Sunnybrook Farm

Tuesday

2012-02-01T11:03:00.001-05:00

On line again at the library this time as I wanted to download a new version of the DOS operating system. I am going to try and get a computer running for a farmer who is still running a DOS system to operate his dairy. I kid you not!
I have been busy cutting wood and doing a few paintings to sell (hopefully) to get some cash. This is one of a rooster at sunrise.

This is based on a photo of my daughter looking at her fish bowl several years ago. It doesn't look like her but the subject is the fish bowl anyway.

This one is of an old guy I knew at Lexington, he was on his way to town to most likely buy more beer. His truck rolled down the hill one day and hit a tree so he got another wrecked truck and put the two together to come up with this mixture. He was a real character.

This is Pilot Mountain in North Carolina, just over the border. On the Andy Griffith show the they made up the fictional town of Mayberry and flipped the name of this place around to Mt. Pilot. It is a unique mountain unlike any others in the blue ridge area.

This is a painting of a Guernsey cow from a photo of one on the last herd in Virginia just down the road from me. I took the painting to the owner and we agreed on a trade for two of his bull calves this spring. I helped him get part of his herd back in the fence while their yesterday. I think he was surprised that an artist showed up in rubber boots and waded in the muck to herd cows. One stubborn one wouldn't go throw the gate so I stepped out of the kick zone and doubled it's tail up behind it and it decided to go through the gate to get away from the crazy man. I cut more wood this afternoon. It is warming up some so I cut dead wood along the trail for warm weather burning.

Wednesday

2012-01-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

This is my last posting until at least next month due to exceeding our data usage for our internet connection and have to pay extra which we can't afford. I constantly try and think of ways to save money and do with out a lot of things but I must be the only one who has those goals here. So now I get to work all day in total isolation from the world, maybe that will be a good thing.

Tuesday

2012-01-17T14:58:00.000-05:00

It was sunny this morning so I started hauling horse manure to the garden in a wheelbarrow that was momentarily free from firewood duty. Next thing it clouded and began to rain some so I stopped. Fixed a pot of vegetable soup from root cellar items and some left over meat. The sun came out again after lunch and I got the mobile electric fence charger out and set up a small area for Dusty. A patch of grass here and there helps feed the big boy.

Monday

2012-01-16T15:59:00.001-05:00

I finished stretching canvas today and then stacked wood that had blown over in the high winds the other day. It was cold most of the morning as it went to 16 F last night, I kept the furnace filled with wood and opened up the air intake to give a hotter fire. Brought in 2 wheel barrows of wood this afternoon so the supply is back to full. Burning some cherry as I like to smell it when over on the hill getting the horse. Smells like cherry pipe tobacco. The cold wears on you so I am tired of the cold and ready for spring.

I hadn't taken any photos today so I took one of Debbie bringing Dusty over to night pasture. It has clouded and they are calling for rain and warmer. The chickens seemed late laying today, it must be the below freezing temperatures that hung around all morning. Some have a little frostbite on their combs but not bad.

Sunday

2012-01-15T12:05:00.001-05:00

Strange weather last night, the temperature dropped to 27F after dark then warmed to 32 and snowed about 10pm. At 2am the sky cleared and temperature dropped to 24 and to 23 by morning. We had a dusting of snow which didn't amount to anything other than some ice on roads in places.

Only enough snow to upset the young chickens or chicklets as I call them. They soon got over it and went back to working on their complex math calculations.

Eventually it warmed up and Ernie and hens ventured up to the wall of wood where the dirt is best and took dirt baths.

Yet another load of hay for Dusty. He is the only horse that I know who gets hand cut hay that is turned by hand and put up loose for that gourmet taste that he enjoys.

I just dump it on the hill and he spends hours and eats nearly every little piece.

Aggy and Garitta go out to bring Dusty back in the afternoons and chase each other and at times have a sort of truce. Strange as the dog doesn't mess with any of the other cats.

Saturday

2012-01-14T17:34:00.000-05:00

Sunny but cold and windy again. I finished making the stretchers today.

I got 3 of them stretched with canvas in the gallery wrap style before I had to go take care of the chickens and move Dusty. I ended up working on our chest freezer since I don't have a studio area to work in anymore. The canvas was a little wrinkled from being rolled up so long but once stretched, I got it wet and then put it in front of the wood furnace to dry. When the canvas dries, it gets tight as a drum and is perfect to paint on.

Debbie's boys are here this weekend and I got a photo of Justin doing some scythe work out on the bank. He enjoys using his great grandfather's scythe that I got back into working order for him. Most people think that using a scythe is hard work but it is really fun and mentally relaxing. I roasted a picnic ham for 6 hours and now have a large bowl of pulled pork barbecue for supper. It just fell off the bone and smelled really good.

Friday

2012-01-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

Yet another partly cloudy cold morning only this one had strong wind so it felt like it was in the teens.

I took care of the animals then fooled around inside until the temperature got up to freezing then went out and wheelbarrowed the wood from several days ago, down the creek and stacked it near the Wilsie dam bridge to dry. I warmed up quickly even in the cold wind and had to keep my coat loose to let the sweat evaporate. Finally the photo of the last load. It looks to be a little more than a truck load.

Brought a load of mostly odd size dry stuff back to the house to burn. Went over and got a wheelbarrow load of hay for Dusty to eat tonight, boy that felt empty to what I had been pushing all day. I need to gather the eggs later and then let Dusty graze along the road as I walk him back to night pasture.

Thursday

2012-01-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

Partly cloudy this morning.

With purple mountains to the west.

It is too muddy to do much so I took the chainsaw over for maintenance this morning, who knows what that will cost but they are supposed to have a sale on parts. Anyway, it has been acting up and to get it to run I have to smack it on a log so it may be dirty or a loose connection in the wiring.

My sauerkraut looks to be about ready and I still have a pumpkin left, this one must have good genes that prevent rot as the others rotted months ago.

Went to town and got wood then worked on making stretchers until I ran out of time before going to pick Carrie up and take her to an after school event. I will make a few more tomorrow, if it isn't too cold and windy, and stretch canvas so I can do some more paintings.

It is supposed to get cold again tonight so I brought in a good load of wood this afternoon. Still months before spring, I will be so glad when it gets here.

Wednesday

2012-01-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

We have a cold rain today, not much going on here. It let up awhile ago so I took Aggy for a walk only to get rained on before we could get back. She didn't seem to mind. Dusty doesn't mind either as I put him at his stable this morning and he has spent the entire time standing out in the rain eating even though I put a huge pile of hay inside. The chickens are having a sad day of it as well, most are fluffed up under things but some are venturing out to peck in the mud. I have been watching Bear Grylls eat strange things on TV, I wish that I had his energy, if he would come help me cut wood, he could have all the grubs and beetles that fall out, sounds like a fair trade. It is the perfect day to cook a pot of chili for supper, I think that I have everything that I need so I will get started in awhile.

Tuesday

2012-01-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

Mostly clear this morning, at 2am it was real foggy but in the upper 30s then after 5am it cleared and was 26 so that the moisture froze on everything. The moon was still pretty much full and real bright even through the fog earlier.

Loaded up the wheelbarrow with wood cutting equipment and went where trucks don't go this morning.

Worked on several cherry trees that were blown down. Some of it was getting rotten but will burn once it dries out good. This piece is nice and solid.

Once split, I threw it across the creek to where I can get to it and wheelbarrow it closer to the house.

One tree was laying across the creek so I had to wear my rubber boots which I don't like as I usually wear steel toed leather ones. There is more to cut and split but after about what would be a truck load I called it a day as I had enough fun for one day.

Monday

2012-01-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

It was cold, wet and a nasty day to be outside but at least we didn't get any snow or ice. Went into Roanoke and delivered the chicken painting to Black Dog Salvage then got some reduced meat as we can't afford the real fresh stuff. Of course there is no inflation, just high prices, lets see this must be the "Change" everyone wanted, yes that is it higher food prices are great for the economy.
Back home 2 hens were having a stand-off at the current favorite nest box. They stayed like this for several minutes without either moving. I got tired of watching and left so I don't know who won the battle. Not much of a fight as both were too chicken.

I brought over another wheelbarrow load of hay to Dusty's night pasture. He has been eating it for several days and has decided that it is good to eat after all. He turned his nose when I gave it to him earlier as he had lots of grass to eat.

Colman came in and fired up his stove and had the smoke rolling. Nothing like a real fire on a damp day.

Sunday

2012-01-08T16:14:00.001-05:00

Unloaded the truck and stacked the wood into the wall of wood. I think I am about 4 loads from being at full as I have one across the creek and one by the basement and yet another stacked across the road. It was partly cloudy and cold this morning and turned total clouds mid afternoon.

Took Aggy for a walk along the trail and took some photos as the light was good this morning. Here is one of slippery rock falls.

This is looking the other direction toward Wilsie's Dam bridge.

I liked the bright colors in this grass growing on a rock in the creek.

Saturday

2012-01-07T17:20:00.000-05:00

Cold here again though the TV says it was a warm morning. The hens are surrounding the rooster eating some unknown delicacy, probably something I don't want to know about.
I unloaded the wood from yesterday and headed back to the maple tree to finish work on the trunk and lower limbs. It was a real wind twisted tree and distorted at the base so I left a lot of that as it is like splitting concrete. Some of it called for using a wedge but wasn't too bad.

I had guessed right as there was a nice load of wood by the time I got done about mid afternoon.

Friday

2012-01-06T16:13:00.003-05:00

Clear and cold, strangely the TV and radio both kept telling me it was warm and about 40 but it was 26 down in the hollow and it felt 26. I really think they moved all the thermometers to warm locations to justify global warming claims. It ain't warm here!

I almost forgot, but at 215AM when I was putting more wood in the furnace, a finger like cloud was moving in from the SW and the tip covered the moon. It was a real strange looking thing in the sky so I took a few shots.

I loaded up the truck with wood cutting equipment and went to the NW corner of the farm and opened up an old road that connects two small fields so that the farmer can come out on the road at a safer place because of a blind curve. I cut small stuff with the ax and larger trees with the saw. Put a lot of the limbs along the creek where it is washing out.
Took 1/4 truck load of wood back to the house and had lunch. I was amused to see our new neighbor walking around his front yard in a white bath robe at 145 in the afternoon.

I unloaded the small load and then went back and cut and split a good load of maple that was down next to where I cut the road. I did notice a faint sweet almost root beer smell when I was cutting the maple so I guess it does smell after all. There is probably another load still in the woods but I am too tired to get it today as I am out of shape for wood cutting at least. Went back home and then met the school bus.

While at the bus stop I got a wonderful sight and smell, the farmer next door sprayed liquefied cow manure on his field. This is the same foul brew that he let 4000 gallons go into our creek and it killed all life for months. At least he got some of it on the land this time. I am the local villain for turning him in to the environmental quality people but Oh Well!

