Sat. Feb. 7th… Now we know absolutely nothing more than before…

It was especially nice that the insurance company sent an adjuster out to inspect the pool and take pictures of it yesterday. Now we know nothing more than before about our pool! We knew we had a $1000.00 deductible on the pool if it would ever suffer some kind of catastrophe that was covered…… but how would you ever know what was covered on a swimming pool? It’s not going to catch fire and burn up….that’s for sure… nor will it be carried away by a wind storm or be flooded by a summer downpour during a thunderstorm. So what is it really covered against? Obviously it isn’t covered against ice and snow causing it to collapse due to the weight on it…… and it is not covered if there is a leak and it collapses due to the cover sinking as the water leaks out or if ice freezes at the top, hanging tightly to the side walls when the water leaks out from below it, then causing the weight of the ice to crush the metal side walls that the liner and ice is hanging on either.
Soooooooo…… knowing all these things which are not covered by insurance…… what the hell is left? What if the pool just mysteriously collapses……… you know, one day you turn your back and poof…… it just collapses into itself for no reason…… because if there is a reason, it’s obviously not covered. I honestly can’t think of anything else that could possibly happen to a pool, beyond those things already mentioned above……… unless an airplane crashes into the center of the pool…… or maybe a volcano erupts in the center and boils all the water out and ruins the liner. Ahhhh, but wait…… I’d have to guess that would be another of those “Acts of God” and anyway…… with a deductible of $1000.00 on a $2,500.00 pool….. Most of that being the pump, filter, sidewall metal and liner……… I’d say $300.00 for a liner and two $300.00 tanker loads of clean water won’t even satisfy the deductible, so I’d guess we’ll enjoy this repair in the spring.
After that guy left… we just sort of lounged around the TV and pellet stove until we left for Kingston to meet Vick’s parents for dinner at the China Wok. We stopped at Adam’s Market before meeting Joe and Anita, so we could pick up a few things we needed, but it only took a few minutes and we were at the restaurant in no time. We all had a fine meal and chatted throughout, before paying the tab and all of us headed home again. I’m glad it’s freezing out there and I can’t swim!
Today is gonna warm up a little, so we’ll do a bit of work around the barn. It would be nice to remove some snow around the barn out back, so we can get the new feed into the barn from the back side, or do wiring, or finish the gate in the pasture maybe…… Tomorrow will be around 41 degrees too. Could be fun………but we definitely can’t swim!

Friday Feb. 6th… Up and at em…… slow is the goin’……this morn…

I think I got the slows from the last eleven days of sleeping in and cruisin’ around slowly for Robin’s benefit, since she was on vacation and Vick and I didn’t want her to be getting up early or doing things which she is required to do at home on a daily basis. I knew if I got up at my regular 6:00 am time, the dogs would also want up and would be pestering and barking or just running around playing, making it impossible for Robin to sleep in, so I just stayed up there in bed too. (gotta tell ya I did truly enjoy it and the dogs seemed to cooperate too)
Anyway, now it is time to get back into the regular swing of things and I………errr, my back, it seems…… doesn’t care to do it!
I am a little sore and lazy this morning……… sore from lounging around last evening and then sleeping too long this morning…… so…
This morning I arose at 6:30... Put the dogs out, made coffee and browsed the net, reading all the news and then filled the pellet stove. It is now 9:15 and I will dress warmly and brave the winters chilly temperature to feed and water the animals. While in the barn, I’m gonna add the tension cable to the Alpaca gate so it doesn’t droop and we will then be ready for the little buggers… all except for the pasture fence which I can install as regular railings until the other pieces can be added, in place, like I did in the barn. So, we could get the Alpacas in a heart beat, if necessary, with just a ten minute job to do, on that gate area of the pasture, previous to their arrival.
I’ll probably do this crap until the folks from the insurance office show up around noon. We have been informed that our insurance carrier would like to come and talk about a farm plan to provide insurance for us since we have the barn to cover and are going to do the Hospice Gift shop and will have visitors on the property for that and buying eggs, etc., etc., so now we are praying to God that we will be able to afford that so we can continue with our plans, since we are not making a penny doing anything here. My theory is: “We’ll do the work for you God…… you provide the way and make it possible.” With that, I’ll head to the barn and get started.
Pictures this evening…… ( or maybe tomorrow morning)

Thurs. Eve Feb. 5th… Home again and back to the old grind……

We arrived, as planned, this morning at the Newark International Airport, where we delivered Robin, our friend, to the Delta Airline departure area. She signed in, weighed in and then took her seat in the terminal, to await the boarding order for her flight back to Georgia. She was visiting with us for eleven days but we only got to show her a portion of what we had planned, because we cut out many of the places we were going since she had broken her ankle two days before arriving and was in an air cast. We had a good time though. Today, she made her flight back on time and once home, had a Doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, for them to check out her foot and decide what will be done to treat it properly since she wouldn’t cancel her vacation trip here. It was misdiagnosed originally because the x-ray wasn’t properly done and read by the other Doctor, so she found out that she could have had a bone protruding through the skin at any moment if she had done the wrong thing and was very close to needing a screw in her ankle to anchor the broken bone, so it was far worse than she was originally told………… in fact, she may be required to miss a month of work until this thing is resolved, if she cannot arrange to do work that limit’s the time on her feet. Being a CCU nurse, could make it impossible to guarantee that she wouldn’t need to be on her feet for long hours, so I’d guess she will be bored at home. We wish you all the best Robin…… listen and take care….Please??
On the way home, we stopped in Paramus, New Jersey to eat breakfast around 9:30 AM in a nice little diner, then we stopped at the Pearl Paint store, so Vicki could pick up some water color paints she needed and a nib tip that Casey chewed to pieces a few evenings ago, when Vick dropped it on the floor and forgot to pick it up. We traveled on to a Michael’s store a little further down the road, so Vick could pick up some more grommets needed for the “Going Green for Hospice” bags and then we were on our way home. Ever since we arrived home, we have just laid around on the sofa or on the bed upstairs and watched TV, because all that driving wears me out. Besides…… after a week of hustle and bustle, we were ready to just slouch into the couch relax a bit.

