Fri Eve, June 26th... Those Cages STILL AREN’T DONE YET... Man We’re Slow...

Busy, Busy, Busy here on the Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm.........

We have three of the four cages completely done with the exception of cutting the doors. Two are hung in the Bunny Brothel, one is on the floor of the barn and one is on the saw horses... to be completed tomorrow. Ahhhhh yes.... tomorrow... Tomorrow is gonna be one of those “busier than a armless monkey in a banana factory” day’s, you can bet on that. We will start early with the Farmer’s Market, which lasts until 1:00 PM, then we have to go to Claudia’s to pick up the bunnies or we can’t get them until next Thursday, which is no good. After returning from Hudson with the bunnies and getting them into a cage with feed and water, we will run to Tannersville for our friend Jimmy’s Daughter Ashley’s graduation party. We can stay there for a bit, but then must return to finish the cages and get the bunnies settled in properly. They are quite an investment, both fragile enough and expensive enough that we must be super attentive to their needs and care. I thought for sure we would finish the cages, but working with that wire is murder on sore hands. We also went to Tannersville to visit Lee our friend, and then went to a new restaurant we have wanted to try in Saugerties. It was a little pricey, but as good as any fine eatery in New York City...... very tasty!
We filled our gas tank at $2.67 a gallon while there, because it’s still $2.81, if we buy it at home from our local merchants, who appreciate our business. (Or is giving us the business)
I suppose I should ready our stuff for tomorrow when we are at the Farmer’s Market. It never hurts to put things in order the night before, so you don’t have to tax a sleeping head first thing in the morning. A person could blow a gasket or something......... Sorry there are no pictures of the brothel or the cages just yet, but tomorrow we will have bunny pictures too. (later in the evening when we return with the bunnies.)

Friday June 26th... IF We Build Them... They Will Come... Anytime Now!!!!!!

We finished the lights, receptacles and installed the wall mounted exhaust fan to control the room temperature in the bunny brothel, so today will be “finish the cages day”. We have three to finish which we started earlier this week, but dropped to finish the above tasks. Now we can install the floor on the one and tops and floors on the last two. Once completed, we’ll hang them in the brothel and take pictures for all to see the finished room and the ducks and chickens temporarily housed there until large enough to move to the adult chicken house across the barn. It’s really rather nice to care for all your animals under one roof and I could stand going to the other side of the yard to take care of the brooding house, but it is portable too, so who knows... some day we might mover it over to the barn area. It seems that all new chickens prefer the new barn somewhere along the line as they grow, because they end up over there. (Perhaps, it’s the classical music we play in the barn) Many times, there are a large group of chickens roosted next to the radio in the afternoon... and they stay there until the next morning! We’ll contact Claudia and see when it is convenient to pick up our baby bunnies today I suppose, so I need to get crackin’! I have a lot to do and still need to make sure we are set to go tomorrow. It’s another Farmer’s Market in town. We’re gonna be ready this time!

Thurs June 25th... Off Early to the Doctor... A Ticket & More Good News......

We were off and running early this morning to make my appointment in Albany with the Dermatologist about my psoriasis and the little bumps growing on my face, side and arm. We were to be there a half hour early to do paperwork, but we arrived a full hour early. I filled out all the necessary paperwork and then we sat and snoozed until we were called in, well after the 10AM time it was supposed to take place. We went in at 10:45. Vick was thrilled to say the least... two different ways...... one was that every growth I have was determined by the doctor to be harmless and nothing to worry about. The other thing that impressed her was that we arrived at 9AM and we were called in an hour and forty-five minutes later and we were paid and out the door by 10:55 AM. We had waited an hour and a half to be with the doctor for ten minutes!

When we left the doctor’s office, we found that the reason that we found such a nice parking spot, right in front of the office, when everything else around it was taken. Vick even mentioned how lucky we were to find a spot right in front of the office. Well....... we were parked in a spot with a sign that said “No parking or standing here to corner. YEP! THAT”S RIGHT... we got a PARKING TICKET... unless you want to just say that parking was so bad, we spent $40.00 to park in this special spot. (Which is what I did.) We do however need to pay it before two days pass or it goes to $75.00......... Yikes!!!!!

When we got home, we went to work in the bunny brothel. It now has two lights on a switch, four constant receptacles... two to a side and a 1320cfm louvered fan with a thermostat/ Humidity controller, which shuts down as soon as the temperature reaches a determined set point. It was needed desperately to remove the stale, standing air in there which accumulates during the day if there is not a breeze moving air through the windows.

Tomorrow we start with the bunny cages again. When the other three are finished, we will hang them and cut the doors in. We also need to find the door closers somewhere on line and order them. Until they arrive, we’ll use bungee straps. We can pick up the bunnies anytime Claudia says after tomorrow. We’ll be more than ready then.

Wed. June 24th... Bunnies a comin’... So is The Rain... Got Cages To Finish & Hang...

