Sat. Eve Sept. 26th... We're Back From the Garlic Festival and None To Bad For The Wear......

Laura called this morning and said she would like to bring about half the guinea fowl over this morning if we didn't mind. Of course we told her we would be delighted and that it wouldn't take long to unload them into the brooding house, where they will spend the next month, before going with the other fowl in the new barn. Laura said she will bring the rest of them next week. We said great.

Once the guinea fowl were safely inside the enclosure, we talked for a bit, then they left for home and we bundled up and went to the Garlic Festival in Saugerties. We decided to go regardless of the sinus crap both Vick and I had, because we hated to miss it. We had a blast! We parked for free in the orange parking area, caught one of the many shuttle buses that transport you right to the front gate. We waited in line there for a minute and paid the $10.00 per person fee and entered into the land of Garlic. We walked about the length of two football fields, past many, many vendors of various garlic items and gifts, and then came upon the food vendors, where we immediately grabbed a plate full of hot garlic knots and a garlic and sausage sandwich which Vick and I split. We then went on over to a stand and got a hamburger and two beef with garlic on a stick, which we again shared. Next we walked to a band stand and listened for a while and then walked the length of two street Isles and checked out the various vendor nick knacks and wares from hardware and sprinklers to leatherwear and clothing. After viewing everything along the end rows, it was back to the food vendors for an Italian cannoli and a vanilla Gelato. We killed a bit more time listening to band music and then Vick had a Puerto Rican beef patty and plantains while I had fried dough. Now if that wasn't enough for a day long stay at a once a year festival....we finished up with two
fried Maryland style crab cakes. After a walk to the shuttle loading area, we headed to our car and then was on our way home. What a very delightful day spent with the one I love. (Oh Yeah.....and we came home with $72.50 less than we had when we started out this morning.............)

Sat. Sept. 26th... Today is the Garlic Festival... Ever Eat Garlic Ice Cream???????

Today we are looking forward to going to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, New York. It is always the last Saturday and Sunday in September and we plan to go every year. This year I am going despite my sore knees and the sinus infection or what ever it is I have right now. I'll load up on ibuprofen, zyrtec or something and sit when I have to, but I'm goin'. I had to go put on a long sleeve shirt to stop shivering just a few minutes ago, but I'm going........ I'M GOING!!!!!!!!
We haven't miss going, with perhaps the exception of the time frame that Vicki had her spinal decompression therapy.
You would not believe all the things available at the festival.....








Giving tips about Garlic



Below is a list...

Garlic Food Court

Chow Down! You won't believe the many different ways garlic can be used to enhance food. The full list is too long to include here. Here's a tasty sampling of the foods that will be available at this year's festival:
almonds
artisan bread
barbecue beef
barbecue pork
beef on a stick
black bean toastie
blackened catfish
blooming onions
bratwurst
Bruschetta
broccoli
Cajun crawfish
caramels
cheese steaks
chocolates (yes, with garlic . . . and some without)
clams
corn on the cob
crab cakes
Focaccia
funnel cakes
garlic bread
garlic chicken
chicken wraps
chili
corn-on-the-cob
falafel
focaccia
frankfurters
french fries
fried dough
funnel cake
gyros
ham
hamburgers
hot dogs
hummus
garlic chicken
garlic fritters (kachori)
garlic ice cream (strangely enough, a crowd favorite!)
garlic knots
garlic mozzarella
garlic mushrooms
garlic onions
garlic pasta
garlic pork
roasted pork on a spit
garlic pretzels
garlic sauerkraut
garlic soup
garlic steak
garlic steak sandwiches
garlic turkey with mayo
gyros
Italian ice
Italian pastries
jambalaya
kettle corn
kielbasa
noodles
nuts
onions
pickles (regular or deep-fried)
pierogies
popcorn
potato soup
pulled beef
pulled pork
quesadilla
sausage
scallops
shrimp cocktail
shrimp scampi
stuffed cabbage
taco salad
Thai coconut curry
tofu wrap
truffles, with roasted garlic
and venison sausage

What's better than garlic food for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Come and get it!

