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September 30, 2007

Farm stuff!

I learned how to drive the tractor yesterday! I cannot believe how complicated it is. You have to worry about hydraulics and all kinds of stuff. But I did manage to mow a bunch of weeds down. Took me a long time, those tractors move pretty slowly. I also managed to discover a tractor weight from the previous owner - the mower hit it - and some rocks. We have some pretty rocky land. I think I'll see if John can raise the cutting height to something like 8 or 9 inches off the ground - maybe even 10 inches - that way, the mower will miss most of those rocks!

John put the round pen up for me yesterday. At least most of it - we are going to use it as a temporary paddock for Willy and Petey until we finish the stalls (if I can get the postholes dug and the posts set today, I can finish the stalls tomorrow).

John got the 150 gallon stock tank filled with water and set up with a float that will keep the water level even.

John hurt when he got up this morning - I'm causing my sweet husband pain with all this moving stuff and horse stuff and farm stuff.

Oh, Friday evening - around 7"00 pm - it was so, so cool - I could hear the honking of geese, but I could not see them - then they flew around the barn and over the house - they were flying so low that I could actually hear their wings flapping. They were most definitely headed south.

The hummingbirds left on the first day of Autumn. It was weird - one day, I have humming birds everywhere, the next day, they are all gone, and they are different species, so it was even weirder.

I have limited time to spend on the internet right now, as I have to drive back to the house in town to use it until AT&T gets their act together and sets everything up at the farm!

Today, we bring the horses home!!! And, I have to get all their tack and stuff from the stable at Ft. Leavenworth to our new home.

Very exciting for me!

Posted by Beth at 8:19 AM | Comments (7)

September 27, 2007

Moving - oh, how I hate moving

The movers will be here at 8:30 am or so tomorrow morning. They will only be taking the stuff we want to keep that we can't move ourselves. But, I have to have all the booze out of the bar, all the appliances out of my huge Southwestern pine armoire in the kitchen, all the stuff off of my handmade mexican tile table (the tile is hand made, and I hand made the table top) and so on and so forth.

Major dropped off a couple of his horses last night - but they are not within sight of the house, they must have wandered far back into the acreage - there is a lot of grass for them!

My horses, Willy and Petey will come to the farm on Sunday. The cats, tomorrow, the dogs, tomorrow.

I have a shitload of work to get done, and John is hauling a WWII Jeep Willy's to a parade this evening, the brat! I'll be working my ass off while he is getting to play with his friends.

He

Will

Pay.

I need boxes. and help.

damn.

Posted by Beth at 4:14 PM | Comments (6)

September 23, 2007

Reflections on being neighborly in the country

I feel like I've been struck by lightening. After living in cities and suburbs and towns my whole life, I finally understand what it is to be a real neighbor when my closest neighbor is nearly 1/4 mile away.

We have neighbors right next door in town. I have always tried very hard to be neighborly - giving them tools to borrow, sugar, aspirin - trying to give their kids some time with the puppies and cats, but we rarely even got a thank you back from them.

Out at the farm, I have learned that people help each other. If you do someone a good turn, it does come back to you, a thousand times over. John saw that our neighbor's US Flag was getting old, so he gave Allan a new flag.

Allan noticed that I had broken the lawn mower, so he mowed our law.

Major needed pasture for his hoses, I needed help with all the work of getting this rather neglected farm back in shape - so we help each other out!

Allen, our contractor, needed some land to release quail and hunt them. He noticed that I need shingles for my chicken coop roof. He is bringing me shingles that he has handy, and John is going to let him hunt on our land.

And it is so, so easy to be neighborly out in the country. I don't dread hearing a car drive up the road. (If anyone is driving up the road we live on, they are coming to see us, because we are the ONLY people living there! (or almost living there)).

Here in town, it seems more of a one-way street with our neighbors. We give them all kinds of things, from jump starts at 5 am to letting them use our lawn mower every week. But after awhile, I feel a bit used - for they don't give anything in return.

Perhaps that is why welfare is so damned useless. We give to people who need help, but they have no opportunity to give back. And they should. It would be so much more neighborly, don't ya know?

Posted by Beth at 7:34 AM

September 21, 2007

My massage therapist does *not* do this:

Posted by Beth at 6:03 AM

Great Advances at the farm this week!

The very nice young man who works at Horse Country (our local feed store and animal supply and tack store), came out to the farm yesterday to help me with the chicken run. I now have a completely enclosed run (except for a roof, which we can take our time on.

Major, young man's name, has about 40 horses 30 miles north of the farm. He has 6 or 7 young horses that he is going to start training, but with the price of gas, it's expensive for him to drive up there every day.

So, we made a deal. Major will bring 6 or horses to our farm. They are pasture horses, so they don't need anything for shelter, or anything other than the acres and acres of pasture that has not been touched for a couple of years.

In return, he will help me get things done around the farm. Like the chicken run, stalls, fencing, corrals, etc. Plus, I get to play with young horses and watch this remarkable young man (he is only 20), train his horses.

If I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to save enough money to purchase another horse - one that I can ride around without fear of being bucked off (Petey's a real pain if he is in a mood).

