Sat Feb 28th… After today we can’t say it much more……

Well tomorrow ushers in the Spring month! A mere twenty days more to go and we will have reached the official date for the beginning of SPRING 2009!!!!!! As I said yesterday when it was fifty-five degrees and the snow was rapidly melting because of the pouring rain, It would probably snow today…… well I was right! It was flurrying this morning when I let the dogs out to run. It is now twenty-two degrees and they’re calling for a 33 degree high today, so it’s still gonna be a bit chilly. We do know however that spring is now in the backyard and these temperatures will not last. Where we once had a warm day every now and then throughout the winter…… we will now have a chilly day throughout the following weeks of spring instead.
I love winter, and I enjoyed every day of snow which is beautiful to see up here, but I must admit I am now looking forward to those cool mornings of summer, when the door is open and the softly, hushed, breezes will again sneak through the pines out back, carrying the smell of the forest, just beyond the grassy yard, to me on the deck. I’ll once more sit out there and listen to the chickens putt and purr as I sip my coffee and soak up the penetrating heat of the morning sun. Cool breezes on my face, the warm sun on my body and sipping hazelnut coffee on the glider…ahhh, the kings ransom for the likes of such a treasure…… and all on our own back porch.
Perhaps today could be a "go take some pictures day", if we can stand the temperatures to perform a little work out at the barn…… if not, tomorrows coming and I’ve got other inside paperwork to do and books to write and publish. The poetry book is about to go to print, but Vick has two more illustrations she is doing and then I must scan them to the manuscript and finalize the contents page, then it’s off to the printer…… when we find the time and money for that!!

We went to Saugerties again yesterday, around three o’clock, to view Ellie Steffens artwork, but alas…… the stupid gallery wasn’t open, even though the sign said it was open until six o’clock. My advice to you Ellie…… With such lovely artwork, find a better place to display it. One that is willing to allow people in to see it. That Gallery is a flop house, wanta-be …… a mock of a gallery jammed into an antiquated, old rundown, dark and dingy building from the 1890’s…… great for antiques, but not for modern art such as yours.
Art with the promise of your’s should be displayed in an atmosphere conducive to perpetuating the beauty of the artwork shown……… Not at the Saugerties Oddfellows Atelier, where one would constantly feel the need to be searching those dank, dark, insectarium corners, for Rodentia and insectum denizens…… ready to lunge out at you and pull your body back into the filthy, gray, darkness. IF YOU COULD GET IN TO SEE IT!

Well, we left there and went to Richie's house for dinner and to fix Katie’s computer. After removal of 745 adware and spyware cookies injected over time and the removal of an infected email which was trying to enter with a broken command, we got it working again. I didn’t have time to defrag it, or run the disk cleanup which it badly needs, because it was never done and it's crammed so tight with junk, that it would take an entire evening to purge it of all that stuff. I truly wonder how it even works…..especially with them on a satellite, sharing a wireless router among four or five computers. I’ll email Katie and tell her what to do to perform the maintenance cleaning tasks.

Fri Feb 27th… Never seems to fail…unless I look forward to it……

I plead innocent this morning!! Every time I tried to blog…… I had no inter-net connection. When I noticed it was back on, I again, tried to download and off it went again. It must have something to do with the windy conditions here today. I lieu of the connection problems…… I all but finished my book of poetry and am about ready for the ISBN and UPC number, then the CIP from the Library of Congress, cataloging service. Then I will also copyright my work beyond what I already have, so no one can steal my literary works legally.
Just got in from feeding and watering the critters, while Sweet Vicki was getting ready to fly the coop here. We are leaving a little early to head to Saugerties, to see Ellie Steffens art display at the Off Fellows Atelier, since we were there last Monday and missed admittance because they weren’t open. She is supposed to be there until the end of the month, but since that is tomorrow…… we want to go today, just in case she is removing it today.
From there, we are going to Vicki’s family for dinner and later, I’m going to try to expunge a virus from Katie’s PC, which had taken over and will not allow her to download or perform any functions. They think that since I’m well versed in this, that I may be able to do something they cannot. We’ll see. I hope I can remove the threat and restore her computer to it’s previous condition.
WOW!!! I just looked out and saw the thermometer tipping fifty-five degrees and the ice water flowing in the driveway. Hurrah!!
It’s probably gonna snow tomorrow!

