very upsetting for us when this happens. I have no problem eating a bird such as this, but I do have a real problem with wasting one, if it is at all possible to utilize it or give it to a neighboring recipient, willing to use it. In this case it is wasted...all the way around. We also have a male turkey in the barn that has been down for about three weeks now. He obviously injured his left leg somehow, because one morning, I found him lying on the floor of the chicken coop, unable to stand. Perhaps he hurt his leg leaving the roost, because he always roosted high up on the chicken roost at night and did a crash landing off his perch every morning. I feared he would get hurt, but what do you do? It's not as if you can reason with a turkey...even if you can converse with them. They have a tiny, teeny, little mind of their own, but a mind, none the less.
So, now we have a heavy tom turkey that will probably never walk again, but you can't say we're not giving him all the opportunity to do so. He eats well, (pellets & corn) drinks and poops just fine. We continue to clean around him and provide water and feed daily so he can stay healthy otherwise. Sometimes he looks as though he is going to get up and walk again, but I don't think so. We don't know what to actually do with him now. Perhaps we should just dummy up and harvest him for Thanksgiving. He isn't a pet and we have given him ample time to recover, so if he isn't up and around by the 26th, maybe we will explore that possibility.

I think I'll get with Vick this morning and create a list of unfinished tings we need to do, so we can follow that list and decide what we can do in any allotted amount of time, in any given day. Sometimes I walk in circles thinking of things which are to extensive to complete in the amount of time I have, then later, I think of something I could have easily completed in that time frame. I think that if we had everything written down, we would do better daily. Until then, if you drive by and see an old man walking in circles, stuttering, say Hi... It's probably me, looking for myself, somewhere in the wrong place again.

Ok...looks like the internet service is back up and running, so I'll close and post it now... Later friends.

Skip

Monday, Nov. 9th... A Nice Day Before the Storm of Health Care Hits the Senate...

All Those in Favor...


Wow, another day in the sixties in November is a nice reprieve before the winter winds begin whipping around again. Not tow days ago, we had ice on the Pupskill Bay Lake Pond and it was bitter enough, that you couldn't stand to face the wind, which was blowing out of the north. Some time soon, we will be met with nasty upstate weather that won't let go of its winter grip until next spring. Winters up her can be brutal, so we've been told, but in the four winters we have endured here, we have not suffered much beyond that of the old Pennsylvania or Jersey winters of our past. We keep getting warnings that this is not the normal winters of upstate New York, and that one day we will find ourselves in the grip of a normal New York winter and we had better be prepared for it. Ok...Bring It On!

I'm working on my second book every morning for a little while before blogging and doing other things. That way, I can complete the re-writes and keep it moving along so I can also get it into print. It has been done since early this past summer, but still needed a going over and touching up, along with the usual spell check and editing by me along with needed changes, clearer verbiage and proper sentence structuring. It has been a long while since I really read over the transcript, so it's once again interesting to me and sometimes, it surprises me or I will remember something to inject which was forgotten in the initial writing. It is really a relaxing exercise in reliving how Vicki and I met, got together, grew to better know one another, fell in love and finally married and started a farm full of love, fun, learning, knowledge, faith and relaxation. I'm sure everyone will want to read this book, because it is so full of everyday living and normal adventure involved with dreaming and then making that dream come true.

Today, since it is going to be so warm and beautiful, I think I will use it to remove all summer and fall items to their respective sheds and shelters for the coming winter. A man would have to be a fool commit a folly and dance away his chance to comfortably do what he would later have to shiver and freeze to accomplish, so I will use this day to house all the items needing winterized and for a change, do it comfortably...........I think we will utilize this entire week of stable fifty degree weather to accomplish any pre-winter notions we can come up with, because beyond this...who knows what lies in store for us?

NOTICE TO ALL SENATORS ----- VOTE NO, TO THE NEW HEALTH PLAN... OR PAY DEARLY AT THE POLLS NEXT ELECTION!!!! (If not before)
REMEMBER, JUST LIKE 9/11/2001, WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!!!!!