Tomorrow it’s back to the bump and grind of everyday life and dealing with the insurance people which are supposed to come and look at our swimming pool which just…… instantly drained itself last week for some reason. I can hear it now…………
“An act of God“, I tell you……… we can’t cover an “Act of God” now can we????? We can’t cover the snow damage and stuff……… Hell no…… we can’t do that, but don’t forget to pay your premiums on time… cause you don’t want to lose your coverage…… Oh yeah…… we might need up upgrade that coverage sometime soon too, because your things are more valuable now than before……oh yes we should increase your coverage all right…… it will only increase the premiums a little bit though…… but you definitely need updated coverage for times like these…… well, not this time, because it was an “Act of God” this time ya see.” Yeah…… I can’t wait…… I can just hear it now!

Thurs. Feb. 5th… On our way to Newark Airport… & Georgia……

We left this morning at 6:00Am so this is about all the blog you can expect until later. We’ll be on the road until this afternoon, so it will probably be tonight until the next post. See ya then…

Wed. Feb. 4th… To Agway, Ichiban’s & who knows where else……

We’re off! Off and running to do errands, because tomorrow at 5:00 AM, we will jump out of bed and hopefully, be on the road to Newark Airport to make sure Robin doesn’t miss her flight home at 9:00 - 10:00. She must be there ready to board an hour before the flight takes off.
Today, we will treat her to lunch at the famous Ichiban’s Japanese and Chinese Restaurant in Albany…………
Below are pictures of the barn where I finished the Alpaca stable and you can see where we will make an entry door into the new bunny building we are going to build on this summer.





Sunrise

Alpaca Stable

The door to the new bunny house will be just to the right of the receptacle. These bunnies will go in there with the Angora's too.

Tues. Feb. 3rd… finished the Alpacas stalls in the barn today……

Today we went to lunch at the Two Kids Bakery and enjoyed dining on Reggie and Keren’s soups and breads. We met Stanley Maltzman there and after introducing Robin to Stanley, we all dined together, laughed and talked as we ate. After finishing, we enjoyed some pastries before leaving and going up the mountain, to the Agro forestry Building to see the art exhibit displaying Stanley’s art. We then stopped at Jem Woodstoves and picked up another bunch of wood pellets and returned home to unload and stack them on the porch. I then went to the barn to finish the stalls for the Alpacas. It’s now completed except for cleanup, which I will do in the morning……after which, I’ll take a few photos for you all to see. Since the day was hectic and I’m worn out, I’ll post a few pictures of Sunday Evenings meal when Vick’s family was here and a couple pictures of a finished “Go Green with Hospice” bag we are going to place in the Agway store, so everyone will know what the bags will look like after they are donated and we get them ready to sell in the Hospice Gift Shop this summer. Watch tomorrow morning for pictures of the barn revisions.

Vicki, her brother Richie, and Robin (Richie's wife)

A piece of Vick's art she made for Robin's Kitchen in Georgia. She made a set of two.

Vicki's dad, Joe and Katie

Near is Robin and in the background is Robin.......from Georgia. The other one is our sister-in-law.

Monday Feb. 2nd… Groundhog Day… and what a good one it was…

With the exception of the little furry bastard pulling the same crap as last year…… especially when I let him off easy… he went ahead and saw his shadow and flipped out again. I’m starting the really hate this little chicken-like rodent…… so whimpy that he can’t even stand to look at his own, fat assed shadow without him having a panic attack which sent him running for the hole again…… condemning us to another 6 weeks of winter. That’s it, I’m putting out a contact on his little bow-legged ass with the first hunter I can find in Pennsylvania. Any hunter I find, could simply run on over to Punxsutawney, wait and ice him in the field, the first time he comes out again and our winter troubles will forever be over!
Today we went to Bennington, Vermont for a little day trip, so we could take Robin to the Apple Barn for coffee and an apple brownie. We were then going to run on out to the North River Winery and buy a whole case of the Harvest apple wine, stop for dinner and head home. We decided to first check at the Camelot Antique Mall just before Bennington on route 9 to check the little winery and tasting house there. We found a note on the door that the North River Winery closed. What does that mean??? Closed for the winter months or forever???? We then noticed a country store that sells wine nearby, so went there to check and see if they had North River wine. He told us the winery closed for good…… and he only had a little stock left. None of it was what we wanted……… Bummer! Now all we could do was go to the Apple Barn for coffee and an apple brownie! Uhhhhhh, the guy said…… I don’t want to ruin your day, but the Apple Barn closed early this year for the winter. DOUBLE BUMMER!!!!! Now we had nothing to do, so we drove on into town and stopped at the Ace Hardware and picked up a box of screws so I could finish the Alpacas stables in the barn. We then went looking for a place to eat and settled on Jenson’s Restaurant. After eating dinner there, we headed for home. Shortly after arriving, my cousin Bonnie from Mississippi called to tell Vicki that she received the two watercolor paintings of her dogs and how much she appreciated them. After a phone conversation of a half hour we said goodbye and retired for the day so I could write this and go to bed. Below are the pictures that overwhelmed my cousin Bonnie. She had to put Dexter, the Dalmation, down very recently due to medical problems and Bear, the black dog, went through a major surgery to correct his hind quarters, which was a very painful condition before the surgery. With all this in mind, you can imagine how much these pictures mean to her.

Above is Dexter.....Bear is below