Thurs Feb 26... Here today… gone tomorrow… I smell flowers……

Well, it looks as if we are gonna survive February this year. Saturday is the last day and Sunday is the beginning of March! Hang in there until the twentieth…… and we will be at the officially recognized, first day of spring, 2009!!!!! The hyacinths, tulips and daffodils are starting to show up in the stores now, which have always been the indicator that Spring was just around the corner. This has got to be the most anticipated, exciting spring, of my entire life which has about spanned a full fifty-eight years now. I have never before looked forward to spring with such imagination and enthusiasm for achieving so many goals. We are looking forward to the fruition of the Hospice Gift Shop, the barn expansion for the Angoras, the arrival of the Alpacas, the addition of a roof over the picnic table and BBQ grill on the rear deck so we can enjoy it even on rainy days. This will stop the rain from driving against the kitchen door, soaking and eventually rotting the framework. We are also looking forward to getting our boat on the Hudson river to fish at least once this summer…… or place our ABS plastic row boat, onto Tony’s big pond. (across the road)
Six little things drive us this spring…… drive us to be more excited to begin spring and usher it all the way into summer this year…… together…… hand in hand as we achieve these goals and enjoy the life that occurs along with them. Together… Vicki and me… family and friends.
Today is to be fairly nice but not sunny. If the stillness continues and we reach the forties as they are predicting, We’ll get the final gate built in the pasture and be more than ready for the Alpaca's arrival … which could be anytime of our choosing now. We’re definitely getting set-back measurements for town hall and our building permit for the Hospice Gift Shop today too. Gathered early enough…… we might just go see the town clerk and apply for the permit, along with purchasing the renewal dog licenses. If not today… then tomorrow! There’s also a lot of wiring to do yet in the barn and upstairs. Fun, fun, fun……

Wed. Feb 25th… I can’t remember if I remembered or not……

Hello everyone…… I must say that I have been extremely busy here, trying to get my book published and prepare for tax season. We bought the QuickBooks program and it has been giving me trouble ever since. I should call our accountant, but he is up to his eyeballs in tax work for other people right now, so we will continue to try to set this stupid Rubik Cube of a program as best we can until later. I have made phenomenal headway with the book of poetry I am going to publish soon. Almost everything is completed, with the exception of the ISBN, UPC, the Library of Congress listing and copyrighting and a couple of insignificant little things I will take care of in the near future……… including the outrageous cost of printing it.
Anyway……… Vicki just brought it to my attention, that I hadn’t posted a blog entry today…… and yes Bill, it’s 8:31 in the evening and I just now read my emails from you.... one of which was about the missing blog, which you sent to me this morning. See how busy I was today??????
ANYWAY.....We left for Albany at 2:30 this afternoon to do some badly needed grocery shopping and just returned about 7:30 this evening, and the fire was out, when we got here too, so that took some time to resolve and then we got a bite to eat. Now I’m done and ready to pick up the pieces of my life, which I left strewn all over the place today and I offer my apologies to all who read the blog regularly. I am going to ease off on the book a little now and work on the accounting for the farm and us. We gotta figure this QuickBooks thingie out…… and fast, so I can start entering all these stupid receipts for the farm feed, supplies and all, so I’ll be doing that and blogging too. Here is the latest cover for the book. I agree with Vick……… it is much nicer than the clipart styled one I posted first. Tomorrow morning, I will post early, as usual.

This is the chosen cover for my book of Poetry. It bears the title.

Tues Feb 24th… No Relief In Sight For Us Today I’m Afraid……

Looks like another of those killer days for us today…… You know, clear blue, mile high sky, with a savage wind, that takes the fourteen degrees we now have out there and turns it into an creeping killer of minus three degrees. Everyone should stay out of this wind that can cause frostbite in minutes without you realizing it is happening. Don't go out unless you positively have too. I guess they are saying on the weather reports, that if we make it beyond today without freezing our butts off, it will possibly be above 36 degrees for the next ten days. GOOD! (even though that's almost like saying the knife you’re getting stabbed right now with is really, really dull though) I guess we’ll just feed and water critters, then stay inside and feed pellets into the stove and work on my books, illustrations, and all the other things that Sweet Vicki has going. I’m sure we can keep busy until this frigid winter weather passes us.
We picked up enough pellets yesterday, to get us through the first week in March. Boy, I hope we start to see some greater changes toward spring. The days are definitely longer and we saw some Hyacinths in the grocery store at Bryant’s last week, so spring is near, even though you’d wonder, if you were here, gazing through our sliding glass door. Looking across our collapsed swimming pool of ice, toward the barren trees of the forest…… for it looks cold and unfriendly……… nothing like spring. Spring is a feel of warmth, beauty, soft breezes and birds singing… pleasant earth smells as beautiful Easter flowers springing forth from the leaf cover on the ground… It’s a feeling… a feeling of contentment… one that makes you want to run, yet linger…… recline, yet be energetic…… dawdle, yet hurry to new things…… and many more looks and feels, too numerous to list, and I don’t think anyone can say that spring isn’t a special time that everyone loves and looks forward to. It may not be your favorite season, but I bet it’s one you welcome after the very last of those dreary, dark, cold days of winter!

Mon Eve Feb 23rd… Need help…… So, What’s the Verdict??

