Fri. Sept, 4th... Busy, Busy, Busy...Time to relax for the cookout tomorrow...

Hee, Hee.... I forgot to put my name on the front...

I got an email from my printer about my cover picture on the book. Seems now the second time around the cover is too small and needs enlarged so the bleed exceeds the finished size by and 1/8 inch all the way around. I enlarged it as best I could, but now the text and my name along with the ISBN code will get trimmed off. Man, I just can’t seem to catch a break here. Vick’s brother did the original, so now I have to bother him again. I need a course in Graphic design, Pixilation and how to increase correct dpi and such... Hopefully Vick’s brother can give me a little instruction since he fully understands it.
We went to Stanton’s Farm Market today and picked up 54 ears of sweet corn and a bunch of macaroni & potato salad from Frank down at the Green Hill Café. Tomorrow morning we will head to Price Chopper in Glenmont to pick up the clams and other groceries needed for the 4:00 kick off of the second annual Vicki Clamarama...
Soon, Bill, Loraine and Andrew will be arriving from Long Island and ready to kick back and relax for the big event tomorrow. We are going to drop Andrew at Albany U to visit a friend and we are going out to dinner....probably at the Chinese buffet at Capital Buffet on Wolf road. We can print off some discount coupons to use and really enjoy dinner better when you have a coupon for 10% off.
I just finished mowing the front and side lawn. Now I have to go unplug the Dyson Vacuum..... Vick’s got er’ plugged again....... She had it cleaned til I got there, but I’m gonna help her put furniture back on the porch now that it is cleaned..... Later Ya’ll.....

Thurs Sept. 3rd... Another Beautiful Fall Like Day in Upstate New York...

Although autumn or fall does not officially start here in the northern hemisphere until exactly 5:18pm EDT, on September 22nd, 2009...it has all but arrived here in Greenville, New York...and we love it! It makes it a little uncomfy to swim anymore, but it sure makes it nice to perform the jobs needing done without sweating all the time. It seems more like a time when you could enjoy taking a walk or going fishing or having a get together and a Bar-B-Q with friends.
Speaking of that... we are having a clam boil for family and some friends this weekend. I know a good time will be had by all since we can now sit on the rear deck, out of the sun or rain and cook on the grill despite what the weather does.
Last night we grilled steaks and cooked purple potatoes on the three burner gas stove that we keep beside the grill. It is a great arrangement, because you can grill your meat and cook several other dishes on the stove all in one spot and if you cook or fry fish, the smell doesn’t waft throughout the house for ever more.
If you’ve never seen purple potatoes, which we got from Stanton’s farm Market on route 32, you need to look at the pictures below. They are really funky when seeing them for the first time. The taste is the same as a regular potato, but they are guaranteed fresher when purple and coming from a farm stand. You just don’t see these in cans or bags at the supermarket.
I finished the new site for Dr Michael Paster’s new site “capitalregionchiropractors.com” which will simply direct all inquiries for a capital region Chiropractor to the regular existing http://www.spinalaidguild.com which we have had up for some time now. Doctor Paster, DC, offers spinal decompression and all the traditional Chiropractic services you can get elsewhere, but you will never experience the warm, at home feeling, of visiting the office at 16 New Karner Road in Guilderland. Carol, Joan and Jim will welcome you just as if you were a long lost friend, and Dr. Paster will treat you immediately and professionally yet with the care and commitment of a family member. You will never experience a personal service better than or equivalent to The SpinalAid Center of Guilderland.







Funky look Spuds...Right?






Look Good enough to eat don't they?

Wed Eve Sept 2nd... Two days into fall type weather and we are taking full advantage of it.