There are bands and other entertainment there along with fall decorations and various other vendors. It's a full day at http://hvgf.org/ so if you're near...GO!

Friday Eve, Sept. 25th... Got Bear to Vet, Went for Meds, Ate & worked on Barn...

We let the animals out this morning, messed around the barn a little and around 1:00 Pm, took Bear to the vet to be seen for her heart condition. She is really retaining water around her heart and in her belly now, so she is in the end stages of congestive heart failure. We increased her Lasix to twice what she was getting and upped her Enalapril and added Vetmedin to reduce the fluids around the heart and stomach and make the heart work better by increasing the blood flow to it. By tomorrow, if the meds work, she should be like a new dog. This however is only a short term fix, because her heart will again catch up with her 15 year old body and she will pass away. All we can do is to keep her comfortable until her time comes.
When we got home, we measured for the gift shop lumber. Now all I have to do is figure exactly how much we need and find the money to buy it. We have been offered some help from Colleen and JD our friends and Colleen suggested the work party and Barbeque. I think that's a great idea...But we have to find the money to do all this. Right now...everything is tight and Bears vet bill today was about $250.00 we hadn't counted on.
After measuring for the lumber, we went to the chicken coop and again started tearing out the wall. I removed it all the way to the nesting boxes, moved a receptacle and remounted the perches in front of the nesting boxes. Now tomorrow, I'll remove the corner roosts and finish removing the wall to the back end by the door. Then we'll make a removable, angled roost assembly to lean against the wall for the chickens to roost on. I will then remove the roost over the door area where you are bombed when you enter the coop if you aren't careful. (Vicki and I have both been bombed by some incorrigible, nasty, rebel chickens under there with attitudes) They seem to get you as soon as you are cleaned up and ready to go away. That is not a time to throw them some extra feed to make them happy... because they'll get ya every time then!
I think I shall give it up and turn in early because I've had a post sinus drip all day long that has just ripped my throat. I've been gargling with Listerine, using Chloriseptic spray and taking Chloriseptic lozenges since we got them today, but it is still raising cane with me. I hate this crap!
Tomorrow when we work at the barn, we'll take some pictures of the brothel and the bunnies and the new coop area. Until then...see ya.

Friday Sept. 25th... Yesterday was a Fun Day... Nothing and Everything Done...

Yesterday morning, I worked on web pages far longer than I should have, so got a late start in the barn and only fed and released them. We then took off to do lunch, errands and then came home and finished some farm paperwork. We had invited Laura, a woman we met in the bakery some months ago, to come and see the farm a long time ago, and then met her again more recently at a yard sale in Greenville. Vicki and Laura chatted and when Laura found we now have angora bunnies... she asked if we would be interested in trading a bunch of guinea hens for a baby angora rabbit when we breed them. Of course we were delighted to make a trade, because we want quite a few more guinea fowl to police the grounds and chase foxes and hawks anyway. Laura came over yesterday to see the farm and was here for several hours looking around and chatting. She will bring the guineas possibly today or tomorrow since we have a cage ready.

Laura was just preparing to leave when our good friend Jimmy pulled in and we chatted with him until dark about a catering idea he had. He had already started a partial catering business some time ago called "Big Guy Catering", based in Tannersville, NY. He would like to prepare some of his locally renowned "Italian Sauce and Meatballs" in packaged to go containers and give free samples at Greenville Day on October 3rd, but that doesn't give him much time to get ready. We discussed a lot of dishes that could be sold as an entrée and some, such as the sauce and meatballs which would be a kept ingredient to make your own pasta dish at home in a fraction of the time. He would like to have fresh and frozen product available in the near future and then possibly offer express shipping later. We are excited for him and will help and encourage him all the way to the top!

It looks like and they are calling for rain today, but we'll cut the critters loose anyway I guess. That way, we can access the wall between the chicken coop and outside run to remove the board and batten. It's easier when you don't have to worry about chickens under foot. We are enlarging the coop three-fold compared to what it was before, but they will not have an outdoor run this winter. I don't think that is important anyway... because we can run the birds into the barn entry until we clean and then run them back into the cleaned coop. We can do the same in the other barn for the ducks too. Today I want to make a lumber list for the gift shop deck too. It's time to order that wood so we can get it under roof before snowfall. We now have received some promised help in the way of labor and it was suggested to plan a work party some day, where we would have folks come to help build and have a
barbeque meal. Sounds good to us!!!