I went out to get Dusty and found that the moon had gotten tangled up in our wild cherry tree but soon it pulled free and went up into the sky.

Thursday

2012-01-05T17:08:00.000-05:00

It was 29 F this morning and it felt really nice, almost warm. I took the dog out and scouted where I am going to cut wood next. Dusty was watching, hopefully not planning his next escape.

I gave the saw a good cleaning and sharpening today and then had to go get more oil and while out I got a bag of chicken feed. I plan on cutting some cherry and like that wood as it smells so good when cutting, splitting and even burning. Like an old man's pipe from years ago. Most of what I cut is Tree of Heaven and has a foul smell at times especially the leaves. Oak has a pleasant smell but I don't have much of that here that is down or needs cutting. There is also a maple but it doesn't seem to have much odor though you would expect it since it has a lot of sugar in it.

Wednesday

2012-01-04T12:56:00.002-05:00

It was 15 F this morning but it didn't feel as bad as yesterday since the wind wasn't blowing. It was still cold though.

I took a lot of photos this morning, the light was good in the east as well as purple mountains in the west, guess they are the purple ridge instead of blueridge this morning.

I imagine it is very cold on that ridge top.

I watched the smoke from Coleman's house come up in the still air, our house is even lower in the hollow and my fire was hot and not putting out much smoke which is good. Running clean as the old steam locomotive engineers called it, efficient. I put an old style wood stove in Coleman's house and it is hard to get it real efficient though I have seen him do it.

Another view from halfway down the road.

It warmed up nicely this morning and got up to freezing which felt really nice. Aggy the cattle dog/border collie cross was impatient for me to continue down the trail on our walk. Still some snow hanging around in places.

Brought in a light load of wood, I didn't used to mess with the small stuff but this year I have been burning it on warm days and found that it keeps the fire going about right and saves burning good wood. So it is worth bringing in and I expect to use it by friday or the weekend when it warms up.

Heated up some turnip soup for lunch, real peasant food but it has that tangy mustard taste and Roma tomato sauce which further pushes the taste.
I went to get Dusty this afternoon and he had somehow unchained the gate and was gone. I guessed that he headed for the creek as that is his favorite escape plan for some reason and soon I picked up his tracks where the ground had thawed some. I walked half a mile across the creek and over hills and was on my way back when I heard a twig break and started searching. He was in the creek walking around, guess he figured I couldn't track him there, mr. cool hand luke. He saw me and decided to walk over to me and surrender for a peppermint. So back through the ice cold water and down part of the trail to the lower bridge and I took him over it to test my engineering and it didn't even move with a huge draft horse on it. He went into the stable with the electric fence which should hold him if he goes walk about again. I barely made it to the bus and then an appointment at Boones Mill. Now I am tired from all the speed walking this afternoon.

So I guess I can rate the foot bridge for at least 1/2 ton. I made it to handle heavy wheelbarrow loads of wood and bicycles but didn't make it wide enough for vehicles as I don't want them to have access since we have had problems with people trespassing using them.

Linux Pear OS

2012-01-04T09:21:00.000-05:00

If you are not exactly rolling in money and you have an aging Windows XP system that is on the edge of being obsolete, you may want to try downloading Pear OS.
I have between 512mb and 1gb of RAM and it runs great. It is based on Ubuntu Linux but doesn't have the same demands on video cards apparently since I couldn't get Ubuntu 11.10 to load on my desktop machine but 11.04 worked fine.
Anyway, if you have used Linux before you won't have much problem other than hunting around for things you know are there somewhere. If you have only used XP you will be a bit lost for awhile but the good news is that you won't have to look for drivers like on XP and you will have 2012 software for free.
This guy gives an accurate review of Pear so have a look if you don't want to trash your old PC. I have it installed on a Pentium 3 Dell laptop with 512 Ram and a Pentium 4 HP desktop with about 700+ RAM and both perform better than XP. They found my wireless and it worked without issue while the same machines required a download of the driver and windows installer to get the same wireless working on XP. To find a lot of the applications that you need, look in the finder of all places and not the launcher which launches apps. That is my big tip. Oh yea, you can just run it from the DVD drive to see how it work with out installing!

Tuesday

2012-01-03T17:12:00.001-05:00

It was ten degrees below freezing with a wind this morning, it was too cold to do much other than try and get water out for the chickens.

It stayed cold all day and water would freeze in the sun. I decided to install the new version of Ubuntu on my desktop but it never would load so I ended up after much work going on and installing Pear OS on the system as it is based on Ubuntu and works pretty good. The only problem is that some of the processes are in French which well is Greek to me.
I went over to Tractor Supply this afternoon and got chicken feed but it was cold and windy and not a pleasant trip. When I put Dusty up tonight, I gave him corn and broke the water at the edge of the pond but it wasn't very think and most of the pond wasn't frozen. Put up the young chickens with the light to keep them warm. It has been a miserable day to do anything outside and I have been burning wood constantly all day.

Monday

2012-01-02T12:48:00.002-05:00

The school bus came and went before the sun got up. It was cold this morning but then it clouded up and a breeze is blowing, so it has hardly warmed up any.

Black Dog Salvage gave me a canvas and asked that I do a painting for the SPCA art show so I got to work on it this morning and being a 12x12 it didn't take too long to finish. For some reason the thing reminds me of Vincent Van Gogh. Strange! Vincent Van Kluck?

I didn't do a whole lot outside today, brought a couple loads of wood off of the trail today and stacked it as it needs to dry some. These chickens were out at the edge of the corn field in some wild turnips, digging like crazy, I can't imagine what they were eating but it must have been worth all of the scratching.

I went up on the hill after 4 to get Dusty, it was windy and cold. Supposed to get down to the teens tonight. Dusty got the last apple from the fall, they have been in the root cellar laying on a cooler lid and have held up pretty good. I put him over at the stable again so he can get out of the wind.

Sunday

2012-01-01T15:50:00.001-05:00

Cold and frosty this morning. Set up an outdoor cooking area this morning and blanched the turnip greens then cooled them in cold water and ended up with 6 quart bags to freeze from a bushel of greens.
This was a test for when the power goes out, I will at least be able to cook some soup assuming the weather is good enough. It takes very little wood to bring a pot up to boil and the key is not to get too much fire going. I used an old grate from a fireplace but put the fire under it, I found a bent piece of roofing steel and it worked perfectly as a wind block.

Dusty is covered in burrs this morning, his new pasture wasn't cut last summer so the weeds did well. Most of them are burdock and come out fairly easy.

About mid afternoon Dusty came down to the gate so I took him over to the stable to get him used to his winter quarters where he can get in out of the weather which he seldom does. It can be sleeting and freezing rain and he will be standing outside happy as can be.

Nice clouds at sunset. Once the chickens finally decided to go to roost, Carrie and I went over and joined Debbie at her band leader's house for a new year party. They were playing and there was lots of good food and music.

Saturday

2011-12-31T12:05:00.000-05:00

Sunny this morning so I went out and cut a bushel of turnip greens and a half bushel of roots as they are calling for some more cold weather and it may kill the plants back to the roots this time.

I plan on blanching and freezing them so that I can use them in soups or just eating with some ham. Luckily chickens don't like turnips.

I went over to the stable and got a couple wheelbarrows of old hay that Dusty wouldn't eat last winter. I covered up some of the better turnip plants to see if it will get them through to warm weather. The chickens are taking a real interest in the hay so it may not stay covered up.

The last load of wood going down the hill this year. So far I have used less than last year.

Friday

2011-12-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

Sunny and cool this morning, it had warmed up to 28 during the night for some reason. Dusty tried to go past the gate to the pasture this morning and I had to dig my heels into the mud at the key moment and pull his head around to stop him from taking off. So that told me that it is time to take the temporary fence down to let him into the last part of the pasture. Took Carrie into town to her grandmothers then went by tractor supply and got feed, salt and more temporary posts. Fixed turnip soup for lunch and it was as good as turnip soup gets I guess.
Took the temporary fence down this afternoon and did some more barbed wire patching. It has gotten windy and would be a nice afternoon if it weren't for that.

Thursday

2011-12-29T16:15:00.000-05:00

The mobile coop needed a door replacement today as the old one just fell apart. I thought it was plywood but turned out to have some kind of fiber in the center layer that just turns to sawdust when it gets damp so the hinges ripped loose. I made the new door out of wood reclaimed from shipping crates that I got from behind tractor supply the other day. I am not used to working with wood lately so it seemed to take forever to get the simple door built and installed.

I showed Carrie how to work the pop rivet tool and we put Aggy's new dog tag on her collar then I took her for a walk and moved Dusty down to the dog lot to eat the grass down. He was more than happy to work on the project.

My afternoon project was to work on the mobile electric fence charger. I got it to where it works and all that is left is to make a tube for the fence posts and a holder for the spool of fence rope.

When I put the heavy battery in, it is probably over the maximum weight that the cart was designed for but it pulls around good.

I got photos of a couple V22 Osprey as they flew over while I was working. The major flaw of this really neat vertical takeoff airplane is the loud noise they make. I heard them coming from so far away that I got my camera and walked up the hill and set up for the shot. If I can do it, an enemy anti aircraft crew could bring their missile up to ready and launch. When a jet comes over, I hardly have time to get the camera booted up for a shot as they are here and gone so quickly.

Wednesday

2011-12-28T18:50:00.000-05:00

It was a nice partly cloudy day looking out the window but once outside, it was windy and cold. I spent the morning patching barbed wire fence around the last unused pasture. Not sure which was worse, the barbed wire or black berry bushes or poison ivy that had climbed up the ancient posts. I got most of it done and will bring up my post tools tomorrow and finish up with a fence around the cemetery. I worked on a second piece of fence at Dusty's stable and he can now go over there in real bad weather which we haven't had so far. I haven't fed any hay yet which is real nice. Brought in firewood and spread ashes on the hill side where I cut hay, good for the ground.
We went to town to get dog tags and set up the mother in law's Ubuntu Linux computer. Back home at sunset and as you can see in the photo, Dusty got to go out and eat some fresh grass on his way back to night pasture. Made a pizza for supper, hope the wind doesn't blow tomorrow.

Tuesday

2011-12-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

Rain and mud until mid afternoon when the sun came out. I took the dog out around the end of the corn field to explore where I plan on getting next winter's fire wood.

The corn field runs (so does the dog) right up to the creek and then the woods start and there is a steep cliff-like bank.

It is here that I will have to cut a trail into the bank that will be wide enough for the wheelbarrow.
I will call this place "tight squeeze" as it is that.

