Sat. Jan. 31st… Two days until Springs Predicted…… We hope!!

Two days from now is that traditional day of days… that wonder of nature…… that marvel of Science…… that festive time of winter everyone waits for…… GROUND HOG DAY!!! The day that Punxsutawney Phil, located in a small rural town in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania comes out of his burrow and either makes us really happy or really pisses us off!
Groundhog day is a holiday celebrated in United States and Canada on February 2nd.
In weather lore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If on the other hand, it is sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for 6 more weeks.
Strange as it might seem…… I distinctly remember blogging about this last year and threatening to kill that damned groundhog so we would never have to put up with the possibility of that sustained winter continuing for another lousy six weeks…… stupid rodent! I thought last year I should have made good on my threat and traveled to Punxsutawney, PA and shot him dead at the hole when he appeared. I’m sure I could have snuffed him before he saw anything, had I just known where his stupid little hole was and when he would be popping out of it. Now since I don’t mind the winter any more, I’m glad I didn’t go there to assassinate him for being a stupid, sissy rodent afraid of his own shadow……… after all, I could have been mistaken for a terrorist and ended up in the pokey, to be Bubba’s new boyfriend! (and that would not be a happy event…..nor would it be my style!!)
Well anyway..... tomorrow is the first of February which means there are only twenty eight days, before we reach March…… and when you reach March…… it may still remain cold for another month or two, but you still have some nice warm, sunny, days mixed in too and if there is any more snow… it is usually here today and gone tomorrow, so hurry up March! Shortly after that, it will be time for the April flowers and Easter baskets…bonnets, daffodils, Hyacinths and Lilies with Easter Bunnies running everywhere. Finally after that, we will be entering the days of May and looking toward some seriously warm, sunny days, when the old thunder storms of the late afternoon and evenings will return. It’s all just around the corner now…… Gee… I don’t feel so cold anymore….how about you?

Fri. Jan. 30th… One more day and we’re closer to spring……

One more day……One more day…… and after each is over….we are that much closer to March 20th and spring!
Today started out so much better than the others the last couple of days and it was nice. I took off for the barn with some warm water in a milk jug to soak the water bottle tips into. This melts the ice from the metal drink tubes where it seems to freeze first, then the bunnies can’t get water from their bottles which hardly ever freeze, since there is a heat lamp over each bottle. This morning…… there was no ice…… Nothing was frozen, nothing but the rear sliding door, like yesterday…… Only today, I happily walked around the pasture gate and into the Alpaca door. I had birds and bunnies fed, watered and eggs gathered in short order and was on my way back to the house. The rest of my time was spent having breakfast, consisting of eggs bacon and toast with coffee……… a meal fit for a king, prepared by Sweet Vicki, with love. Then we worked on some computer problems and making a sample bag for display at the Agway where people are now starting to drop off bags for the “Back to Green with Hospice” feed bags which we are making into shopping bags (as seen below)
Finally, here are a few pictures of the shopping bag, Robin and Vick cooking, sitting in the computer room knitting and Vick’s latest artwork.
Soon we will leave to go to Richie’s for Friday evening dinner and a visit so they can all meet Robin.
Below is some misc. glass too.......

A picture Vick did for my dad

Vick hard at work making Gnocci's.... an Italian specialty.

Vicki still letting on she was working so hard! Robin made the Gnocci's, but Vick helped!

Sweet Vicki and Robin, the Georgia Peach!

Vick working on a "Go Green With Hospice" bag.