Wed. Sept. 23rd... A Bad Day for Construction with Company in There Too...

I went to the barn this morning to feed and check the chickens after their second night housed all together on the chicken side. We decided since we had removed all the chickens to the coop and emptied the bunny brothel of all chickens, we would need to utilize the outside run area as part of the actual coop now, so there would be ample room for the chickens to roost and inhabit the coop all together. With that in mind, I fed them and then went in with hammer, crow bar and digging iron and started removing the board and batten siding that separates the inside coop and the outside run to make the entire coop appear as one. Removing the window and several of the boards immediately made the coop appear larger, but it was a bad time to do the construction with the birds remaining as visitors, because it frightens them and we can't leave them out today because we volunteer to help run the Rabies clinic for the town and assist the area Veterinarian who gives the shots. That starts at five and goes to well beyond dark, so we would not be here to close the animals back in and with all the coyotes and foxes here, we can't allow that, so they don't go out today. Tomorrow, we can release them and finish dismantling the wall, add supports where needed and remove others to open it up properly and then the chickens will love it. It's also going to make cleaning a cinch too.
I have been in contact with my printing service several times this morning about my book. It is heading to the printing press as I write this, so within a few days, we should have cartons of finished books arriving here at the farm. I guess I will add the book to my publishing site and add a "Buy it Now" button, incase anyone wants to purchase a copy of some really deep poetry. As of this evening I can honestly say that I am a published author...something I am very proud of, for it is quite an accomplishment for me...one I have dreamed of all my life and thanks to Vicki's support and nudging...it finally came into fruition.
Thanks Vicki....I love you for that.
(Now all I gotta do is get her art work into a galley showing by giving her some reciprocate nudging until she achieves the same spectacular feeling of public appreciation for her accomplishment of hard work and talent)
That recognition...she is ready for.

Tuesday September 22nd... The Chickens did Well and the Bunny's are Happy...

Last night when we closed up for the night, we forced all the chickens into the chicken house, ridding the bunny brothel of the chickens and the ducks. Now the room will remain clean and we can allow the bunnies out to exercise as we brush them and so on. That was the purpose of the brothel in the first place, but it also served as a juvenile chick palace too. Now they are all together and we will do a no cost renovation to include the outside run as part of the main chicken coop. If an outside run becomes an issue, we will install one later, but right now, I don't see it as a problem.
My book proof arrived and we will take a day to read it and look for mistakes. I need to change one spelling error on the "About the Author" page where I spelled my own name wrong. Duhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I know who I am...I don't need it spelled correctly..... Right? Aw gee...I guess I'll fix that and let them go to print now......
The kittens are now close to being full grown and they are doing well. We cut a hole in the plywood wall on the steps and installed a ramp board for them to climb up and down from the hole. Doing it this way, keeps the chickens from going up into the loft, otherwise we could just leave the loft door open for the cats. We would then have chickens in the hay, up there in the loft and last time one fell in a hole against the wall and couldn't get out, then died in there. All we found when we used up the hay was a pile of feathers around bones.
We just met a nice guy from the hospital and also a farmer. His name is Peter and we met him when we were at the hospital in Hudson a month or so ago. He took Vick's email address to contact us for Alpaca beans (poop) for his garlic garden. He called last week and asked to come for some and was just here today. He's a cool dude and much like us...grew up on a farm and loves tinkering around in farming on a small scale. We meet the nicest people!!!!

I guess we need to go to dinner now so we can get all the animals in later...

Monday Sept. 21st... What an Appreciation of Life First Thing This Morning...