There are huge trees that have washed out into the creek. It is hard to tell but you couldn't get your arms around the trunks they are so large. The creek is up so at some point they should be accessible.

Should be enough wood for most of a winter.

It is bad enough that the trees are washing out of the bank but now beavers are cutting the small ones down. They are a real pest that damage the stream banks and cause erosion.

We climbed up the steep bank and crossed the top field.

Then back down by the barn and to the house.

Oh but we had to stop for one last nasty mud puddle as it tastes so much better than the clean water at home.

Monday

2011-12-26T17:06:00.000-05:00

In the 20s again this morning but it warmed up some before long. Dusty got to spend the day beside the garden in the fresh grass. I don't think he was impressed by all of the antique insulators that surrounded the area but he did respect the antique wire.

Ernie and hens were warming up in the sun after their breakfast.
We ended up going to Roanoke and did some after christmas shopping today then over to Hema's for a late lunch before Debbie's boys went back to Richmond. Clouding up again, more rain tomorrow so they say.

Sunday

2011-12-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning was cold and frosty at 24 degrees f. It has been pretty warm so the pond wasn't frozen and aggy got a drink. The water must not be too bad after all the rain we have had so it may be time to put dusty in his lot which borders the pond.

The turnips are still doing well and the chickens were busy looking for things to eat in the recently defrosted ground.

Spring flowers are coming through the ground so maybe it will be an early spring, I am ready for it after the last few years.

Thursday

2011-12-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

Warm again this morning, the girls went to Roanoke to an appointment and shopping. I needed a stud finder to locate the studs in the kitchen so I can install more electrical boxes and pull a wire from the basement. Anyway I went to Lowes and found one and when I paid for it, I told the lady that it was a present for my wife so that she could find me when she needed me. She was greatly amused by the thought and hoped that my wife would enjoy the gift.
Next stop was McDonalds with the old laptop that I have been working on for a test of wifi. It is an old dell running Pear 3.0 Linux Panther which is a mac look a like version based on Ubuntu Linux. Everything worked except the built in wireless card so I used the usb card and it went on line fine. The battery held good so I may use this one when I go out rather than my good one. I cut out a copy of their emblem which is a pear and leaf with a bite out of it like the apple logo and stuck it over the Dell emblem. Carrie liked it as the computers on the teenage show "I Carly" are Pear computers.
It started to rain here late in the afternoon but still warm so I just keep a low fire going so that the system doesn't cool down.

Wednesday

2011-12-21T17:28:00.002-05:00

Cloudy with a few sprinkles and showers today but it was warm which is nice on the wood pile. Went in to Roanoke to have lunch with my buddy Greg and run some errands. Dropped off a mess of turnips at West Piano as Dave loves turnips. Next to the habitat store and got some paint and cabinet hinges. Next to the rescue mission and got a new pair of orvis boots for 33 cents, they were missing a metal eye and had no laces and I looked them up online and found they wer $179 boots. I took an eye hook off of an old pair of boots and riveted onto the orvis boots then put on new laces and I had some high dollar vietnamese made boots. What a joke.
Had Chinese for lunch with Greg, his treat, next time we will go to Hema's where I will buy him some of his favorite baked spaghetti fixed as only Egyptians can do. Met the girls and did a little grocery shopping before heading home. Supposed to be rainy tomorrow, I hope the warm weather holds for a while, well actually the rest of the winter would be nice.

Tuesday

2011-12-20T18:48:00.000-05:00

Warm and cloudy this morning. We are getting things ready for christmas so I moved the rest of my painting inventory out to the old milking building where the spiders and mice can admire the art. Here are two of Carrie that I did a few years ago and like the other ton of paintings in storage, nobody would buy them.

There are some good paintings out there and still some in Roanoke at Black Dog where I sell maybe one a month. They want me to do more but it seems that I paint 10 or more for everyone that sells what with the bad economy. I don't really have anywhere to paint now so maybe I will do some next year. I did agree to do a small one for the SPCA fund raiser.

So for awhile they will be on display in the spider gallery.

Ernie the rooster who survived the attack a while back is getting close to normal and was out with his hens behind the house today. He sounded an alarm at one point and everyone ran for cover when a small hawk flew over. He may never be 100% the old Ernie but he has made a remarkable recovery.
I fired up the truck and made a trash run and picked up some chicken feed on the way back. I got some wooden shipping crate material from behind the tractor supply as the manager said I could have anything that wasn't a standard pallet. I filled up the truck and headed home with some good scrap wood for making nest boxes and other similar things. It is supposed to rain the next couple of days so I got in a good supply of fire wood then cleaned out the chicken coops and put down new shavings. The ungrateful birds only gave us 6 eggs today.

Monday

2011-12-19T15:12:00.001-05:00

It was 19 this morning and it felt it when we went out to move the horse and let out the chickens. I spent much of the day wheelbarrowing and stacking about a truck load of wood. Stacked it to dry beside the trail at the creek where it will be an easy haul down to the house. It is not the best wood but will heat the house so I don't care how pretty it is.

Carrie decorated the christmas tree today, the photo doesn't do it justice as she put about every ornament that we had on it.

Sunday

2011-12-18T17:04:00.000-05:00

Up at 130 and 5 to fire the furnace as the temperature was hanging around 28. By sunup it had gone up to 31. I got cleaned up and went to Roanoke about 1030 and picked Carrie up from camp. Went to walmart and got a couple things that I had forgot yesterday. Back home and fixed lunch the Carrie eventually conked out and went to bed as she had stayed up until 4am watching movies.

I brought in more firewood and then took the dog down the trail. At one point you can look over and see the back of the house. Ernie and some hens were in the little chickens pen cleaning up food that they weren't eating. I open the gate and they stroll in then later I went over and opened the gate and out they came. Sometimes they can seem fairly intelligent but then there is the rest of the time.

This time of year, the sun sets many times as you walk along the hillside trail.

Went back over to the house and gathered eggs, the old birds are starting to produce again and along with the new flock we got 11 this evening.
Dusty actually came to the gate to meet me today so I knew he was up to something as he usually has a motive for new behavior. I have been letting him eat along the road on the way back to his night pasture and he almost beat me out of the gate to go do that. He is fat as he can be but still wants a little fresh grass I guess. I am saving as much as I can to make it through the winter, which hasn't started yet though it feels like it. Anyway I haven't fed any hay yet so I will put up some more temporary fences over the next month to take advantage of areas of grass that isn't considered pasture most of the year.

Saturday

2011-12-17T16:52:00.000-05:00

When I got up at 230 to fire the wood furnace, it was real foggy but by morning it had mostly cleared. We took Carrie into Roanoke to a girl scout camp for an overnight thing in the building. It has the theme of Harry Potter. We spent the rest of the day in Roanoke, much at the library where I did some genealogy research and downloaded a new flavor of Ubuntu called Pear as it resembles the Apple screen. They had a sale on shoes at the rescue mission at 3 pair for $1 so we both got boots. We had chinese for lunch, something we do every couple months or so, an extravagance but real nice for a change. Stopped to get Debbie's glasses repaired and then to lowes for a couple things for the house. The bathroom sink is dripping so washers to fix that. Back home and took care of the chickens and dusty. Clear and cooling off for the evening so I fired up the furnace so that it will be ready for later.

Aggy didn't get her morning walk so we went up the hill to get the mail. Happy dog.

Friday

2011-12-16T17:02:00.000-05:00

Another nice morning with temperature in the 40s. As the morning progressed, it became cloudy and then it has been light rain this afternoon. Nothing to take a photo of unless you like mud. I put a piece of black plastic over the brooder coop this morning as it has been leaking and I am not sure where so the easy thing was to put a new roof on. I still have to pick them up every evening and put them in the coop, they haven't quiet figured that part out. All three go to the far corner of course and I just scoop them up while the protest the indignity of the whole thing.

Thursday

2011-12-15T15:22:00.002-05:00

Aggy and I were setting in the swing after the morning walk when Smidgen climbed on top of the swing to show us that the 16+ year old kitty still has it.

Today started the new wood cutting project for what should be next year's wood I guess, that is if I don't have to burn it this year. Loaded up the equipment and went across the creek to cut some standing dead trees along with what ever tree of heaven gets in the way.

Coleman's chickens came down to see what I was doing and get a drink.

I cut a lot of small stuff like this which doesn't amount to a whole lot but if you get enough of them it will heat the house just as good as a large tree.

I dropped a few medium size ones that fell across the trail which is nice for when I haul it away.

I walked up the creek after I was done and found a neat water fall and some more trees that are down and need to be cut up. I may extend the trail to the west up the creek.

The warm weather must have brought this frog out of the mud though it was just setting under water looking at the sunny day. The heron will get it if it stays there very long.

I haven't put any wood in the furnace since about 630 this morning and it had gone out by late afternoon, the first time it has been out since October. So I will have to find the matches and start it again tonight. I hope it is a warm winter, we are due for a break after 3 cold ones.

Wednesday

2011-12-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

Warm this morning, in the 40s so I went to work on the gooy mud hole at the gate to the pasture. There was actually one on each side of the gate where water had collected and Dusty kneads it into a nasty mess. Shoveled ditches through out the mess and by this afternoon you can see that most of the water had drained away. The mud will dry faster now but of course they are calling for more rain over the next couple of days.

I tore apart the light wheelbarrow with the plastic pan and installed a steel pan and gave everything a good painting. It is a light duty suburban model and not much good for heavy work but the girls use it and I like it when cleaning the chicken coops as it fits in the tight space.

It turned out pretty good and I only have $1 in it so a cheap project.

This evenings supper will be turnips and potatoes with some sausage links all cooked together. Cheap eats!
I worked on the trail this afternoon as it has some bad places that are hard to get a loaded wheelbarrow through so I cut the grade down and put on rock and sand from the creek. One steep grade at the first bridge got a lot of rock as it was a slick spot, if you have been on the trail you know where it is! Aggy was with me then went off and I found her chasing deer and she wouldn't listen when I called. She chased one across the creek and up the next hill and tore a hole in my electric fence where Dusty was. Finally she listened and came back and then chased a second out of sight. I called for ever and finally she came back with that deer chasing look and spent the rest of the afternoon in the dog lot. Bad dog no biscuit.

Tuesday

2011-12-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

The sun is nearing it's furtherest south rise point, only a week to go. When I see it through the barn I know the time is near, barnhenge I guess.
It was only down to 32 this morning which made watering much more pleasant for a change.

The chicks that I raised from eggs this fall after gray legs the hen got killed, are looking like regular chickens now. Two pullets and a young rooster, they are that unique genetics that we have ended up with, part game fowl and a mixture of buff orphington and jersey giant. Not sure what to call them other than survivors as the game genes give them the ability to fly like pheasants when in danger. It does make it hard to keep them in a pen though.