Thurs. Jan. 29th… blubablubabluba...Vicki...they're after me..bluba bluba doo

Remember when you had a bad day and you finally couldn’t take it anymore, so you just gave up & went to bed, expecting tomorrow to be all better? Weeeeell……give that one up! We got up this morning and noticed that all the water was gone from our swimming pool. I went out and walked all the way around the pool and found no damage to the liner wall, the skimmer or where the water re-enters the pool through the eyeball, again I found nothing... but somehow, overnight, the water completely removed itself from the pool and is all around the outside of the pool near the upright struts that hold the liner steel wall and down through the yard, under the snow. We heard it happening early this morning……… around 4:30 or so, but it just sounded like a snow plow dragging his plow on the dry roadway for about three minutes straight, then silence. We could not put our finger on where the noise came from what was making it as it happened, awakening Vicki and I from a sound sleep, awaking all the dogs and Robin in the guest room downstairs. When we found it this morning, Vicki quickly went to the basement, expecting to see water flooded into everything, but there was nothing and the water around the lower section of the liner wall was frozen solid. Still to this minute……I have found no damage and the snow from yesterday is cracked and sunken to the bottom, stretching the cover over the top, which is suspended from the wooden deck around the pool, so there is no down pressure on the sidewall, and never was. Vick called the insurance company which informed us we had a $1000.00 deductible and collapse from snow and ice are not covered. They are sending an agent out to look at it. WHY? They have almost given us their answer already. I can tell you one thing…..it didn’t collapse… and the snow on top had to go down inside when the water ran out, so now what do we call it????? I was frustrated to say the least, but tried to collect myself and brace for the next whack to come, (there is always another whack coming you know) so I went to the barn to feed the chickens. When I arrived there
WHACK! The door was frozen shut…… never to open…… until spring possibly. I went to the front door, which we had closed off because of the driving winds… but I tried to make entry there anyway, so I could get in. WHACK! The ground there had frozen and heaved enough to wedge the door up against the framework and the wheels were lifted clear off the hanger track.
Now I had no choice but to go around to the Dutch door we installed for the Donkey’s (which are now going to be Alpacas) and tried to enter there. I installed a barrel bolt to keep the top and bottom section together, and then a hook latch on both the top and bottom section of the door, so I would have to unlatch both the top and bottom. WHACK! While trying to winterize the doors against winter’s harsh winds, I installed strips to close off the cracks and I couldn’t freely access the latches to trip them, so now I had to find a flimsy piece of flat metal to sneak into the crack, yet strong enough to flip the latch up and out of the eye. After about a ½ hour of fowl language… sore, cold fingers… and dampened spirits, I got the door open, tore the stapled tarp off the opening, moved the bales of hay and entered the barn to feed the now starving chickens and bunnies. Once that was done, I started to remove the snow from the driveway and surrounding areas, which I was surprised, happened without a hitch and within about 45 minutes, I was done and in the house sipping a hot cup of coffee.
Hoping I was whacked for the last time today, I changed clothes and we went to Unicorn Glass in Montgomery, near Newburg. They have a huge stained glass store there, with more glass than we have found anywhere in New York. She has books, kits, tools and supplies, along with the largest inventory of glass you can imagine. We drive down the thruway to 17K then turn right on 208 and go about a mile to 24 Bailey road, where their store and antique barn are. After Vick got all the glass and lead came she needed for making her "Remember Me Stained Glass Hospice Hearts" and a newly designed “Breast Cancer Awareness Heart”, We headed back home……enjoying the remainder of the day. Once we got home, I whipped up a meat loaf to cook and one to wrap and freeze fro sometime later, while Robin and Vick whipped up a pan of corn bread to go with the meat loaf.
Here’s looking forward to a tasty dinner and a calm, uneventful evening and then a good night’s sleep.
(also praying for a good start to tomorrow)

Wed. Jan. 28th… An uncommon visitor in the snow storm……

This morning started as any other winter morning… I was up early, let the dogs out and made coffee and was on the computer, contemplating what I would blog about when the phone rang. Upon answering it, I was reminded that the A&E repairman, was to show up for a scheduled repair visit for our lousy broken washing machine. Today?? In this lousy winter weather??? About fifteen minutes later, this A&E repair van pulls into the driveway, backs up….pulls in again ……backs up for the second and then the third time, then shut’s the engine off and he is only part way to the house. After about a minute, he starts walking toward the house with a bunch of tools and a computer, so I yelled out to him that he could drive on into driveway to the house because we have a loop driveway and he could just drive on around to the main road when he left later. He replied that he couldn’t drive in any further and get back out later, because the van only drives with one wheel and has no snow tires on it. Thus….started today’s service call…… about the fifth time since we bought the stupid thing from Lowe’s. It’s a Whirlpool Cabrio and it has been nothing but trouble since the day we got it new. Anyone buying appliances from Lowe’s needs to know that they are the worst for keeping correct warranty information, don't care and will sell you almost worthless extended warranties or talk you out of buying them and so on. If you have an opportunity to buy from a local appliance store…. i.e., Joe’s appliances…… and their reputation is ok…… we suggest you buy it from the appliance store and pay a little more before buying it from Lowe’s. When you buy from Lowe’s and buy their warranty, they fail to tell you how to call for service, or every person you talk to tells you something different. We ended up without an extended warranty and had trouble forever and still do. The unit now needs a special part that was ordered and will be sent directly here. The (get this) Sears, A&E repair service is coming next Wednesday to install this RPS sensor underneath the washer. It will take 45 minutes to an hour for him to completely disassemble the washer, install this thing on the underside of the motor, install the new wiring harness from the (already replaced computer board) to the motor RPS switch which will also necessitate a new splash guard around the motor and then reassembled. All for a price tag of $276.00 + 90 minutes down time today and then one hours labor next Wednesday. We said uhh-uhh...we're covered! (again... we've done this every time for the last four repairs and continue to have to pay for something... or everything... except for the last time when A&E covered it) Again...he looked into his little crystal ball computer this time and told us there is no record of ever having a warranty. Now I'm cross eyed and blubbering while sucking my thumb and scratching my head... Vick is steaming from her ears and her nose is pulsating, as fire shoots from her nostrils.....saying NO WAY..NOWAY!! As she is waving the Lowe's receipt like a flagman waves a flag at a Nascar raceway... stating we were covered for four years.
Lowe’s tells us we have the warranty……A&E repair (Sears) says we don’t and they want paid. Missing Link------- between Lowe’s and A&E repair = large bill for us!