We went to Appleby’s today and grabbed a couple bags of Alpaca feed and then stopped at Bryant’s for some dry Kitty food.
I was feeling great today! Better than I’ve felt since spring had arrived, so I cut the tree off of the fence and started to install the ceiling fan and light for this coming weekend when we have the clam boil and Bar-b-q on the rear deck. We’ll have a bunch of folks here...beginning with Vick’s family, Bill, Loraine and Andrew...Jimmy and Maria, Charlie and hopefully Isabelle and Ralph if her back is better. It’s just our way of getting everyone together for fun, and food in the fall, before the harsh winter traps us all indoors.
Vick and I will definitely enjoy this winter more than last... and we certainly enjoyed it more than usual. There will not be any wild snow removal. Just what’s needed to get to the animals and the places we need to reach. After that... spring will be coming.... it'll melt! We’ll just snuggle into our cozy little couch and watch TV until we get bored with that, then I’ll write and Vick will paint. Hopefully the hospice house will be finished and we can have it open and a wood fire going in there to make it cozy as we sell the gift merchandise we’ll have on sale there for hospice.
We’re looking forward to seeing Bill, Loraine and Andrew in just a day or two......and I know they are chomping at the bit to get on the road and get motoring this way.
I opened another URL for Dr. Michael Paster, DC of the SpinalAid Center of Guilderland. We just uploaded his site at http://www.spinalaidguild.com and another site known as http://www.capitalregionchiropractors.com which will point to the original site as soon as folks type “capital region chiropractors” into their search engine to find a chiropractor in the capital region of New York. It should work well. He is the Doctor that did Vicki’s spinal decompression therapy and literally gave her a life back. Prior to the non evasive therapy to help repair the herniated disc in her back, she was out of commission. She couldn’t even sit or sleep on the couch, let alone lay flat in bed. She spent an entire month or more sleeping on her knees and whimpering throughout the night with terrible sciatica pains too. Both Vicki and I strongly advise anyone with lower back pain from disc problems to make an appointment by calling 815/813-7515, in the capital region and asking Mike to evaluate your individual case history and see if he can help you. He only enrolls patients that he feels will respond from the therapy, but he knows once he checks your files and interviews you.

Wed. Sept 2nd... Feelin’ Good and Trying To Get Things Done...BUT Ain’t workin’...

I HATE PRINTERS

I felt great this morning! I worked on a few changes to the poetry book so it can be sent off to the printer for the final printing. Perhaps I will ask for another proof, rather than be caught with 100 books with a mistake in it. When I finished the book rewrites and publishing I sent the approval sheet back explaining the changes I made and asked for another proof copy to be sent. I mention it ain’t working..... I mean every time Vick or I tried to fax or copy something today, we got errors...beep,beep.....beep, beep....I reloaded HP for my 1600 all-in-one and it still won’t feed paper. It doesn’t even try to feed paper and it says it out of paper, the stupid junk! All her’s kept saying was paper jam...paper jam...paper jam.
The real problem is that they don’t know why they won’t work and neither do we!
After working on that update, I went out to the Wilson house and got the chainsaw in the back of the trailer on the tractor and I cut the tree off of the fence in the alpaca’s pasture. That was quick. It only fell over back in March or maybe April... I can’t really remember. Anyway, it’s cut off and it really wasn’t all that long.
Now I want to run to GNH for an electrical box so I can put the fan and light on the rear deck for the Bar-B-Q this weekend.
Snavely is doing a lot better today. You’d never even guess she was operated on two days ago. She is still a little guarded with things, as we are with her also. No jumping and running around acting crazy when we have someone come to the door. Within another week, she will be just fine.
Gotta go get the box before they close and then talk Vick into something good to eat. I’ll blog on our progress later.......stay tuned....

Tues. Sept. 1st... What a busy, busy day... My book proof came, and Company...

Wow....What a busy day today was....... It started off this morning with Jack coming for eggs. He bought all we had at the time, Then Phil showed up and wanted eggs, so we checked the chicken house again and found enough to make a dozen chicken eggs. Then another regular came and we rounded up enough duck eggs in the nests to give him a dozen of our best duck eggs. Finally, our friend Kenny showed up and we had coffee and put together a dozen eggs for him. We decided after that, we would not even attempt another dozen eggs today. It was luck that we satisfied everybody that came for eggs as it was...better not push our luck anymore today.
The FedEx guy pulled in and dropped off my book Proof of Poetry which I am having printed. I wrote the poems, Vick and My cousin in Mississippi edited and proof read the poems and I published it and now it is at the printers awaiting final approval of this proof they sent to us today. Vick wants to go over it completely again from cover to cover and proofread it one more time. Tomorrow, we will fax off the final approval form and it will be off to the press. We can’t wait! I already sold the first copy to a lady in Lititz, Pa. She is a regular blog reader and asked if I would sell her the first copy out. Soon, it will be on its way to her.
I also finished a new website for a Chiropractor in Guilderland, which is just on the outskirts of Albany and Colonie. It is http://www.spinalaidguild.com and everyone in the office is excited about having it up and running. Mike has already gained a new patient from the site which called in the first day it was on-line. I hope he has many, many more calls as a result of the new website. Check it out!