I found the remains of a good sized hornets nest along the trail, it must have blown out of a nearby tree, glad I didn't tangle with them last summer.

One of my projects for the day was to put plastic on two sides of the coop. I left the back and part of the sides open as it is very important to let the air come in and circulate. Studies going back a hundred years have shown that it is better to have snow blowing in on the floor than to keep the birds confined in a warm room. They get respiratory diseases if kept shut up. My first instinct was to build an insulated building to protect them from the cold but it really isn't necessary as they are designed to take the cold as long as they can get out of the wind and dampness. Do some real research and look at the remains of old coops and most have a whole side open with chicken wire. The chicken factories are closed environments and they pump antibiotics into their birds so that they can survive in the overcrowded bad air.

Monday

2011-12-12T17:22:00.000-05:00

It was a cold cloudy morning with the chicken water frozen along with the out side faucet for some reason. I caught a coon near the chicken coop and took a photo before it got released back to nature.
Went to town and got more chicken feed and reduced meat at the grocery store.
When I got home the propane truck was checking our tank and even though I had used it some the gauge still said full which was fine.

Spent some time hauling firewood up from the creek where it has been laying. I will move it up to the wall of wood where it will dry and be ready to burn in a month as it was mostly dead when I cut it. The sun finally came out during the afternoon which slightly warmed what was becoming a cold day.

Sunday

2011-12-11T12:21:00.001-05:00

It was 19 this morning, I got up early and fired the stove a second time so that it would keep up with the cold that works it's way into the house.
I took the wheelbarrow out for a test and it worked as planned. I didn't bring the truck down to load as I would if I were really getting wood but just hauled the load back to the house. That is where I found the only draw back of this design, under a heavy load, the steel wheel will almost jar fillings out of your teeth on a gravel or paved road. It is fine for in the woods but you don't want to go far on a road. The steel wheel is easy to use off road and turns better than rubber.

Aggy didn't spend any time in the water this morning, I stepped in to get a photo and could feel the cold through my boots.

It was cooling down quickly when I went to get Dusty this evening. Every day I have to go to the top of the hill, not like he would ever be near the gate. He just stands there to watch the sun set I guess.
I got him moved and gathered eggs and put the chickens to roost then pulled a couple turnips and got some tomato soup out of the root cellar and I am fixing some turnip soup for supper. I put in some tomato sauce that I had canned as the tomato soup that I made is a little too peppery. Also put in some noodles this time to see how they do.

Saturday

2011-12-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

Aggy slipped on a rock and fell in the creek on her way across but decided to avoid the problem coming back and jumped the creek, I still can't figure how she jumps so far.

I spent much of the day working on the wheelbarrow and have it close to finished. you can see that the handles are longer and thicker than normal and they have steel re-enforcement between the hand grip and pan. The pan is re-enforced with 3/4 inch treated wood on top and 1/2 inch on the bottom so it will take a lot of abuse from logs. It is easy to push and turns much sharper than larger ones. It will be interesting to try it on the trail with a load.

It is sad that our government has destroyed our currency to where it is now cheaper to drill a hole in a coin instead of buying a chinese made washer. I remember when you could buy candy with a cent.

Pole Cat.

I was setting in front of the house admiring the wheelbarrow when the chickens suddenly flew across the yard and then aggy started barking. There was a huge raccoon near where the chickens had been so having nothing but a pistol, I turned aggy loose and she treed the coon down by the creek. I called carrie and she brought the shotgun and I blew it out of the top of a tall cedar. You can't tell from the photo but it was a really big one and has been eating good. I am so glad to get rid of this predator as it may be what got some of the chickens. I couldn't get aggy to look at a ground hog but she definitely has no use for coons, she wanted a piece of it.

Friday

2011-12-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

Cold and frosty again this morning. after eating for awhile, Dusty came over to look at the christmas tree but there were no peppermint candy canes so it was not very interesting.

I worked on the wheelbarrow again and it doesn't look like I got much done but I actually had it all together before having to take it apart to bore 2 critical holes. It had to be assembled so that I could mark where the holes go. Now I can do some more painting and put it back together again.

I made a cat house for smidgen on the porch, since she is almost 17 and stays outside because she doesn't always use the litter box, I put a heating pad under her pillow for the cold nights we have now. I got it at the rescue mission for $1 and it works fine. I am already looking forward to spring.

Thursday

2011-12-08T14:24:00.001-05:00

Cold weather and clear skies are back and of course the mud is still here.

The creek along the trail is nearly back to normal but Buck Run is still full as Aggy made her dash back across the ice cold water.

I was feeding the chickens and found our black cat (actually he is a chocolate tabby) laying dead outside the chicken coop. The last time we had a black cat that was dead I buried it (head stone and the works), and later the cat appeared at the back door, not dead of course. I never checked the grave for fear it would be empty and have some religious experience or something. I will assume there were two cats. So anyway, rather than jump to conclusions again I went around the house and sure enough Katsumi the cat was setting there. I went back and the dead cat was still there so at least I didn't go to all the trouble of a funeral and head stone this time.

It eventually warmed up to where I could paint some of the metal for the antique wheelbarrow project. It is rusted but the metal is strong which is what I will need for this "log truck".

I got a good photo of Dusty when I went to get him at sunset.

Carrie and I decorated a cedar tree that came up in the yard, I got some old ornaments at the rescue mission, maybe we will add something else later.

Wednesday

2011-12-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

Rain on top of more rain to where you can't see slippery rock falls today, the water has filled the banks.

The water is just under the upper bridge but solid to cross.

There are creeks now where there weren't any this morning.

The lower bridge is holding as well but is is a lot of water under the bridge so far.

Aggy was looking for dusty but luckily I put him in the west pasture this morning so that I didn't have to bring him through a flooded mud hole this evening. There was no trouble from the chickens as they were already on the roost like yesterday, wet and dejected again.

Tuesday

2011-12-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

Cloudy and rainy this morning,went for a walk and as you can see at slippery rock falls, the water isn't up only a little muddy.

We got a little shower after crossing the second bridge. I decided to go into Roanoke today as it was too wet to get much done here.

I did some shopping for cheap food items and then got 5 gallons of gas for chain saw use. Went downtown to where the rail cam is located at 2nd street and took some photos. I wanted to see what the place really looked like.

I saw smoke coming out of a building so I went over there and found the place on fire.

The next thing I know, trucks from station 1 roll in and start putting the fire out.

The whole downtown area was full of smoke and I talked to the firemen and it turned out that some homeless person had a bunch of stuff stashed in a cavity in the back of the building and it caught fire. Cans were blowing up and something made a huge amount of smoke. I had to convince the fireman that I wasn't the homeless guy, I guess I should dress up more to go take photos.

I did get some good smoky photos of downtown in the rain.

I saw 3 trains and a fire so it was a good day at the tracks.

Monday

2011-12-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

Some rabbit hunters who Debbie knows from her church, came out this morning with a pack of howling hounds. I missed most of the excitement as I had to go to town and pay property and personal property taxes. I stopped by the hardware and got some more screws and nails for the wheelbarrow project.

I worked on disassembling 2 pieces of wheelbarrows and it looks like I can get one built from the parts. The steel wheel one is very old but the pan is rusted out pretty bad but I may try and put a wooden bottom in. I really like the rectangle shape better than the D shape of the modern pan which is cheaply made. This is a small light version but I plan on putting over sized wood and steel in it so that I can use it on rough terrain when I haul firewood out of the woods to the truck. I used a standard size one last year and it was a bear to wrestle to the truck, even down hill. So I will reduce the size of the load but increase the strength of the equipment and maybe it will work out better. If I can figure a way to do it, I would like to put the cultivator plow point on the nose in front of the wheel so that when it digs into the ground when in a rut, it will bust through the dirt and keep going. Kind of similar to the Sherman tanks with the hedgerow attachments in Normandy. I think a fully loaded wheelbarrow would have sufficient force to bust through high spots if the metal is strong enough. If not, it will make a spectacular wreck.
The rabbit hunters gave me 3lbs of home made sausage as a gift for letting them hunt so I fixed breakfast for supper this evening. I got out the $5 waffle iron that I got from the rescue mission and we had waffles and sausage, it turned out really good and was a nice change from typical supper things that I fix.
It is supposed to be warm again tonight with rain tomorrow but that is fine as this 25 degrees F. at night is getting old and I am burning a lot of wood.

Wilson Turner Grave Site

2011-12-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

This is a photo from where the Wilson Turner head stone is located. The site has been neglected for many years and the stone was buried and found by using a probe. The house is a little over a hundred yards down the hill and the original log structure was roughly the 2 windows on the left. We moved here in 2000 and heard there was a cemetery but had a hard time finding the stones.

Wilson Turner

This appears to be susan turner but is broken in several pieces. I have thought about mixing up some concrete and putting the fragments in it to help preserve them but didn't know if there were any relatives who cared to do something else. There won't be much left in a few more decades. There are other ancient stones that I can't read.

The graves are in the group of trees to the right of the lone pine and our house is out of sight to the right of the electric pole. If you can pull up areal photos for 250 sunnybrook lane, boones mill, va 24065 this will give you a reference.

Friday

2011-12-02T15:30:00.001-05:00

Cold again, 21 degrees F. The frost was heavy and reminded me of snow. I had thought ahead last night and emptied all of the water so that I didn't have much trouble with it this morning.

The fence insulators were frosted and lit up nice at sunrise.

I kept the light on in the brooder so the young chickens didn't get cold.

Dusty has been amusing himself by knocking wood off of the wall of wood. I whittled some sticks down to where insulators would screw on and stuck them in the wood then ran wire the length of the wall. It will be in my way but will be easier than re-stacking wood each day.

This evening was the christmas celebration in Rocky Mount along with a second tree lighting. I finally got the horse moved after fixing the fence where something had tore it down. There were only 7 chickens in the lower pen so after much searching, I found the missing one at the end of the corn patch. I got Aggy out and she helped get the large bunch into the coop. Finally I got to town to meet the girls as the middle school band was marching. Stopped at Hema's and ordered a large pizza for 630 to avoid a long wait and just left my car and walked over to the parade area.

There were lots of people out tonight and it wasn't cold yet so once they blocked off the streets, people were walking in the street.

The band actually played good, I talked to the teacher and she said that they practiced a lot this year and it wasn't hard on the ears like before. It was a good tree lighting and then people went to the various stores for open houses to see all of the Christmas things.
We walked over to Hema's Italian/Egyptian restaurant and finally got a table and the pizza was ready for us so we ate while everyone else waited on their orders, yea for me! It was good food as usual, they make their own sauce which is better than the other places.

Thursday

2011-12-01T15:04:00.000-05:00

It was 24f degrees this morning with heavy frost.