Finally, we got Lowe’s on the phone with A&E, to duke it out and they all then agreed we were covered and Lowe’s warranty company would pay A&E next Wednesday for Parts and labor and any new calls until the year 2011. But you know…… our day is already shot, we have no washer until next Wednesday, we already have twice the cost of the washer in previous repairs and calls because this is the first time everyone agreed we were covered. Vick and I told everyone today that we would drag the machine out in the yard, not put another penny into it and sue everyone involved...... clear up to, but not including God, if it wasn’t fixed after having a paid warranty receipt in hand.....which is in effect for four years......while we still couldn’t get anyone to repair the stupid thing.
When the man left today, he said for us to relax…… it was fixed that he was never here today and he would return next Wednesday, first thing, to install the part that we would receive about Monday or Tuesday by mail or UPS and everything would be covered and wouldn’t cost us a thing.
What about our nerves and the lost day today fidgeting and fussing……… as Vick’s blood pressure was off the scale, her hernia is all inflamed making her sick in the stomach and I sit in the corner slobbering and blubbering in some foreign language that even I don’t understand…… in front of our dumbfounded visitor from Georgia, as she wonders if this is how our life is everyday? Who’s gonna make all that right?? Like I said…… buy from a little, local guy if you can. They really care and want your business and next time a local will have ours!

Thurs. Jan 27th… finished everything and ready for the snow……

We were lucky today and achieved everything we wanted to before the big snow storm hits tonight. We didn’t get to eat our usual soup and homemade bread at the Two Kids Bakery, because they were all sick and didn’t make anything for lunches today. Keren, Reggie and both kids were down with the stomach virus that has been circulating around the schools from child to child. How nice to receive this little present from your children when they drag it home after being infected by their classmates. In lieu of this, we were forced to go to Frank’s Green Hill Café for Rosa’s home made soup and sandwiches. We usually reserve Frank’s for dinner, where we get the veal Parmesan and spaghetti, which is an exceptionally good meal, but with the bakery not serving for a few days, we had to reschedule our visits. We then met Kim and received Vicki’s Giclee’ prints, which were beautiful and color perfect prints of the original watercolors. We will now get them matted and on the way to my cousin Bonnie, in Mississippi. After receiving the prints, we took off for the stove store and picked up ten bags of pellets. We brought them home and I unloaded them onto the porch and we then took off for the Albany area, where we picked up groceries at the Wal-Mart store in the Crossgates Commons. We then went to the Northway Mall, where we went into the Joann fabric store and picked up a bunch of yarns so we could knit more scarves and hat sets for the Hospice Gift Shop tomorrow while it is snowing all day long.
Everyone was hungry by then, so we went to Red Lobster where we had a delicious meal of shrimp. They offered a meal of three differently prepared shrimp, broccoli, coleslaw and muffins. Both Vick and I dined on this dish and left stuffed and Vick even brought some of hers home. Rob had a plate of shrimp in a tasty glaze with a rice pilaf. Once we returned home and unloaded the groceries and yarn, I parked the car under the barn overshot so it would be out of the snow storm tomorrow and retired to the computer room to blog, after which, we will relax a bit before bed. Run, Run, Run. Now it’s time to take it easy for a little bit.

Tues. Jan 27th… Things We’ll do today to beat the snow tomorrow

Winter here is Beautiful to Behold!



