Sat Sept 19th... Sorry to miss the Blog Entry...... BUT.

Just took a second to say that I will try to blog a good entry tonight or in the morning. Right now and all morning was spend getting ready for the Bar-B-Q this afternoon. Gotta go husk corn and then go to Glenmont for clams........... Later my friends...

Friday, September 18th...Splitting MY time...MY Fleeting Time...

Me Sometimes....You know....I feel like the village idiot!

Each morning I awake and leave the dogs out for their morning run while I make coffee and put our pills out. By the time I am done doing the pills and leave the dogs back into the house, the coffee is done and I head to the computer......
It is then that I start to split time... time between checking the status of my first and second book.
Poetry from the Heart – the Unpretentious Notions of a Minimalistic Man, which is now at the printer, should be ready for the printing press as I write this. My second book entitled, It All Began With a Puppy...Our Uncommon Journey, is completed and in the second re-write stage, so I actually split my morning time between those two ventures and the blog. As if that isn't bad enough, add in the animals which must be tended to, which aren't very understanding and you can see where I can tend to let something slip through the cracks from to time. I arise each morning, with good intentions of posting a blog entry, checking emails and the book status, doing those re-writes until my eyes start to cross, and by then, Vick is ready to get up and we then go on to other things. I am excited to be a published author and have a keen desire to aspire in writing and want to publish both my books and the blog, which you have all became followers of. If I fall short from time to time and miss a few blogs, it is not because I am not interested, but in the last two weeks, we've had family and friends in the hospital, a lot of correspondence with my printing firm and other things around the farm that needed taken care of. Next we are having some people coming to visit, another little Bar-B-Q and want to attend some fall festivals, so we could be working, tired, tied up with animals and the farm or entertaining visitors and miss a day of blog entries. If that happens, I apologize and hope you will be understanding and not forget about us..... Our time is constantly fleeting.....like daylight into darkness........

We have already been visited today by our friend Stanley Maltzman, who brought one of his shipmates from the Coast Guard, whom Stan spent many days with, years ago. They looked around a bit as Vicki and I were administering monthly injections to the Alpacas, saw the chickens, which we hadn't released and then left, as we were walking the Alpacas. Joe, our barn hand, wanted to come to clean this afternoon, but since we are planning to have dinner with family this evening, on the mountain, we could not leave the birds out to clean and be at dinner before dark. Joe will come on Sunday, when we can leave all the animals out.
I'm such a brain klutz when it comes to remembering anything! That would be because I think of everything and remember nothing. We need hay, field corn on the cob and I don't know where to buy it, need to order lumber...treated for the deck and regular for the porch roof and a million other things before winter. Thank God I have Vick. She is good at this...I am NOT!

Thurs. Sept. 17th... The Mornings are Like a Walk in Paradise...

If you like fall as much as Vicki and I, you're in seventh heaven right now! The mornings are starting to have that special smell that is only present at this time of the year. The temperatures are dropping and a fuzzy, warm, long sleeved shirt feels really good and makes the experience all the better. You can hear leaves ticking branches as they fall slowly to the ground and birds flitter to pick up seeds recently dropped from all the remaining flowers. Fall smells abound on the wings of breezes, carried across the open fields and pines in back of the house. You can hear the cackle of a flock of crows in hot pursuit of a hawk in the distance. A walk around the Pupskill lake Pond is filled with discoveries never expected. I've seen Blue Heron there fishing...perched nearly in the same spot I've frequented with rod and reel. I've seen woods mice, woodpecker, wood duck and woodchuck all in the same areas. Fish are topping and as I watch silently and motionlessly, I can see large, blue gill, sunfish and Crappie in a range of sizes as they swim effortlessly about in the normal course of fish life. Some big bass gobble little bass... as little bass gobble tiny bass...as tiny bass eat off the top or bottom of the pond. Just think about it......as a fish, one minute you're looking out of an opening in a grassy spot, waiting to gobble up a smaller fish and in a flash, you're looking out of the opening of a bigger fish's throat....which gotta really suck.
How great it is to be at the top of the food chain so we can go out this time of the year and enjoy our surroundings. The only dangers we face this time of the year are one of the three poisonous snakes we have here or an old Mamma bear with her cubs. You can happen unto a Mamma bear with cubs anytime. All you need to do is make sure you do not get between Momma and her babies and she'll sound a loud snort, a grunt, and then leave with them in a flash.
Today we will visit our friend at Albany Med. She has a problem with rapid and irregular heart beats, which are really scary when they happen. Hopefully they resolve the issue for her, because she has had this happen multiple times.
I cannot do a lot today, because both ring fingers on either hand are completely ulcerated, bleeding and about as sore as you could ever imagine. Good thing I type slow and with two fingers or blogging would be out of the question too. I just continue to apply the Clobetasol Propionate cream several times a day and wait for the pain to subside. Life sure is special sometimes.
Back to the fall weather........ I hear the wild geese in the yard, honking for me to go out and throw them their crushed corn and all the other critters are ready to escape the confines of the safe havens we afford them each evening. I don't like to release them until 10:30 or 11:00 AM, so the old hawk has finished filling his belly somewhere else and not with one of our chickens. Now foxes.... they are another story and show up any time of the day or night. A new threat has been confirmed just a few weeks ago on a farm just down the road........A fisher cat... Nasty critter (with a capital NASTY) They are members of the marten family and a bit bigger, are agile hunters and can climb trees with the best of them. They will clean out a hen house in one evening within minutes. They have extremely sharp teeth and can even kill deer. Below is an excerpt from a guy that lives in New Hampshire and posted this account:

Here's some info about Fisher Cats:"The Fisher Cat, is one of New Hampshire's most elusive animals, and a ferocious predator of small game. They are very fast on their feet and can turn on a dime. Few ever get the chance to see a fisher, mainly because they are nocturnal, but can be heard calling in the woodlands during their mating season. They have a chilling scream very much like that of high pitched child.""They are also famous for their ability to successfully hunt and kill porcupines. One of the very few other animals to prey on porcupines is a close cousin of the fisher, the wolverine. The fishers’ long, wedge-shaped snout is well suited for making vicious attacks to the porcupines face until mortal wounds cause the porcupine to succumb."In any event, the cry of the Fisher Cat makes the dog freak out in fear, so I haul her butt back inside. Then I realize our two cats are outside. There's no easier meal to a fisher cat than a house cat. So I step on the porch and start calling the cats. Boris (the smart one) has already been hiding under the back porch, and quickly bolts up and inside with his tail as puffy as can be. Bela, (the stupid one) is nowhere to be found. Normally the Fisher only makes its hideous noise (imagine a human baby being murdered VERY slowly) during mating season. However, I have heard them make the same sounds right after a kill, or when they are pissed off. Since the nasty thing is so close to my house, I am worried about Bela. I go inside, grab my Glock and a Flashlight and head out towards where I last heard the sound. I do this whilst making as much noise as I can. Luckily, Bela runs past me to the porch before I get too far. All I know is the cats aren't going outside for a couple of days.
See? Nasty, nasty little critter Huh??

Wed. Sept. 16th... Six more days until fall is Officially Declared......

How Beautiful Fall can be!

The morning was bleak... the predawn gray added nothing to the condition...nor did it do anything to improve it. The fall chill was in the air, as a constant reminder that in just a few days, we will be into the fall season with that old bitter winter wind in rapid pursuit. Why in another month, we could be butt hole deep in snow if old man winter decided to pull a joke on us. I've been told many times by the locals that have lived here all their lives, that winter can be fickle or downright treacherous sometimes. They recount years of snow beginning in late October, or snow that lasts into April of the year, so we are living on real barrowed time up here. It's been really mild since we've been here, with last year being the worst of them. (Wow...been here all of three...going on four winters)
Last night, I was going over a little video Vick made which was lost in my computer somewhere and just showed up as I was going through files. It was a clip Vick took of the ducks in the little duck pond in the spring of 2008, showing them swimming and splashing around, but the interesting thing was that we saw a pile of 2b stone where the barn now stands..... NO BARN??? Hard to believe...but the video shows it. We also have some pictures which show the back yard without a chicken and duck house too. It's hard to believe we have completed so much of our dream in such a short time span and only the hospice gift shop and a little turkey house remains. We are still looking for the end, but can now take off and do fall festival things and enjoy life. Our labors are about through, so I can now plan to chug Ibuprofen or have the Cortisone shots in my knees and we can then go seeing and doing neat things!

Tuesday Sept 15th... A Slow Start to what could be A Special Day.......

Every day can be special. Especially if everything goes smooth and there are no occurrences which cause anyone stress or upset. There are days when Vick and I exchange a look with each other when we are ready to retire for the day and comment that the day was a good one and we enjoyed doing what ever we were fortunate enough to accomplish. It would be my goal to experience this every day and not be the bitchy grump I usually become when something doesn't work right or I meet the first obstacle of the day. I truly don't think I would be like I am if i didn't have the painful legs I have. It's such a task just to walk out and release the animals and pick up a few eggs anymore... and the pain I have most of the time would stop most people from moving around...period! If I can take a handful of Ibuprofen in the morning with my first cup of coffee... it helps immensely, but the ol' liver isn't gonna stand still for that on a daily basis, so I only do that when I want to accomplish something that day. Otherwise, I try not to take any medications for pain, so I keep my system clear. I would love it if I didn't have to take the aspirin or the beta blocker ever again either, but the doctor said that wasn't gonna be any option for the future way back in 1996 when I had the two MI's. Oh well... some days are better than others. Like I stated in earlier posts, my first book is so close to the printing press that it could actually start printing this week...and the hospice gift shop is now coming along again, because Joe has installed the footer drain, hooked one end into the underground main and I need to hook up the last end. Vick and I will then do some planning, measuring and then order the lumber from Ed Pooters, Jr. of Middle Field Lumber and the treated stuff will most likely come from GNH Lumber. It will be nice to get the porch deck and roof on, so we can install the board and batten and the doors and windows before winter. If it hadn't been for my hamstring and knees, it would have been completed already. Oh well; all things happen for a reason........ Joe has been our God send, so far this year and I hope he sticks by us for a long time. We can be good for each other. He's young eager and husky when it comes to doing lifting or digging and he's hungry to learn when I do any framing or carpentry work. He works with his Dad at home on different projects, so he's no greenie...
I think he will be thrilled to help with the roof on the hospice house, or any other aspects of that building as time goes by.