We started the cages yesterday. Whew... what a long, drawn out and sweaty time we had in the breezeway opening of the barn. The wind came drifting through the open doors, from end to end, giving us the coolest breeze possible throughout the day. 14 gage wire isn’t the easiest thing to work with and without the metal break we bought for the farm, we would have a really hard time making them look good. As it is, we mark the wire, slide it into the break and bend perfect 90° bends and putting the wire on the top and bottom is a piece of cake. We got one completely finished, except for the door, which we will position when the cage's final hanging position is decided. The other three are partially completed... one with a top on it, needing the bottom and the other two needing tops and bottoms.

It is supposed to rain in the afternoon, so we’ll finish the cages today, but might go to Tractor Supply or somewhere and pick up a ventilation fan and thermostat to install in the east end of the bunny brothel to remove the heat and draw in fresh air to the chickens and bunnies. It will be a good thing because when we build the turkey house against the brothel, on the east wall, it will then move air from the brothel, into the turkey house and then out their window, l thus venting and cooling both rooms. That won’t be a very difficult job to install the fan, thermostat, lights and receptacles all at once anyway, so we need to do that today too. We’re excited... The lady that bred our Angora rabbits said we can pick the bunnies up around the end of this week or weekend, so we definitely want to be ready. We’re close now. After they arrive, I’ll have a few months to build a good grooming table for them, because they must be brushed several times a week to eliminate the felting of their fiber (fur), which can become hopelessly tangled and lost due to not brushing them. We’ll need a good, clean place to work with them and drawers for things like brushes, shears and clippers, then an area where the fiber can be handled, so we’re researching all that.

The hospice gift shop is at a (my fault) standstill as we work on other (ground related) jobs, until my knees and this yucky bout with the psoriasis eases up. I just can’t work off of the ladder for hours anymore and I must... to finish the fly rafters on the roof. My knees throb when balancing on a ladder when the psoriasis is acting up. The rear deck is suffering the same fate. I’ll have to hit these jobs on good days.

I had a few comments by email about yesterday’s blog entry. Some were moderately stated and a few were blunt. I won’t air them, but will make a short statement since I was never bashful anyway......
You reap what you sow... Nice memories come from nice treatment and compliments are paid for complimentary performance. If you were uncomplimentary in the monetary sense, because of budget directives, you need to live with that. If you just truly didn’t see anything different than anyone else around you... then you must live with that too. I just hope you truly didn’t see...... so it’s easy to live with and no sleep is lost over it.

Tuesday, June 23rd... This Is It... The End... Friday It Is All Over... Gone...

It is with great displeasure that I received notice that “Donsco, Inc. Belleville Foundry is closing down this Friday and may never open again. It is one of three family owned business located in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in the small town of Belleville. The other two plants are located in Wrightsville and Mount Joy Pa. and may suffer similar fates soon.

Now this is not news that will make national networks, nor will it upset millions of people in light of this putrid, decaying economy of ours, but knowing a large portion of the people who work there and are losing their jobs... their income... their security, I am saddened by the events scheduled to happen. I spent 37 years there, working for Sperry-Rand, Sperry New Holland, New Holland Americas, Ford New Holland, New Holland Fiat, Case New Holland and then Belleville Foundry and then finally ... Donsco, Inc. Belleville Foundry. Thirty seven years in one spot... working for one company as it made it’s way from owner to owner, doing the very best I could possibly do for every owner... My employer... a provider I remained loyal to and made tons of money for. I often wondered if they appreciated what I gave them daily, weekly, monthly or yearly... my lifetime... two heart attacks and missed less than a month’s work. I know they missed me when I left.... would have liked to have me back... but appreciated me? Owed me something??? They would say, perhaps a fond “goodbye” or a “Wish you well”, but anything else? I was once eloquently told that everything I ever did for the company was paid for with a wage. EVERYTHING? All the times I worked up to 18 hours straight to resolve issues... returned again within hours for more problems... or enduring the rigid cold of winter and working on a roof with sub zero winds blasting against me... or perhaps the sweltering summers of 100 plus degrees, when stuck in an enclosed area, laying on my back in blistering hot sand, welding machinery to get it producing again. Performing regularly like this, as those around me worked in clean offices with air conditioning, such as my own... which I was seldom ever in, or many of the other “paid” positions of comfort held by supervisors that were paid also. Was I rewarded for such personal discomfort, in an often dangerous environment, where I thrust myself into situations such as the times that multiple alarms were sounding, in an explosive situation, due to a failing six ton furnace full of 2800° iron, less than four inches from steaming water... 12,460 volts of electricity and me? Was I rewarded for my intentions of saving the equipment, repairing it and getting it back into production to make money for this employer? They say yes... it’s all in the pay. I still wonder......

In any event, I’m now retired and another friend (or fool), associate, former employee of mine is...or was performing like the circus bear, since December of 2005 when I retired... Well... he will have been, until this Friday when it all stops... and although it sounds like a miserable place to work, just like an old West Virginia coal mine... it’s a living... And one that beats the next best paying game in town.
In any event, my regards to all that labor there and the hope that all will work out for them and perhaps the place will survive to thrive again before everyone there perishes with our economy or is driven to the four corners of the earth seeking new jobs.