We awoke to a cold, brisk, clear morning with a beautiful sunrise…
Unfortunately that beautiful blue, sunny sky is supposed to dwindle into a cloud covered mass of gray that will usher in a foot or better of snow by the end of tomorrow evening. It is supposed to start here late tonight and fall all day Wednesday, into late evening, before tapering off to showers and flurries, leaving us to deal with the accumulation of seven inches to over a foot in some areas. We will do as before, just sit here and love it, as we feed pellets to the stove and sip coffee. It’s always a good time for working on knitting projects or the “back to green for Hospice” bags. Robin is enjoying her stay so far and Vick and her were putting the exercising equipment in the basement to work last evening after we returned from the twelve Tribes restaurant in Oak Hill, New York. The restaurant name is actually the Oak Hill Kitchen and they serve deliciously natural foods, prepared on site by members of the commune group that live there. They have a small farm and several other businesses in Oak Hill where they came to dwell some years ago, buying the farm and other old run down buildings, and over the years have rebuilt the town into a quaint little hamlet, well worth visiting. They are a loving, friendly people, quick to invite you to dine there and will politely answer all questions asked about their way of life without the least bit of pressure for you to accept their beliefs.
Today…… we will have lunch at the Two Kids Bakery, because after the buildup we’ve given Robin, continuously about their excellent soups and home made bread, she is more than looking forward to our trip there today. After that, we will need to get pellets picked up and stashed on the front porch before the snow of tonight hits, but we will do that after Kim, the lady from Schenectady arrives with Vick's paintings. Kim is driving down with the two finished Giclee’ prints of Vicki’s original watercolor paintings she made of my cousin's two dogs. Bonnie, my cousin who lives in Mississippi, just recently had to put her dog Dexter down, which broke her heart, so we are anxious to get the prints, so we can matt them and send them to her as soon as possible. Bear, their remaining dog, just had major surgery performed on his hind quarters to relieve severely disabling pain, he was experiencing, so these pictures are extremely important to both Bon and Dave. In fact Dave, her husband, slept on the floor beside Bears crate for several days after the surgery. We know what they went through and our hearts were heavy for them through the ordeal of both.
Anyway, Kim has finished the prints and will deliver them today, which we think is extremely kind, but we’re happy to have her visit as well, to see the farm and animals. She will also look at more of Vicki’s work and make plans for doing more Giclee prints, which we will sell in the Hospice Gift Shop this spring when we open it. I hope the weather isn’t a real issue this week for us, because we wanted to take Robin on a little day trip to Vermont to several attractions there that she will enjoy, along with us. Perhaps they will clear the road quickly after the weather passes and we can then enjoy both the snows beauty and the trip.

Mon. Eve Jan. 26th… Just Got Back With Robin… Goin’ to eat!

We just got home from a long day in Newark, NJ where we went to pick Robin up at the airport. We stopped for a fast lunch at a pizza place, stopped at a couple of stores along the way and then headed back. We unloaded the car, gave Robin a tour of the house and let her unpack a little and now we are going to go out to a dinner somewhere. I’ll blog in the morning so I can enjoy the first evening talking with Vick and Robin.

Sunday, Jan. 25th… Tomorrow to Newark…Today we get ready……

It’s a beautiful, cold, clear and sunny day…… much like we will wish for tomorrow when we trek to the Newark airport to pick up Robin, our Georgia friend who is coming for an eleven day visit. Vick and I can’t wait to get her into the car at the airport and start for home, in what will be Vick & Robin's first visit in over three or four years. I will finally get to meet her and get to know her personally. We have talked on the phone and by email or instant message and I know her about as much as any person can, under these circumstances, but in the next eleven days, we will all visit and enjoy all we can of Greene and Albany county's finest as we offer Robin a taste of our everyday living here on the farm and throughout the surrounding area.
We have several places we want to take her for lunch, some of which, she has requested to try, based on our raving’s, during discussions between her and Vicki…… There are a few we will surprise her with also, like four places in Vermont which we plan to visit in a little day trip, where we will all enjoy those attractions and everything in between, during the hour and fifteen minute trip up there.
I envision lots of relaxed, chit chat over wine and munchies in the evenings as we just roll with the flow of enjoying Robins company. Vicki is looking forward to her and Robin cooking together in the kitchen and I was already promised a killer recipe for southern corn bread, which I love. I picture the “whipping up” of several good concoctions and recipes between the three of us. I’ll probably whip up one of my Pa. Dutch meat loaf, which Vicki tried and enjoyed…… finding that it is very friendly, not causing the usual repeat of heat burn or indigestion, usually expected to accompany meat loaf. I may also whip up my old five bean casserole too. I usually don’t do this one too often, because I just want to keep eating and eating until they are all gone.
OOOOOH, they’re Soooooooooooo good! If anyone is interested in the recipes for these or, good ol’ PA Dutch pickled eggs, just email me and I’ll gladly write them out for ya. I don’t have copies……because I just whip them up from memory. They are my three specialties, but living around the Amish and frequenting a local Amish restaurant for years, was not without the picking up a lot of the recipes for the “Good Stuff”.