Monday Sept. 14th... Like a wasted day...did nothing, Enjoyed!!!

Got up this morning and made coffee, then worked on my book finalization... soon I will forward the final PDF files to OPM’s printing office by FTP, which will go to the member file I was assigned for transferring digital images and text to them for printing. I’ll be glad to send the final approval and get this book into finished print form within the cover we designed and call it a finished project. Then I can concentrate on doing re-writes on my second book I will publish, called “It All Began with a Puppy…. Our Uncommon Journey”. That should be due out early in 2010. There is a lot of editing work and re-writes to do first. I don’t think I’ve even gone over the complete text the second time yet.
I have however been writing the third book I will publish, which will be called “Life in the Barren World” That’s a fun book for me to write, because it takes me way back...to the early sixties and dumps me into my memories of my childhood, roaming around the Barrens of Scotia, Pennsylvania, near the little village of Marysville, where I lived.
Anyway... I worked on my book that is presently at the publishers. I have received two proof copies already and we felt the need for editing a few things each time. Once done this time, I hope to receive a (close enough to perfect) proof and sign off on the form to send the text to the printing machine. Shortly after that, we will expect several boxes of finished books to arrive by UPS carrier I suppose.


Today we went to the hospital and visited Vick’s Dad and then waited until he was discharged and headed for home. He was there with a stomach ailment over the week end, but is now at home and ok. After returning home, both Vick and I relaxed and took a nap. Me on the couch in front of the TV... and she went up and lay on the bed with the doggies, watching the food channel.

Now, we’ve just returned from the Oak Hill Kitchen, where we had dinner in their “Common Ground Café.” We had their own garden salads.....Vick had hers with tomato bisque soup... I had mine with a peanut butter, banana & honey sandwich. Great food from the Twelve Tribes Community folks and a serene, peaceful atmosphere to boot!

Sunday Sept. 13th... Pellets are in... Gift Shop under way...All’s well Again...

This morning we started at 8:00AM when Joe showed up to help us with the two tons of wood pellets we had to pick up from Hilltown Agway. The tractor shed needed to be cleaned out before we could put pellets in there, so we loaded all the wood and other things we were going to remove on to the trailer and moved it to either the wood pile or trash pile. Once the building was emptied and everything disposed of, we went to the house for coffee and breakfast. Joe had already eaten, so he went to the hospice gift shop and started to place the footer drain into the ditch we had dug on Wednesday. When we were done eating, we took off for Agway for the pellets, leaving Joe to install the drain and cover it over.
When we returned with the first ton of pellets, Joe stopped and came over to unload pellets and when we were done, he headed back to the ditch again and we took off for Agway again for the last ton. When we got home with the last of the pellets, Joe was raking the dirt around the footer as a finishing touch and then came to help us with the unloading of the pellets. With them all secure inside the tractor shed, we were then able to say we were ready for the 2009 winter heating seasons. The gift shop is also now back under way and Vicki and I will make a new lumber list for Ed Pooters to cut for us. We will have to go to GNH for treated lumber for the porch base, but Ed can cut everything above the deck floor.
I think we’ve finally finished the two sites for Dr. Michael Paster of The SpinalAid Center of Guilderland. They seem to operate correctly and there has been traffic on the sites already. You can see them at either, http://www.capitalregionchiropractors.com or at the other site http://spinalaidguild.com

Also...I have been meaning to mention another site I designed and got going for Dr. Loraine Alderman, Psy.D, of Long Island, NY.
She has written a book which is available from her on her web site at http://www.psychdocinfo.com This is a very interesting book that deals with a very serious condition called APD. If you or someone you know has (APD), an Auditory Processing Disorder, this book can help you find answers. Until now, there has not been a book that specifically looks at how people with APD have lived and learned to overcome the disorder from childhood into adulthood. This book was written by people who have lived with APD their entire lives.