Colman had the smoke rolling as did I. The furnace was fired up and hot as hell all night with a good layer of coals glowing.

We went to the creek this morning and Aggy went through the creek but it must have been pretty cold as she cleared the whole creek on her return trip. I caught her in a photo just before she landed on the bank. I didn't know she could jump that far.

I changed my plans and ended up building the chicken pen behind the house. I realized that after I moved Dusty's fence to keep him from destroying the peach trees, that I now had a piece of ground large enough for the pen and near the water faucet and back door.

I put some food down outside the fence and Ernie and some girls were busy eating, the rooster came out of the coop and tried to attack Ernie but bounced off of the fence, lucky for him it was there or Ernie would have kicked his butt. The hens stayed in the coop as they were scared or maybe had more sense. It took a long time to put up the fence as it is nylon mesh and had to be tied to the posts with fishing line. The coop needs to be washed out good when I catch them out of it, no point in traumatizing them at least for a couple days. It warmed up nicely this afternoon which is what I was waiting on so they could be turned out in the sun.

Wednesday

2011-11-30T17:11:00.000-05:00

Another cold cloudy and windy morning so I did my normal things like filling the horse water barrel, feeding the chickens, moving Dusty and getting wood in along with taking ashes to the field. Took the hound for a walk now that the creek has gone down. She is smelling around because the water washed the deer bones away. I found a steel fence post in the weeds which is like finding a $5 bill.

After all of this I finally noticed that my cell phone along with the case was gone off of my belt. I never use the thing except to see what time it is. So I walked my whole routine that I went through this morning and took Aggy with me. She is tired from all the running as she doesn't know what walk means.

I finally found the phone near where I was emptying ashes in the pasture, I realized that a green case may not be the best idea that I have had.

I worked on an old computer this afternoon, it only had 256 Ram so I put Knoppix 6.7.1 Linux on it and it seems to run pretty good. This version is mainly used to work on windows machines and rescue them from bad things but it has a disk install and is not a resource hog like Ubuntu.
The sun came out this afternoon but it still feels like winter. Dusty was up on top of the cemetery hill when I went to get him so I took some photos.

He was busy eating and ignoring me but the rustle of a wrapper being taken off of a peppermint got his attention.

He has managed to get his hair full of burrs again and needs a good combing.

Debbie got home from work as the sun was setting. Time for supper.

Tuesday

2011-11-29T20:59:00.000-05:00

Two inches of rain last night so the mud is even more gooey and the weather experts keep talking of our rain deficit, hmmm.
Worked on getting a computer running Ubuntu 11.10 ready for the mother in law, she used one with a version from 07 for years and is one of the few over 80 people I know that uses Linux.
Started building a pen for the 3 young birds in the mobile brooder. They will live in it in the pen. It was cold and windy today so I didn't move them outside, I will wait for a calm sunny day.

Friday

2011-11-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here is a video of the girls going off shopping this morning, no wait that is Dusty, the two events looked so similar that I got confused. Actually they left before 5am, not sure what they were going to use for money so it would have to be an extraordinary sale.

The creek is back to normal today as the dog and I found out on the morning walk.

Thursday

2011-11-24T22:49:00.001-05:00

Off to Lexington for Thanksgiving at grandma's house. It turned out to be a nice meal and the weather was good. Saw some cousins and didn't eat too much this year. Back home after sunset and brought Dusty in as it was getting dark, he wasn't amused.

Wednesday

2011-11-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

No fog today, it is partly cloudy and windy, with the temperature dropping some. We got an inch of rain overnight so the creek is up some but that didn't stop the hound from jumping in on the morning walk.

I pulled the last of the electric wire for the fence at the creek today.

The whole reason for the fence, other than me not having to cut grass at the garden, was for an emergency water source for dusty when everything else freezes. It isn't easy to see, but the fence crosses the creek to the small tree then back across to a metal post. This give a small access for water where the bank is not steep. I still need to remove all the firewood and bean poles that I have cut.

Of course a third use of the fence is to display some insulators all wired up with original wire.

The big project this afternoon was to make a batch of sauerkraut. I started by slicing up 2 medium heads of cabbage and then mashing them with a potato masher as I went. I guess I should have used a cabbage masher but improvise is the name of the game.

I also didn't have a kraut blade but a knife worked fine as did a cheese grater to chop up the cores.

I used a gallon or so jar and a wooden spatula to chop and pack the minced cabbage.

I ended up with nearly a full jar so I put ziplock bags in the top to keep the cabbage down in the brine that will be forming from the 3 table spoons of kosher salt. It goes through 3 stages of fermentation while in the cool root cellar for the next month.

Tuesday

2011-11-22T18:51:00.000-05:00

It was warm and foggy this morning at the bus stop. The rain was going by to the north of our area.

It was a nice damp morning to take Aggy for a walk on the trail.

There are a lot of dead trees that need to be sawed up for firewood and wheelbarrowed back over to the house.

I put two over engineered bridges in for the purpose of running heavy wheelbarrow loads of wood across the creek. Both have survived several large floods this year. This is the lower bridge and I can back the truck right up to the ramp. The other bridge is near the firewood wall so no truck is needed.

The fog got worse as the morning went on but we never did get anything more than a few sprinkles.

Monday

2011-11-21T12:45:00.001-05:00

One of the cats practically ran up a tree near the creek for no reason that I could see. I think it was just going wild because of the nice warm weather. It came right down without incident.

I completed the new temporary fence this morning. This is an old power insulator called a mickey mouse, it is high on a cedar pole to get the wire over the gate area.

After testing the system, the last thing to do was put some white markers to give the deer a little warning, I am not worried about Dusty getting near it as he has a real dislike for anything that looks like an electric wire.

I put Dusty in the pasture and he didn't notice that the fence had been moved for awhile but soon figured it out and went over to see where the new fence is. He is pretty smart about things. Another old power insulator and the disconnect. I like using the old insulators as they are setting on shelves but display better out in the sun, they aren't worth much but are hard to find as most got trashed when they became obsolete.

There is a good view of part of the fire wood wall from Dusty's new pasture. The wood stretches on around the hillside out of sight and this is the 3rd year that I have cut and split this much wood by hand. Needless to say, I have figured out how to do it by now, it isn't as hard as you might think once you are in shape to swing the 8 pound splitter. The part that I don't like is cutting trees with poison ivy attached, nothing good ever comes of it. After lunch I worked on the other fence below the garden and got it closed off with barbed wire and got the electric to where I only have to go up the final straight section to where the gate is already wired. It could actually happen that I finish fencing for awhile.

Sunday

2011-11-20T17:12:00.001-05:00

It was a warm sunny morning so I took the dog down the trail and then to the creek.

She did a pretty good job of running on the water but it didn't last long.

At least the feet are clean now.
Next I went to tractor supply as I had a 15% off coupon, I got 3 bags of chicken feed, one of dog food and a bag of dog bones.
The girls ate lunch at church so I fixed a skillet of chicken livers which turned out better than usual as they were from naturally grown chickens down the road. I really could tell a difference in taste and texture though I didn't expect any difference. The only reason I bought the expensive livers was that he didn't give his flock any drugs and only natural food. It is important with liver as it filters all the drugs out of an animal's system so you don't want to get any from drugged animals. Next project was to work on the temporary fence, I got the long section wired and will do the short section when I take down the existing fence as I am short of wires and posts. It has clouded up late this afternoon and looks like a rain may be coming.

Saturday

2011-11-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

The big event of the day was our trip to Rocky Mount for the showing of Gone With The Wind at the theater. I hadn't seen the movie in years and I had forgotten most of it. It is one of Debbie's favorite movies and she had even seen it on the big screen before. All went well until intermission when the old ladies got tired of waiting in line for the rest room and I kid you not, took over the men's rest room and wouldn't let any men enter. I don't remember ever seeing so many inconsiderate old women in one place so I went and told the management that I was going to piss on their floor if they didn't fix the problem. They could tell I wasn't joking and went in and cleared the old bags out of the the rest room, it reminded me of when I let the hens out of the coop in the mornings, some scurried away and others walked like old hens back into line for the correct rest room. Glad to say that my mother in law was there and had got in the proper line to start with. There were several older men who were about to wet their pants and were very grateful to have access to relieve themselves. So after the little occupy the men's room event was over, the movie restarted and the world returned to normal. It was a long movie but fun to watch on the theater screen. Went back home and moved the horse and took the dog for a walk down the trail by then after sunset.

Friday

2011-11-18T14:49:00.002-05:00

This kitty will tell you that it is cold, even in the sun. I had problems with the water faucet freezing not to mention all of the waterers. I will need to empty them this evening when I shut up the chickens.

The big project for today was to start on a new temporary fence to get dusty some more grass that should last until the first of the year. Rigged up wooden pins on the metal posts for glass insulators since I don't have enough of the yellow ones. Cut paths through the weeds from the cemetery down to the hay sheds. This part wasn't bad but just over the hill there were blackberry bushes that were 8 feet tall so I look like I was in a cat fight. Going down the other hill it wasn't bad just a few briers and some honeysuckle. I will try and get the remaining posts moved and wire pulled on Sunday so that he can go in on the 21st. I need to get a couple wheel barrows of wood in next as it is supposed to be cold again tonight.

Debbie went up and got Dusty this afternoon, he kept stopping and giving her a hard time until he saw me with an apple and then he decided to follow instructions.

After sunset I shut up the chickens and got a shot of Dusty on the hilltop watching what was going on in chicken land.

I had the good camera so Debbie and I went up the road a way until I could see Venus then faintly below and to the right, Debbie spotted Mercury and I got a photo. I had only seen it once before in the morning and she had never seen it. Usually it is too close to the sun and doesn't show up well.

Thursday

2011-11-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

It was rainy this morning so I worked inside and also made a pot of chili.

I primed a group of 12 wooden christmas ornaments today in preparation for painting them. Our piano tuner wants me to paint them since I am an artist or at least I used to be and I still have all my paints. It is the 12 days of christmas song and some guy cut them out for him and they are kind of neat.

The weather cleared by time to meet the bus but the wind is now blowing from the NW and it is getting cold.

There are still leaves on the tree as it is protected by the house from the west but most trees in the woods are bare now. It feels like winter so I have had a fire going all afternoon and the house is warm enough to make a whole bus load of grannies happy and that is saying something.

Wednesday

2011-11-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

Today started off cloudy and rainy so I went into roanoke and vinton and got stuff that I can't normally get on a grocery run. Even found fairly cheap gasoline. Back home and found a little sun coming through and the leaves were falling in the front yard so I took some photos.

Smidgen the tortoiseshell kitty watched me walking around taking photos of leaves like an idiot but after 16 years, she is used to it.

The chickens weren't amused after finding that I wasn't giving out food.