After getting up at six, in the dim light of pre-dawn gray and leaving the dogs out to do their business, I peered out the window in the computer room until they were ready to return to my spot on the bed beside Sweet Vicki as she slumbers. As soon as I kicked the sliding glass door open, they shot past me like a bolt of greased lightning, heading for the stairs and I quietly slid the door closed and headed for the kitchen to get the coffee going. Once the coffee was perking, the pills were distributed onto the "pill plate", I shut the lights off and stepped out onto the rear deck to watch the day awake from its nightly slumber. In the still gray pre-dawn light, I could see that it was a brisk thirty-two degrees, but there was no frost to be seen anywhere. I walked over to the handrail and leaned both elbows on it and propped my chin in my hands as I watched the steam rise in the form of fog over the Pupskill Bay Lake Pond, as we affectionately and jestingly call it. Seeing that rise of steam tells me that the water is not yet ready to turn over the warmth the day time sun has to offer, even throughout the course of the long chilly nights. There was dew coating every blade of grass and tree leave in sight. It will only take a few more degrees some evening soon for the magical event to occur when all things turn that silky white, causing all the leaves on every plant and tree to race for the ground as soon as the next day's sun rays touch it. There will then be a classical display of beautiful colors splashed about as the final calling card of autumn. The smell in the air this morning will be multiplied ten fold, so that no living being could ever be mistaken that fall hasn't officially arrived, for you could take a blindfolded person out on a fall morning and they would unmistakably tell you it was fall. There is a kind of elixir in the air that stirs the blood in your veins and rejuvenates your desires to perform tasks left undone in the apathetic heat of summer. The fall air makes you want to move on and see as much as you can and exceptionally restless to sitting still or lying around like you find yourself doing in the summer.
It's as if water means fishing, flowers and grassy fields mean hiking, pumpkins mean Halloween and apples mean spiced apple cider at a fall festival, cider doughnuts... maple syrup candy, crafts and hot chocolate as you pull the collar of your jacket up around your neck. Who could hate fall? Who would not want to be alive this time of the year to partake of all the traditional events and see the smiles and happy faces? You can see far more smiling, happy people this time of the year than all others combined. Get out and enjoy yourself and everyone else!

As a footnote... I've noticed quite a few folks from Pa. and New Jersey are watching...one from State College and another from Altoona. Email us at juniata1951@aol.com and let us know who you are. I used to live in State College, Lewistown, and Huntingdon, and I know Altoona well. Also Vicki was from Central New Jersey and the Lancaster area of Pa. All you folks from these areas email her as well (use my email)

Sunday Sept. 20th... Caught her Red Handed with Feathers Blowing Everywhere...