Monday, Aug. 31st... Our Baby is Home and Doing Well... No More Stones in There.

We were supposed to pick her up around three O’clock this afternoon, but they called at one Pm and said Snavely was ready to come home and was doing really great. Boy, was I relieved to hear that... because I was worried just as much as Vick, but would never let on or say that in light of her driving me crazy since this morning when her eyes opened......actually she was awake all night long and worrying into the wee hours of the morning. Vicki and Snavely slept this afternoon for a good two hours of uninterrupted sleep. (Me too).
How funny life is... especially when you know that God looks out for you and yours. I finished a blog page for a doctor which will pay me $550.00 for the completed site and today’s surgery was $597.00 total. The funnier thing is that the doctor got a new patient the first day the site hit the internet, which will pay for the site if that patient undergoes the spinal decompression therapy. I will be the first to admit that God has been good to me...even through all the really stupid bad decisions I’ve made through the years...
We have had a lot of folks email us and some comments on the blog about good wishes about today’s surgery and Snavely’s rapid recovery. It’s nice to know that so many people wish us well. Thank you all my friend’s. Vicki feels the very same way I do and we consider ourselves rich in your friendship.
We now have about sixteen new chicks in the brooding house and at least one more hatching. That only leaves four eggs un-hatched and the three chicks that died during hatching. Not too bad...and who knows, I haven’t candled the four remaining eggs yet. Some of them could hatch tonight, but I will candle them in the morning and look for life. This is the last of the hatching for the year though. It is getting brisk at night and in the mornings, so better we leave new hatches for next spring.
We will be having a bunch of new layers in another month or so, then about 21 chicks that are about five weeks old and the new ones under the heat lamp. The 21 will be ready to join the Juvenile population in the brooding house in another week or two...Maybe three if necessary. It depends on their feather production... I like for them to be completely feathered on their breast area and back. Then you know they are ready to mingle with the Juveniles....
My poetry book will arrive tomorrow in the unbound proof addition. If all is ok with that, we will send the release and within a week or so I should have a couple cases of finished books. I’ve already sold the first copy to a lady in Lititz, Pa. She follows the blog daily and has expressed an interest in purchasing the first autographed addition. Hang in there Sharon; I’ll number it as the authors #1 book from the first printing... Hope you make a million dollars off of it after I’m dead and gone. You know...when I’m extremely famous and on the best seller lists world-wide..... Hey...it’s possible...maybe.... with luck.....maybe

Monday...Later...Surgery Should Be Over... No News is Good News.....

Curt said that the operation should be completed by 10:00Am and Snavely Mill should be out of recovery and back into the kennel pen around noon. We are then going to be able to pick her up later this afternoon.
Vick of course has been on pins and needles. We can call around noon, so I have another hour and forty five minutes with her not being her... but rather a raw nerve about to explode...Please God...don not allow the phone to ring until after noon when we call the office and hear she is fine. Vick’s heart will stop if the phone rings before then.

More later when we hear.....

Mon. Aug. 31st... Snavely Mill to the Vet for Operations this morning...NERVOUS...

Vicki has been like a cat with a long tail in a rocking chair factory...on pins and needles about this morning and surgery. We’ll blog later today, since we have to have her in the office by 8:30 this morning. They will sedate her and go into the bladder and remove around 40 or 50 stones, which will return her to a normal urination. She has been looking like she has to pee all the time and takes for ever to go. Now we know why... and I wonder if Dutchess doesn’t also have a few. She does the same “squat and walk” thingie while peeing. We’ll watch for signs of blood in her urine and would know then for sure. She acts fine, in fact the long intervals in between her going now makes me think she does not have any stones.