Dusty found it hilarious and was rolling around in the field, unable to contain himself I guess.

I did get a lot of leaf photos, I doubt if I will paint from them but some are nice random arrangements. They are calling for hard storms later this afternoon so the leaves may get blown down by tomorrow. So I got a cup of flavored rich boy coffee and sat out front and watched them fall and the chickens scratch through them.

My favorite chair that I rescued from the trash dumpster one day.

Tuesday

2011-11-15T18:23:00.002-05:00

Cloudy all day but no rain, they keep saying it will rain tomorrow so I got in extra wood and covered some up outside. Put up a couple cedar poles with insulators and pulled wire, it was some old wire that I had found along the tracks near the white oak swamp east of richmond. It looked pretty old and probably dates 60 or 70 years or so. I just hate to see stuff just go to waste so I brought it home years ago and finally found a use for it. We went to the garage and picked up Debbie's car this afternoon, it was an expensive trip but now it will run awhile longer.
Our internet and cell phones wouldn't work at home most of the day, must have been a tower out somewhere, it finally came up after 6pm.
I spoke too soon, the verizon internet and cell went off right after I posted and is now just back on at 9.

Monday

2011-11-14T13:39:00.001-05:00

Warm and cloudy this morning with a breeze from the SE and it soon became mostly sunny and warm.

The first project of the day was to move the new stove that we bought a couple years ago for the on going kitchen renovation and connect it. The old counter top range in the other kitchen has just self destructed over the last couple of weeks until we only had one working eye last night. We are renovating what was the kitchen dating from the 1920s and will turn the small 1964 kitchen into a pantry of sorts.

The next project was to put the big ladder up to the smoke stack and remove the cap which I mainly put on over the summer. The whole system is insulated stainless steel/titanium up to the cap. When the hot gases reach the cool cap the form creosote and stop up the small vent holes so the furnace eventually starts to smoke because the flue doesn't draw properly. My solution was to remove the cap every cold season and extend the insulation to the very top and I only get a small build up of creosote right at the lip. I bought a cleaning brush but found that the system was so efficient that I only had to remove some with my hand at the top which is nice as it isn't one of my favorite places to work.

I have been using my grandfather's razor and decided to research it and was surprised to find that Gillette put a serial number on each razor and this one dates to 1918 and may have been a wedding gift but I will never know. It is a vicious looking thing compared to modern ones but has such a nice feel to it, very un-plastic.

I picked Carrie up early from school and took her to the orthodontist for her monthly visit. We got home and she put on orange and took the dog for a walk, the orange is a must during hunting season as there are people who trespass and shoot at anything.

Aggy got a nice walk on a nice warm afternoon.

Sunday

2011-11-13T17:30:00.000-05:00

I slept late until almost 8 today, but I got up at 130 and 5 to stoke the fire so I felt like laying in bed awhile. Repaired the young hen's fence this morning then tilled up a strip of garden that was free of debris and gave the chickens some fresh dirt to scratch in and eat what ever it is that they pick out of the dirt.
The girls ate lunch at church so I didn't have to cook a big lunch. I was going to fix some oat meal for my lunch and the stove top eye shorted out and burnt a hole through the stainless steel copper plated pan then blew the breaker. That is two eyes that have failed in as many weeks, not looking good for that stove, lucky we have a new one that we got for the old kitchen that is slowly being renovated. Now it is bumped up on the list of things to do.
Brought in more fire wood and then took the dog for a long walk around the farm while I looked for down and damaged trees to cut up for wood. I spotted a couple good ones that need to be cleaned up so they are on the list of things to do. Cooking turnip soup for supper along with grilled cheese. The soup consists of a turnip and greens chopped and cooked with a quart of my tomato soup and a couple pieces of bacon and of course some garlic. I don't know how it tastes yet but I have been thinking about it awhile because that is what I have fresh to eat.

Saturday

2011-11-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

Up at 5 this morning, well of course I was up at 230 to put wood in the furnace but anyway Carrie and I went to the middle school and went on a bus to Lynchburg. It was a try out for a regional band competition. The photo is just before sunrise as we crossed over smith mountain lake with a fog lifting as we crossed into Bedford county.
Most of our students went in right away so much of the day consisted of waiting and waiting while reading or doing what ever to keep from being bored to death. It was over after 3 and we got back home before sunset so I was able to get some wood in for the night. Debbie had been out all afternoon but got home first so had Dusty moved back to the evening pasture as we arrived. A long day for sure.

Friday

2011-11-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

Sunny breezy and cool today. I got more work done on the fence, put in new barbed wire and patched the old down to the creek. Put some of the copper electric on the upper side and over the gate. I didn't seem to get a whole lot done but it took all day to do it so that is the way it goes some days.

Thursday

2011-11-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

I didn't take any photos today so I will add one that I forgot about yesterday. Some wild turkeys crossed the road when I was coming home from getting chicken feed so I got the old Sony out of the case and got a shot off before they got across the road.
Today I met my insulator picking buddy Tommy at Bojangles for breakfast and spent the morning talking. It was cloudy and cool so I wasn't in a real big hurry to get to work. When I got home I moved brush and in doing so realized that much of it would make good bean poles next year so I worked on cutting them out of the brush which too a while longer than I thought. Anyway no wire stretching today. It finally became partly sunny about mid afternoon but the breeze kept things cool.

Wednesday

2011-11-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

After a trip into town to get chicken feed, haul trash and grocery shopping I worked on cutting trees for the fence. Some had lots of poison ivy so I had to go slow and slice it off with a double bit ax to keep from blowing it everywhere with the saw. I think I am done except for moving the brush to the gully.
Ernie the rooster was out getting a drink today and lay in the sun and even did a feeble crow once. He is still not in good shape but is not giving up.

Tuesday

2011-11-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

No school today as it is election day and they use many of the schools as voting places. Carrie didn't get up until noon, I figured she needed the rest so I left her alone. Not sure how much sleep she got as I was working on the fence and cut down some dead trees that were in the way. After lunch we went out and I voted, Debbie had to work and voted early this morning. Back home and worked on the fence some more and split some of the wood I cut this morning. Watched the space station go across at 609 this evening.

Monday

2011-11-07T17:30:00.001-05:00

Another fall morning here, complete with leaves on the road and frost on the grass.

Worked on the fence today, made wooden pins for the old glass insulators to screw onto.

Many of the insulators date from the 1880s and were found buried along the rail road tracks where the telegraph lines were cut down over 50 years ago. I used to find the stumps of the ancient poles and feel around in the ground with a pitch fork until I felt glass and out comes an old jewel.

I plan on running a wire down what is left of this old gate as it won't take much abuse from Dusty, he broke it in half once before. He only got shocked once a long time ago but he is smart enough to figure out what is going on and stays away from an electric fence.

Tomorrow is election day so I took another sign up since the first got stolen. Tim Allen is the husband of Carrie's girl scout leader so we try to support him, I like that he hasn't taken any campaign contributions. That is Carrie's old elementary bus speeding by.

Here comes Carrie, all happy that there is no school tomorrow because of the election. She will have lots of time to practice the clarinet (honker and tweeter).

They are harvesting the soy beans today.

The moon was up when I went up the hill to check the fence and get Dusty who seems to go to the far end of the field when it comes time to go to evening pasture.

Dusty was busy eating when I got up there. So I let him eat on the way down to the house.

Still some color here and there.

Ernie the rooster is still hanging on after the big attack on Friday and is eating some but I couldn't get him to drink. He is not doing very well.

Sunday

2011-11-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

Nice sunny fall day, I took the dog for a walk and was back having a cup of tea this morning when DW the hunter came by and said that he had checked his wildlife cameras around the farm and found a photo of a large black bear a few hundred yards to the SE. I have never seen one but he finds sign and photos, same with bob cats.
The photo is of Debbie bring Dusty back to his evening pasture around sunset. We went out later and saw the space station go over again.

Saturday

2011-11-06T07:35:00.000-05:00

Worked on the fence project again and got all of the posts and gate in place. Next will be to put on the insulators for the electric. I plan on using old antique glass telegraph insulators from over 100 years ago as they look nice in the sun so I will need to rig wood for them to screw onto. Barbed wire will fill in the lower part of the fence. It will just be for the horse as it won't keep anything else in or out. The fence will allow Dusty to keep the grass around the garden mowed all year and also keep the idiot farmer's dairy herd out of the garden area as they get out several times a year and venture this way. This guy stretches electric wire around his field but doesn't put power on it as the cows are trained not to mess with electric fence. Of course cows are not totally stupid so they eventually test the wire and escape thus he is an idiot for underestimating them. One day they will walk to the road and kill someone when a car slams into a cow. This summer the garden fence kept them out and they went into Dusty's pasture and I shut the gate. He is just too lazy to run a working electric fence and maintain it.
We went to Debbie's mother's for supper as her boys are visiting this weekend and we got to see the space station go over again.

Friday

2011-11-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

Cloudy this morning, the blogger won't let me upload an image showing that it was in fact a nasty morning so use your imagination of a cloudy day with smoke rising up from the chimneys in the hollow.
Since it was wet and muddy as a result of 1 1/10 inches of rain, I went in to Roanoke to the green living expo to see what new things there were to see since last year. I was there for several hours and the most improved item was the LED light bulbs, they looked good now and put out a lot of light. I can't afford them but maybe some day. I did get a free florescent and a small LED night light with light sensor built in. I put the night light in where it will shine on the back stairs that I use to fire the furnace at 2am, it gets dark in there especially on a cloudy night.
Back home and I found the dog in the yard instead of the dog lot and a pile of chicken feathers. It is strange for it to break out to kill a chicken. When I shut them up later I found that I was missing 2 and Ernie the rooster was crippled. There were black feathers up in the horse pasture but no birds. In the past the dog has caught and played with chickens until they stopped playing but always the body is left laying around. I think that some other animal (dog, fox, ?) attacked the chickens and the dog somehow got out and ran it off possibly. So the big loss was the black hen who was one of the best ones and a young rooster which was no loss and of course Ernie who may or may not recover.

Thursday

2011-11-03T17:08:00.002-04:00

Colorful sky this morning, another cool morning but sunny an pleasant. I worked on the new fence project by pulling old posts from an abandoned fence row. They were really stuck so I had to use a come-a-long with chains and a 10 foot beam to pull them from what felt like concrete but was really just age old packed dirt.
Carrie and I walked up the hill and saw the space station go over again. A front was coming in so it came out of the clouds to the north and went past Jupiter I think.
I had to come back and edit this entry as I forgot to mention that while in the front yard this afternoon, I saw a monarch butterfly go over on the same path that all the others had followed weeks before. It must have hatched out late and has had to survive after heavy frosts have killed most of it's food supply. Our butterfly bushes are still blooming so it must have been getting refueled on sources like that, it went on to the south west toward Mexico and warmer air.