WOW... The Guinea hens are like little Al Capone's of the chicken world. Very little fear of anything and dumb as a box of rocks, all at the same time!!! Yesterday as I was setting on the back of the John Deere, husking corn for the cookout, all the chickens suddenly ran to me and tried to jam together und a bush near the deck gate. I looked toward the old chicken/duck barn in time to see the Italian mafia hit men heading toward the rear woods and cackling their displeasure. I immediately knew something was wrong and ran into the house to grab the 12 gauge shotgun and headed out across the yard cautiously looking for what ever was pissing the Godfathers off. As I approached the old chicken/duck barn, I noticed that the Guinea's had changed location and had run to the other side of the thicket, below the barns. I continued to sneak on the other side, looking far out into the underbrush and up into the trees, in case it was a hawk. When I reached the compost pile, I stopped and just watched and listened to the cackling of the Guinea's as they got louder and louder. I saw a large Brahma hen lying dead in the brush, just behind the brooding house and knew instantly it wasn't a hawk, because the chicken was in really tight brush, open only at ground level...so a hawk could have never gotten in or out of there. I realized that the Guinea's were going into the swampy area and coming toward me, when I saw movement in the high grass and weeds along the swamp. It was a red fox, coming back to grab the Brahma before leaving. One shot dispatched the red instantly. It was a beautiful female, but a deadly visitor to our farm and one that had to be dealt with. I figure this same female fox has dispatched a good 15 to 20 chickens and two ducks, (Emily was one and was a heartbreak to Vick when it got her) making this red fox a good three hundred dollar bandit!
It makes me sick to shoot such a beautiful creature...for I think they are one of nature's most beautiful animals and I wish they would just stay out in the fields catching mice and everything would be ok. Perhaps when we get more Guinea hens in a few days when a friend trades 20 or so juvenile Guinea hen poults for a baby angora rabbit, they will be able to keep the foxes and hawks at bay. Vicki already witnessed three Guineas make a hawk fly out of the yard, as soon as it landed. They rushed it and actually sent it on its way, much as the crows do at times. There is definitely safety in numbers! Anyway, I got the fox that was constantly dining on our chickens and threw him on the stone wall by the swamp, using it as a billboard sign type warning to other foxes that drift by the farm.
Today was also a pretty good day. We finished the gate and fence system at the brooding house to get ready for those Guinea poults which are coming, worked around the barn a bit doing things that needed done. We opened a hole on the side wall of the steps for both Kaylee and Calli to exit the loft and run around in the lower section of the barn. We placed a six inch wide board at the same angle as the steps for them to climb up or down to the hole. We placed it half way up the steps to keep chickens and other animals from going up the loft steps to the hay. The cats don't mind climbing or walking a plank to get there. Joe had a football practice today that he forgot, so he traded tomorrow for this morning. He will show up tomorrow and clean the barns and we'll finish the drain at the gift shop and be ready to start the porch decking.
If all goes well my poetry book will go to press tomorrow and I'll receive a proof on Tuesday sometime. I think this will be the last one I will receive and we will be ready to approve it for printing. Before long I should have the boxes of finished books. I'm doing rewrites on the second book, "It all Began With a Puppy...Our Uncommon Journey", which should be out early in 2010 sometime. It should be a good seller because it is the kind of book that people want to read. It is a lot like the blog, with Vick and my life story together and how we started the Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm, LLC and what we do. Anyone that has read a small piece of it really liked it so almost everyone should enjoy it.

Sunday Sept. 20th... The Bar-B-Q was A Fun For All That Came...

IT IS THE SEASON

We started the Bar-B-Q yesterday around 4 O'clock in the afternoon by burping the Maine clams. Now, if you like clams, hate to pay the price of little necks, but likewise hate the gritty sand in the Maine clams which are much cheaper and taste the same...just burp them. Start with a large plastic tub and place all your clams in it...just covering the clams with water. Next pour an entire can of ground pepper in and stir the contents gentle until the powder is no longer lying on the top of the water. Now wait about eight minutes.... and the pepper will irritate the clams and they will start expelling the water and all the sand from inside the clamshell. Next, tilt your tub and dump the pepper water out and flush the clams with clean water. Keep the clams iced until cooking, but out of water. There you have it... We were given this tidbit of knowledge by a Price Chopper employee who spends a lot of time in Maine with the full time resident clammers up there. "They use this method all the time", he said, so we tried it and it works great. Vicki can buy 400 Maine clams for a fraction of the price of littlenecks, so you can stuff your guests on steamed clams affordably and they love them. We didn't have near as many people as we invited, which is about normal....but we had a good time just the same. At least this time Vicki and I weren't stuck cooking for the masses constantly and were able to sit down and join into conversation at times and when we were finished eating, were able to build a wood fire on the deck and roasted marshmallows..... After that, Vicki, Denny, Judy and I just sort of sat around the fire ring and chatted until they decided to call it an evening.

Today, Joe is to come to do the weekly cleaning of the barns, which is nice to see. It takes the load off Vicki and me and allows us to concentrate our efforts in other areas, allowing us to complete needed jobs before the winter winds blow.

By The Way!!!!!! Anybody notice that we're only two days away from Official Fall at 5:18 PM EDT Tuesday afternoon? Didn't I tell you this month was flashing by like an out of control lightning bolt? Soon we will be into October and then in the blink of an eye, we'll be into another Holiday season.

I guess that is all the more reason to have more and more
Bar-B-Q's, parties and get-togethers or try to attend as many as we can too. Life goes to fast and we need to take notice and start enjoying it more. What better way to enjoy life than to spend the day or evening with friends and then coming home to cuddle up lovingly with one another until you drift off to sleep.