Sunday, Aug 30th...A Life Begins and A Life can End All in the Same Day Here...

Life on a farm, no matter the size of the farm, has got to be one of the clearest ways to view life and witness how quickly it begins and how tragically rapid it can fade from existence.
Last week for instance, all was well in the morning when we opened the doors and allowed the animals to vacate their cozy little safe harbors and rush forth into the nasty, cruel world. By days end all returned to their safe haven but one. Emily, one of our first and favorite Indian Runner ducks didn’t come in that night. We called and searched into the night, the darkness, hiding any sign of where she might be. The next day, we went searching again and to our dismay, found a feather trail from the bank area of the Pupskill Pond, into the swampy area off to the one side. She had been grabbed and we didn’t see the feather trail in the darkness. Obviously she vanished with nary a trace....except that Vick’s parents saw the ducks and chickens running to hide that afternoon, as they sipped coffee on the rear deck. Vick’s Dad walked out a little ways, only to see the critters then return to a semi-normal state and he thought they had seen three crows flying overhead at that time and became spooked.
Then Friday afternoon, Vicki noticed all the ducks and chickens running and flying toward the big barn and summoned me to grab my gun and go outside; that something was happening and scaring all the birds. I went out with my shotgun, and saw nothing happening, but the wild geese were surely at full alert and all looking toward the old chicken and duck house area. I hobbled as quickly as I could to that area and found another feather trail...leading into the woods. I followed and from the edge of the yard, some twenty yards or so into the woods, I saw a chicken flopping. She was trying in earnest to get back to the yard, but was near death...and before I could reach her she succumbed to her injuries. A Fox...Killing our chickens...again.
Now I must watch for it and become the killer. An unpleasant necessity of being a farmer...One I do not relish, but can perform without reserve, because I view it as being my animals keeper...doing the best I can to protect them from harm.
Life is a series of confrontations almost on a daily basis...Confrontations that requires one to give up and another to excel. It may entail a fight, an argument, a sporting event, or a simple conversation where two reach a peaceful agreement.
But, one thing is for sure...every confrontation is capable of ending a life.
This morning, I went to the brooding house and took seven new lives from the incubator and placed them before their first water and food and coaxed them into taking their first nourishment. There are at least three more hatching right now. How quickly a life will start and end here.
Look at the pictures I have added.... snapping them this morning, on my way to the brooding house to take a picture of the chicks. Almost all are mute reminders of the coming seasons. Fall is the prelude to the long dark, cold winter we endure, but fall is also a time to be enjoyed, so Vicki and I relish it as much as we can.
We love the brisk chill that snaps you to attention in the mornings, when you leave the house...causing us to reach up and pull our collar up around your neck. The smells of autumn are unmistakable and always cause a person to hold a warm spot within for pumpkins, apples, cinnamon and dead cornstalks. These are all true signs that we have entered the fall of the year. I always get a warm, contented feeling inside when I walk into the warmth and coziness of our house, after being out in the fall chill...seeing the pellet stove aglow...as the dogs greet us.
Vick and I will make sure we get to the Altamont Apple Festival, The Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival and other such Oktoberfest style festivals throughout our area, northern upstate New York, Vermont and as far as New Hampshire.
Hey? Why not enjoy all that is available? Take advantage of this time of year and enjoy it anytime you can, so you don’t feel as if you’ve missed any of the celebrations of harvest time before winter grips the countryside?


Not as beautiful as before, Huh?

Drooping flowes, turning pale....

Mute testimony of the coming times.....

My....Look at all the leaves that fell already....

These guys will leave soon too... going back south with new followers. All born here this spring.

Seven little lives begin anew...

Just how close do these geese get to me when I take their pictures? See my feet?

See these geese?

I could touch them with my foot!

Last, but certainly not least.... Here is one of Vick's latest watercolors. This will be given to our friend and neighbor, Charlie. I think he'll like it.....it's his dog Maggie.

I'm so proud of Vick's talent! GO GIRL!!