Wednesday

2011-11-02T20:38:00.000-04:00

Mostly clear today. Started off frosty with ice to break for the animals. I worked on getting some fence posts together for the fence project and then got a call from the garage about the subaru.

It turns out that the front U joint on the drive shaft which goes to the rear wheels has got worn places in the inside. In this photo it is behind the round area on top. Turns out that they made the part in such a way as to prevent it being lubricated or replaced. Even at the dealer they would just install a new one which costs about $700. I hope I see the day that subaru goes out of business, what kind of company designs such a piece of junk on purpose so that it will wear out and the entire unit must be replaced. The garage is looking for a cheaper option. I did find a place near here that would build a complete drive shaft from scratch for about $500 but it would be nice to have one made to fit exactly, this guy builds race car shafts and I expect it would be a much better part than what came with the car.
At 801pm Carrie and I watched the space station go over from the hill top, it got about halfway across the sky and faded then disappeared, it went completely into the earth's shadow and was then invisible since no light was shining on it, I guess they could have turned on a light for us had they known we were watching.

Tuesday

2011-11-01T20:40:00.000-04:00

Another heavy frost this morning and a photo of Dusty in the frosty field as the sun came over the hill.
Today's adventure started off simple but soon got complicated. I called and then took Debbie's car south of town to be looked at as there is still a vibration. The garage in town said it was in the rear and I said it was in the front end so I took it to Doughton's to see what he thought.

We took it out for a test drive with the owner driving and when he went to turn around in a church parking lot there was a loud bang and we found the CV joint had broken in half. We were not going anywhere after that so he called for one of the guys to bring the roll back tow truck.

So we eventually made it back to the garage and they were able to get a new axle assembly out of Rocky Mount. The other side was in bad shape as well but we had the only part in town so a second was brought down by currier from Staunton. After the first one was installed I went home and came back early in the afternoon and waited on the part and they installed it in time for me to meet the school bus. There is still a small vibration so he wanted me to bring it back and leave it tonight and they would research it tomorrow so that we did. A long day of setting and waiting for the most part but it was just as well that the part broke with us rather than in the middle of US220 with Debbie pulling into traffic.

Monday

2011-10-31T20:43:00.000-04:00

A cool misty Halloween morning down in the hollow. I moved a pile of wood up to the wall of wood and stacked it in the hole where I have burnt about a truck load so far. Next I took two light wheel barrows apart and made one that works (I hope) so far I have hauled a load of wood without the Chinese tire blowing apart.
I found a couple of neat cams for Roanoke this evening, they are in downtown and point at the railroad tracks. A third one has the radio communication of the trains, almost like being there. The first one is mounted under the walk bridge at the Hotel Roanoke looking west. The second is located under the second street bridge looking east.

Sunday

2011-10-30T20:48:00.001-04:00

We finally got a frost this morning and it killed everything in the garden except turnips and field cress and bugs. So this afternoon, I fixed the chicken yard fence so that I could open it and let them in the garden during the day. They had a big time catching bugs and eating tomatoes and grass.

The willow is still looking like it is summer this afternoon, it seems to take the cold pretty good as it is one of the first ones to put out small leaves in the spring.

Saturday

2011-10-29T15:46:00.002-04:00

There was several inches of snow over in the valley but here it soon became mostly sunny and cool. This was the big day of the old forge meeting over near the mountains so I ventured up Dillons Mill road and took photos of the fall color on the way.

Ice was still forming on the mountain top as the moist air was blowing across and the cows were up high on the ridge eating.

These were the fast chickens.

These were the slow chickens. They had a large cooker that was full of chickens and pork shoulders, the tables were loaded with other food and deserts.

They fired up several forges and made various things from iron. It became breezy and the coal smoke was blowing in the wind.

This fellow was practicing making small leaves that are made for decoration. The girls came out and had lunch with me, it was really good food and there were no complaints.

After doing the afternoon chores we went off to Roger and Carol's house for more great food and an evening with the gang of playing music and sipping Franklin County moonshine. I am stuffed as I ate so much today.

Friday

2011-10-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

I soaked beans overnight and then boiled them first thing so that by 9 am I started combining all the ingredients into the large Dutch oven. Into the oven for 3 hours.

Around 1230 I took them out of the oven and the house was full of the barbecue sauce-like smell from the boston baked beans.

I am working inside today because it was rainy. While the beans were baking, I got jars ready and cleaned them and the lids. Started filling them with tomatoes.

Finally about the time the beans were done, the old canner came up to a boil.

Ended up with 11 quarts of mostly red and a few yellow tomatoes. I added right much vinegar to boost the acid level as it is so late in the season. I plan on making some stewed tomatoes this weekend as I finally found the recipe that matches what we used to have. More of a bread type of dish rather than just tomato.

Thursday

2011-10-27T14:50:00.002-04:00

Clouds at sunrise but it turned out to be mostly sunny today. I got a section of old barbed wire fence torn out and then got the saw going and cut up some large pieces of firewood then split it. The weather is supposed to cool so I will get another wheelbarrow of wood into the furnace room late this afternoon in case it rains. I picked a large and small bucket of tomatoes so that I will have something to work on inside if it rains tomorrow.

I have noticed a spider on my window by the computer for several days now. It is one of the ones that hunts and doesn't build a web. I just left it alone as I figured it might catch a bug which it finally did this afternoon, and of all things a stink bug. So now the new rule is not to mess with my pet spider no matter how much you don't like spiders. It can live in here all winter and eat stink bugs.

Wednesday

2011-10-26T21:22:00.001-04:00

Went over to my friend Tommy's with my truck as he had some scrap wood for me that I use for starting fires in the furnace. I hadn't run the truck for a few weeks so when I got over there I asked Tommy if he was burning something as it kind of smelled like something was cooking. He said no and we then saw smoke coming out of the front of the truck, I opened the hood and we found that there were stink bugs crawling out of every hiding place on the motor and many had dropped down on the manifold where they were trapped and were cooking then burning in a final cloud of stink. I unhooked the battery just in case they were shorting something. We then went over and delivered some painting stretchers to Greg and we all went out to a Chinese buffet. It was the largest one that I had ever seen, too big for me as I was full and hadn't tried but a fraction of the food. On the way home I turned on the air conditioner which doesn't work but was a hiding place for many stink bugs so it ran and made stink bug sausage. I moved the scrap wood into the furnace room, I use a lot of it this time of year since the fire goes out part of the day and needs to be rekindled at night. During the winter the fire never goes out for months but the wood is needed again in the spring.
I saw on the Blackdog Salvage Blog that they were featured on Nate Berkus TV show this afternoon, it was a quick tour of the store but gave a good feel for what was there. Click on the above link then look for the link to view the segment.

Tuesday

2011-10-25T16:58:00.001-04:00

It was cool and foggy when this morning I went back down the hill from the school bus into the hollow.

The sun was coming up and warming things by the time I got back down the hill. I worked on repairing an old rusted and broken gate today as I am going to build fence near the garden to fix a small pasture to put Dusty where he can get to the creek for water. I need to get some metal posts but will use wooden where I can.

I found photos on the camera this morning that I forgot to download yesterday. Dusty is hanging out in the field with the young roosters yesterday, maybe they were hanging with him for protection and to grab the bugs he scares while eating.

After being moved back to short grass for the night, Dusty walks over to get his water. He has burrs in his forelock again so that will be a nasty job pulling them out.

Monday

2011-10-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today's adventure involved transforming tomatoes into puree then cooking it down until with the addition of spices, it became soup. I got 7 quarts and 4 of the 1 1/2 pint jars. I had some for a late lunch and it was pretty good with some milk in it. Didn't have any basil so I used dill which had come up wild in the tomato patch. There were a lot of recipes that called for dill so I went with it.

Sunday

2011-10-23T19:47:00.002-04:00

Up early today and met my artist buddy Greg Osterhaus at his place in Roanoke before sunrise. We grabbed breakfast at a drive through then headed up the valley to Rockbridge county for a morning of photography. He needs more reference photos to paint from so we were looking for fall color landscapes, cows and barns. We didn't have frost at home but we found it at various places along the way, at many places there was thick fog which messed up our photography.

Most of the time the light was good and some of the colors really glowed early in the day.

We went out through Collierstown then behind the House Mountains and down Kerrs Creek to my mother's place near Lexington. This photo is of Little House Mountain taken from the community of Kerr's Creek where a lot of my ancestors lived in the 1750s.

After leaving Lexington we traveled along the Maury River to where it empties into the James River. This canal lock was visible from River Road, for some reason I have never seen it before, it must have been overgrown years ago when I was researching the area.

We got back to Greg's at noon and I went on home and just messed around the rest of the afternoon, took a break I guess. Went up on the hill and repaired the electric fence where I guess deer broke through again. Took a photo of dusty down in the middle pasture eating away as usual.

One of the cats was in the pasture behind the house throwing something in the air and playing. It looked like a small rat of some kind but when I approached, it quickly ate it as it must have thought I was going to take it for my supper.

Saturday

2011-10-22T20:42:00.000-04:00

I cut some turnip greens and fixed them for lunch, there are some turnips forming but I really grow them for the leaves. Picked more tomatoes this afternoon and will most likely make tomato soup. They are calling for frost in some areas tonight but I hope it misses us as there are lots of green tomatoes left. It won't hurt the turnips and seems to actually make them taste better.

Friday

2011-10-22T14:42:00.000-04:00

The big event of the day was in the evening when the middle school band got to go to the football game with the high school band and play the national anthem. It was a cool evening so we wore winter coats or at least the old folks did.

It was a good close game with lots of action. Franklin County played George Washington of Danville, both known as the Eagles.

Franklin won 34 to 20 and it was the last home game of the year. Carrie is all excited about marching band now so it looks like I will see a few more games over the next 4 years. I will be getting a stadium seat to soften the setting.

Thursday

2011-10-20T13:32:00.001-04:00

Cool this morning with a few clouds, I had the wood furnace going last night.

We are getting some color now that the days are getting shorter and temperatures going down.

I decided to go out in the bean field and do a painting this morning, I haven't painted since early in the year as I have had too much to do and what with Obama and crew destroying the economy there were few sales.

I picked this view of the bean field with the Dunker church in the background along with farm silos. Of course once I got started the clouds rolled in and it became windy and cold but I kept on from what I remembered it looking like.

After a few hours I got the painting close to what I was wanting even though the clouds were messing up the light and wind was trying to blow the easel away.