We returned home from the Kingston area rather disappointed…
The Gallery that housed Ellie Steffen’s art display wasn’t open. Seems people around here are only artistic on Friday, Saturday and Sunday…… at least, that the only time the Oddfellows Atelier,
In Saugerties is open. We are now hoping Ellie’s art will be there on Saturday for us to see in exhibit, otherwise we will have to run to her backyard studio in Woodstock. We have visited Ellie’s work both in a Gallery just outside Woodstock and another time, at her home. We have set a time this summer for Ellie to come here to the farm for a BBQ cookout which we will also invite Stanley Maltzman and his friend Joyce to attend also. I’m sure Ellie, Joyce, Stanley, Vicki and I would lots to talk about since we are all artists. Below is a schedule card which contains the hours, so we can remember when it’s open. It’s in a big on Victorian style store front, upstairs above the Saugerties Antique Center on Main Street.
Since I have been home, I’ve been working on my book cover for the poetry book and I have completed one. I am going to come up with a few more, but I figured I’d try this one on you all and see what your feelings are. Just drop a Yes or No, or a full blown critique into the comment section to let me know what you think.
Vick has completed several more, so we are close to finishing that part of the book. I’m getting a little weary of the whole thing right now, so I’m gonna take a break from it.

This is an old advertising card for the Oddfellows in Saugerties.

Mon Feb 23rd… Too, Too Cold… We’re gonna run around………

This winter weather is becoming too much! It’s twenty-four degrees out there with a chill factor of seven degrees. The wind is blowing the front screen door open and the dogs keep going crazy, thinking someone is out there.
We decided that since all the critters are fed and watered….. We would just head down the road today and do some needed things. One of them is to see Ellie Steffen‘s gallery showing at the Odd Fellows' Atelier, on Main Street in Saugerties, NY., have lunch at the China Bowl in Kingston and shop anywhere else in Kingston that trips our trigger, before heading home and stopping at Gem Woodstove to pick up enough pellets to get us into March sometime. At the rate this winter is going, we should probably consider enough pellets to get us into July, when spring might start.
When we get home, I’ll begin designing the book cover for my poetry book. I want to do this, just to see if I can…… and if so, I might just use it. Vick has been making some great, professional looking illustrations for inside and if I can do the cover while she is making illustrations it will help us along…… but if my cover is not what I want…… I’ll let Vick come up with it. Lot’s of work… but cut’s the publishing cost dramatically. The illustration above is one of Vick's for inside the book which will illustrate the poem "OF Friend or Faux". I think she did a beautiful job.
More this evening……

Sun Feb 22... Back from the Villa Vosilla and feelin’ Good!!!

We just returned from an evening outing with Vick’s parents and her brother, sister-in-law and their two kids, Katie and Kenny. We all met at six o’clock at the Villa Vosilla for dinner and to listen to Joe (Vick’s Dad) perform for the dinner crowd. After a delicious meal and hearing a lot of really great entertainment, we bid them farewell and headed for home. On the way down the mountain, we saw a backpack laying in a parking area on the side of the road……… and after a short discussion with Vick, I turned around and went back and picked up the backpack. I figured that someone would be really upset that they left it setting along the road, but I never expected it to contain what it did. There was probably two thousand dollars worth of ice/mountain climbing equipment, such as ropes, Screw-Lok Locking Carabiners, Tactical Doval - Wire Gates, a Guide Belay Device, a Petzl Microacender, Quicksilver Quickdraw peg rings and many, many, pegs, belts, water bottles and clothing. On the outside of the backpack, there were two Petzl Nomic Ice Tools which are worth approximately three hundred dollars each and several pairs of ice climbing cleats. We went through it all, looking for a name or address or something to be able to contact the owner of the bag, knowing they were probably out of their mind with worry that they would never see this equipment again. We emptied the backpack looking, but found nothing useful. We were now becoming less and less convinced we would be able to find the rightful owner. I told Vicki we would have to try something else, but giving it to anyone except the person who could tell us where it was left and what was in the bag, was out of the question, because of the value of the things in it. They were items highly sought after on eBay and you could easily move everything for a good thousand dollars…… and quick too. I would never trust a cop in this area… not in a million years. They would take it and when no one asked for or reported it missing, they would keep it and sell it. Anyway, we were now looking in every little nook and cranny and finally, in a zippered little pouch in the shoulder strap, we found a bunch of receipts. After going through them, we found a cell phone number in Utah and called it. The guy who answered knew the fellow that owned the bag and gave us his cell phone number and his girlfriends cell phone number. We didn’t get an answer on his, but did on his girlfriends cell phone and Vicki said we had her boyfriends backpack. She was overjoyed and she was with him! They were looking for the bag because some of it was rented and the rest was his, and they had to get the stuff back to the rental place tonight. They immediately came to the house to pick it up and we chatted with the three young people for a good half hour before they took the equipment and left for the rental place. After that, they were driving back down to the city. Some days just turn out good for people and sometimes not. These three young folks were pretty lucky today, but not as lucky as they could have been, because the owner who lost the backpack, also lost his wallet with all his cards and money, up there, somewhere on the mountain, today too. Now ain’t that a bummer on top of what he has already gone through!!!



This is but a small sample of what this backpack held. The owner estimated the contents at over two thousand dollars. I'm glad we picked it up and could find the owner. I think the owner did too!!!