Monday, June 22nd... The 2nd Day of Summer and we’re Gonna Use It!!!

Yesterday we listened to the weather forecast and did not leave the birds out and wouldn’t you know it... it didn’t rain enough to matter. They could have been out all day long. Well... today it says it is gonna rain in the evening, maybe around four o’clock, but I let them free to run anyway. Christa is here to clean and she needs the buildings emptied of animals to clean properly. Besides, they hate to be locked in and prove it by reducing their egg production by 75% when locked in. It may take two days for them to get the chip off their feathers and start to lay eggs normally again. Yesterday, we removed the “tunnel” between the outside chicken run and the chicken house. It used to run along the wall in the duck house, allowing the chickens to travel back and forth without going into the duck house. We noticed that every evening when we went to put them in for the night, they were all intermingled anyway, so why maintain all the crap to separate them? They both eat the same feed, so there is no reason for such silliness.

We received our shipment of twenty-five chicks from McMurray Hatchery yesterday afternoon. A car pulled in and a young guy got out and yelled across the yard that he had chickens for us. Here we are, on Father’s Day... and a guy pulls into the driveway...gets out and yells, “I have chickens for you” and starts rooting around in the back of his car. I envision a Father, tired of cleaning a chicken coop that the kids wanted and promised to clean up after... promising to feed the chickens and didn’t, so Ha, Ha, Ha... my Father’s Day gift is taking these stinking birds to “The Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm” and dumping them there (which happens). I never even thought of receiving a shipment by car on a holiday. They usually come by mail and the post office calls at 6:30 in the morning, opens up and lets me pick them up. What a surprise!!!

Today we will go to “Catskill Signs” in Durham to have two signs made... one will be for our display at the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and the other will be a sign to place out along the road, stating that we have chicks for sale. We decided that since everyone in the world wants to make money and have their own eggs, we might as well incubate eggs to sell the chicks so everyone can become rich selling eggs. (Hahahahahahahahaha...) Below is a picture giving you pretty close description of what our table display will look like, except that Vick is making a very pretty table cloth, which will cover the table that the centerpiece and egg cartons will sit upon. All the eggs have been blown out and are now just empty shells, glued into the boxes for display. We keep the eggs we actually sell, refrigerated in coolers, on the back side of the table, handing them out as we sell them. We’re hoping that sales improve at the Farmer’s Market a little, because we must sell at least eight dozen large eggs, just to pay for our spot there. Now you know why I laugh about folks buying chicks and selling eggs to get rich. (Don’t forget the FEED too) We now have over 250 chickens (counting the 125 chicks and juvenile birds) and I don’t imagine we do much more than break even. (Hahahahahahahahahah) ...Beautiful dreamer....la la la laaaa.

Today... we go for chick starter, (the feed!) and then, work on the outriggers for the fly rafters to complete that portion of the hospice gift shop. We’ll then figure the porch wood and dig the footer drain...... ahhh pooo, look at the picture of the table display and check later.... then we’ll see what we did today.......

Our table display for the Farmer's Market every Saturday...

Sunday, June 21st... Happy Father’s Day To All Who Made That Pedestal......

I did not... Don’t want to... Don’t Care! I am... however, surrounded by millions of men who obviously have been a father and rejoice in it. More power to them! Not only more power, but more muscle, more stamina, more patients, more understanding and more bucks.......Cause we all know what COD really means.
Call On Dad! Every time anything happens that requires a decision, money, a helping hand, other resources, (usually tools!) who do they call? DAD!! I have always done well without it, and still do. So what.... I miss the tribute today... Who cares when you don’t have any of the wages of fatherhood to pay out? Now, before I have the droves of proud father’s screaming at me for my viewpoint and want me to understand the wonderful relationship they have with their children... especially about how proud they are of their son’s and how special it is that their princess daughters hugs daddy and feels safe in his arms... please don’t. I never experienced it and won’t. Please don’t try to give it to me because as much as you love yours, they’re yours, not mine. Perhaps I would have experienced all that with my own, given the chance, but I was not...... and now at 58, I doubt it will ever be!
So, please guys... Enjoy your day and don’t waste time emailing me to tell me how sorry you are that I never had the chance to enjoy children of my own... because I know... I know... yet some things are never destined to be... you see. Enjoy Today.

We are receiving Vick’s parents and her brother’s family later today for a cook out if that’s possible. My construction buddy obviously does construction somewhere... just not here... and the weather does not cooperate for me and Vick to get at it with everything else we have going on, so we will grill in the rain AGAIN. When we get back to building, we need to finish the fly rafters, dig the drain ditch for the footer drain and order the porch deck materials and long rafters that span to the porch. At that point, we’ll go to the rear deck and build it.

The Angora bunnies come next week, so we are making pens to be ready for them. That is today’s project... Early today, before company arrives.