Not one of my favorite paintings but not bad for "en plein air" and me being out of practice. Someone will like it, some won't that is how it always works.
I am working on getting an old computer working now, it is not being kind to me to say the least.
I am finally using the computer that I was working on, I installed Puppy Linux version 5.2 Wary on this old Compaq desktop. This version of Linux is made for older lower rescourse computers and seems to be the best Puppy version so far as I was able to download and use all the free software that I uses on Ubuntu. I have been looking for alternatives as even Ubuntu Linux is getting too large for older machines which is what I have.

Wednesday

2011-10-19T18:46:00.000-04:00

Carrie took the tomatoes that she canned to her teachers today, should be worth an "A". It was rain and mud here today so I ended up shelling a bucket of lima beans. Now I am finally out of beans to shell until I pick more.

Tuesday

2011-10-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

Another sunny fall morning so after taking care of the animals I shelled a bucket of October beans.

Picked yet another bucket of tomatoes then picked up carrie at school and took her to the orthodontist after getting stuck in a traffic jam because of a wreck. We were late but oh well they got over it.

After supper, I got busy canning tomatoes.

Because of all the rain, these were very dirty so they got an extra washing and I picked out enough real good ones for Carrie to can for her environmental science teachers.

These are the first canning that she has done but she picked right up on the peeling and measuring the vinegar and salt for each jar then filling to where there is enough head space left for a good seal.

We did 11 quarts in the water bath with her 2 being modern jars and lids but mine were all zinc and lightning style as I am trying to save my lids for next year at this point and I have right many jar rubbers.

Monday

2011-10-17T17:27:00.001-04:00

There were a lot of clouds this morning which kept the house cool until late afternoon. I shelled beans and hung out near the house as the piano tuner came to tune up the 1890s piano with it's huge sound board that fills the house. I took him to Debbie's church and let him in where he tuned the 2 there.
Brought in another wheel barrow of wood as it is supposed to get cold at night over the next few days.
After supper, we went up on the hill and at 7:16 watched the International Space Station go pretty much from south to north, it was very bright and didn't look like any of the airplanes that were around. A few years ago we saw it together with the space shuttle go over.

Sunday

2011-10-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

Spent the morning picking beans to shell and got 3 buckets with one being lima, one october and the other blue lake. I had to stop and think a few minutes in the garden as I thought the bottom row was one of Roma beans but when they had dried I found they were actually October or Cranberry beans. We had been eating them as green beans and they were good so I learned something. I always wondered why they were so much larger than the Roma II bush beans a few rows away and some had strings, duh. They were fine as green beans, I never would have guessed it. I was fixing lunch for everyone and got a jar of peaches from the root cellar and set them on the counter and they looked nice beside some tomatoes so I took a photo. The peaches are in a 1858 patent jar that came from my great grand parents farm, not many of those left after being used for a hundred years.

After Carrie finished clarinet practice, we walked over the hill to look for an old road that connects 2 small corn fields. Her grandmother wants to open the road up but she didn't know where it was in the woods so we went looking. Took a photo of the rental house that used to be my studio, the bean field is starting to get some nice colors. We finally found the old road and I think that I can open it up with my saw and a bull dozer won't be necessary as the grade is fine but it is blocked by trees and brush. We walked around and identified the trees, Carrie has learned a lot about them in school and knew most of the ones I picked out. We went back to the house and then took the dog for a walk down the trail.

Saturday

2011-10-15T21:55:00.002-04:00

Started off the day by cleaning out the chicken coop on wheels and putting in wood chips and more hay in the nests. I got a feed bag of manure that will get put on the garden at some point.

Next I picked a bucket of tomatoes and washed them in the sink to continue the spaghetti sauce project. Boiled and peeled them then ran them through the sieve.

This batch got combined with the one from last week which has been in the refrigerator. Boiled it for hours.

Went out and split some more wood.

Took a few photos about sunset when I went into town to have supper with the family at Hema's Egyptian Italian restaurant. I left the spaghetti sauce at a slow boil and came home early just as it was getting dark to shut up the chickens and finish the sauce.

I ended up with 11 quarts and they had all sealed by 930 so I labeled them. It was a long process but it is worth it when you compare what is in the store for sale, the store jars are less the 1 1/2 pints so it is beginning to feel like there isn't enough sauce for the spaghetti. It will do us until next year as Carrie doesn't like spaghetti so we don't fix it often.

An additional benefit of home canning is that your chickens get to eat the peelings and seeds so very little goes to waste. The chicken manure then goes back on the garden so things complete a cycle though the challenge is to make it a lot more efficient.

Friday

2011-10-14T22:27:00.000-04:00

Clear to the west this morning as the clouds moved off to the east.

I made a trip to get chicken feed and then picked up several things at the grocery store. Back home and started sawing up the pile of 8 foot long fire wood that has been laying by the driveway. Unfortunately when I dumped it there, I didn't know there was the mother of all yellow jacket nests just behind where the wood lays. I got stung once on the hand then spent about an hour battling the things so that I could continue sawing. It took 3 cans of spray and some gasoline poured down the nest hole. I haven't run into such a large nest before. It was sunny but very windy much of the day then it became cool.

I took some photos of the soy bean field while waiting on the bus this afternoon, it is turning yellow and might make a good painting in the right light. I did one several years ago that I liked but I don't remember if it ever sold, probably stored out at the barn or somewhere if it didn't.
Rick of Tinbenders came by late in the afternoon and reset our propane furnace as it had some kind of error code, it is our backup heat so it wasn't an emergency but it is nice to have it working. I had split about a third of the wood by the time he got here but then I had an excuse to stop, lazy me I guess.

Thursday

2011-10-13T14:26:00.001-04:00

Foggy this morning as Dusty waited by the wall of wood to go on his morning walk out to pasture. There were periods of rain and sunshine the rest of the day.

I went into the root cellar this morning and a hen came to the door as I usually throw cave crickets out to them and that is one of their favorite meals.

Last night I put some of my 2009 Blue Lake Pole beans to soak as I have fresh ones to plant next year. Cooked them this morning and then baked them for 3 hours and they came out tasting really good. I followed this recipe fairly close but didn't put in as much bacon. It was raining most of the time so I stayed inside and shelled more beans, there are more in the garden as well as a good supply already in storage jars so we won't starve this winter and they will also provide lots of amusement.

There was a down pour when the bus arrived and muddy creeks were running everywhere within a couple of minutes but the driveway was holding what with all the stone I put in it last summer.

Wednesday

2011-10-12T15:34:00.001-04:00

Lots of rain which stopped before lunch and totaled 2 3/10 inches. I didn't get much done outside and had an appointment to get the oil changed in the car, it was way over due for that but I was on schedule for the tire rotation. Bought a new brake light bulb for Debbie's car, the 3rd bulb in almost as many weeks, they are all burning out for some reason.

By the time I met the bus, the rain clouds had moved to the east and we started getting some sunny patches that lit up the trees that are just starting to get contrasting greens before going into color.

Tuesday

2011-10-11T17:06:00.000-04:00

Cloudy this morning and they are calling for rain the next couple of days. Here are the young hens that I got as chicks back in march. They are our main layers most days as they consistently lay 7 or 8 eggs. They ran over and got their morning drink as soon as I let them out.

The 3 chicks that I hatched in the incubator after something killed the hen, are growing and getting real feathers now. They are very active and run back and forth in the coop flapping their new feathers.
Not knowing when the rain would start, I spent the morning shelling beans and then after a late lunch, went out to pick more. It was then that a light rain started and has continued all afternoon. They say we need it but I am not sure why as things seem to be doing fine with out a rain at the moment. I cleaned out the ditch along the road that silts up and then fired up the wood furnace for the first time. It was cool and damp so I decided to give the system a test. Everything had stink bugs crawling out and I had to give the blower motor a smack to get it to run and I suspect there were bugs in it as well. Of course the ones who were spending the winter in the furnace and smoke stack got fried which was a nice event that should happen to the entire population as they have been introduced from china and have no enemies other than me and the chickens.

Monday

2011-10-10T18:51:00.001-04:00

Made a trip into town to get a head light for Debbie's car then went by the grocery store and searched for special bargains and found a few things marked down.
Moved the ears of corn into the storage barrel today as it is supposed to rain for 2 days. Also picked a bucket of dried beans to work on during rainy days.
There were four hawks flying around this morning and not a chicken to be found, they had all taken cover. Later in the day Ernie the rooster gave the hawk warning and everyone ran but it turned out to be a buzzard.
I installed the new firebrick in the wood furnace this afternoon and organized the furnace room to where I got 3 wheelbarrows in as a test. One is full of kindling and the other 2 have some low quality wood that I can burn to take the chill off. I need to install an electric plug for the blower and I will be ready for cold weather. Put up a new board and marked the first 2 loads, it would be real nice if it was a warm winter for a change but we have had several very cold ones no matter what the global warming religion says. Oh great Gore, save us from global warming!
I walked the temporary electric fence after I moved Dusty and found that it was broken near the end on top of the hill where I couldn't see it. I was just able to see the full moon rising through the high clouds that have been moving in all day.

Sunday

2011-10-09T22:26:00.001-04:00

Spent much of the morning harvesting more of the Indian corn and laying it out to dry. Brought over one of the large storage barrels to eventually put it in to dry. Since the barrel is made of black plastic, it heats up and helps dry thing quickly. I have some corn over at the stable in a couple and it has dried nicely.
Picked a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes and after supper, I skinned and pureed them and will keep them in the refrigerator and hopefully get another bucket to add to the first. I can turn them into spaghetti sauce or ketchup but I haven't decided yet.

Saturday

2011-10-08T18:29:00.000-04:00

We traveled to Lexington to visit grandma today, here the girls are getting tea along the way.

We spent the day visiting and then came home about sunset to take care of the animals. I got a skunk in the cage trap so I will have to take care of it in the morning. The deer were out in the field this evening, of course if it were hunting season they would not do that. Somehow they know when to become invisible.

Friday

2011-10-07T20:55:00.001-04:00

Another fall day with a cool misty morning. Aggy was watching something that I couldn't see, probably a bug, I made sure is wasn't a chicken(again) and left her watching the invisible creature.
Went to town and got groceries since I needed a couple of things. Back and started harvesting the Blue Lake pole beans which will be used for planting next year. They grew in the corn patch and I ate a few but it was mainly a year to get some more seed. We relied on bush varieties to eat this year with good success but I like the pole beans better, maybe it is just how they look and watching them grow. I almost forgot, I moved the electric fence box up into the top of the spring house next to the music computer where I can get to it easier. Re worked some of the wires and made switching power to the fields easier and at one location.

Ernie the rooster has lost his last tail feather which was badly worn before it fell out. He seems to loose them once a year and lost one of his spurs one time but it grew back even longer. He is a lover not a fighter.

The shadows come over the garden early this time of year but the barn is lit up all winter at sunset, the moon is up and going toward full again.