Anyway, I drove him around the farm today on our Polaris Ranger, and we decided that the fencing on a good chunk of the land is pretty good. The fencing close to the barn and house, though, sucks.

I'll publish a picture of the chicken run (with a door, even!!!!!), later on today.

Posted by Beth at 4:25 AM | Comments (4)

September 19, 2007

September 15th in DC - the Left

Due to a tragic misunderstanding, a cabby took me to Lafayette Square last Saturday, instead of the Gathering of Eagles.

While I waited for the Armorer to rescue me from the center of the Answer/CodePinko/Socialist Workers Party celebration of free speech, I took some pictures of the participants.

First of all, there were many aged hippies. Some of them just looked sad - walking alone, long, grey hair, obviously missing their glory days of yore:

And this little lady, all 73 years of her - I think she was actually more of the Beatnik age in the '50s -

Because these pics will kill the bandwidth of any dial up readers, I'll have the rest of the pics in the extended entry.

This little guy is quite the fashionable dude, with his man purse!

This guy was selling his shirts - does that make him a Capitalist Socialist? Or is it the other way around?

I don't know about you, but seeing guys arm in arm whilst wearing masks seems weird. I mean, why the masks? They look like bank robbers. And if masks, why the arms linked together? I just don't get it.

And here is a couple with an old peace sign that they saved from 1968:

And here is a very pissed off lady -

I took a couple of hundred pictures, but there is only so much time in a day, don't ya know?

Posted by Beth at 6:07 AM | Comments (8)

What is that over there?

Posted by Beth at 5:54 AM | Comments (1)

Little green bug on wildflower

Posted by Beth at 5:51 AM

September 17, 2007

It's Monday - time to laugh

Posted by Beth at 8:24 AM | Comments (3)

September 15, 2007

Every morning

The second thing I check (after my email) is I Can Has Cheezburger. This one made me snort coffee through my nose, so I thought I would share!

Posted by Beth at 6:57 AM | Comments (6)

September 14, 2007

Wow. Just Wow.

Today was quite an eventful day for John. This morning, he and several other MilBloggers actually sat down with President Bush for an hour long meeting.

I did not get to meet the President, as I'm not a MilBlogger, but the Public Liaison Staff there took great care of me while the Leader of the Free World met with my husband!!

I was given a wonderful tour of the White House by John Plack, of the White House Public Liaison Staff. John knows the history of practically every chair, painting and fireplace mantel in the East Wing of the White House, and he even showed me a couple of things not open to the public - like the last bit of the original White House that was burned back in 1814 by the British during the War of 1812 (seems like the name of that War ought to be a bit longer, like the War of 1812 thru 1815) - a still-scorched arched entryway close to the current kitchens.

I think my favorite room is the Green Room. It has recently been updated, and the watered silk moire walls are very stunning.

I got to see the Rose Garden and so many other things!

After my tour, I went back to wait for everyone in the West Lobby. I just sat there in awe, thinking, wow, I'm sitting in the West Lobby of the White House and my husband is talking to The President of the United States of America. And my friend, Mrs. Greyhawk is talking to the President. And Mohammed of Iraq the Model is talking to the President - and I'm just a few feet away from them all in the West Lobby of the West Wing of the White House. And NZ Bear and BlackFive and Ward Carroll of Military.com and other bloggers were having an hour-long meeting with President George Bush.

Awesome. Even though the word is terribly overused, it was awesome!

Go check out John's blog for all the links and details (I'm lazy, and besides, I'm about ready for a margarita).

Oh, and I almost forgot, when the meeting was over, Vanessa Beebe (Vanessa J. Beebe, Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison at The White House), ran over and got me and she raced me through the White House and outdoors so I could see President Bush get onto Marine One and watch him wave at my husband and my friends standing just outside the Oval Office before waving at the Press Corps (where I was standing).

On my way out there, I did get a very short moment with a very important personality at the White House, Barney, the First Dog. He was surrounded by Secret Service Agents, but he did look at me and wag his tail when I said "Hi, Barney!" He has a wonderful personality, just like you would expect a Presidential Puppy to have!

I have to thank Vanessa and John and Claude and all the other incredible people at the White House for making this such a memorable day for both John and I.

Oh, one more thing - Marine Guards in their dress uniforms are really hot!

Posted by Beth at 2:51 PM | Comments (14)

September 13, 2007

We are in DC thru Sunday morning

Arrived this afternoon - weather is very nice. Hotel is awfully pricey for the tiny room size. And we were supposed to have a king size bed, but it's barely a queen size - maybe even a full. very small for us.

And then, to top it off, John forgot his mask for his c-pap. Grump, grump, grump.

Posted by Beth at 6:21 PM

September 11, 2007

Poland remembers 911, too

One of my readers, Jordan, a remarkable photographer, lives in Poland. He sent me this email:

Hi Beth.,

I am a reader of your blog ...
september 11 aniversary is near - I am sending you news about reaction in Poland on 911
- you ( and your readers ) can brightly see that America isn't lonely

wish you a calm day

greets

Jordan
www.jordan55.com

ps.feel free to publish

So, here is Jordan's note to us (I hope more bloggers he sent these pics to post it also)

as every year , in my little town lost somewhere at the end of the world - at seaside of Poland ,people fold flowers and inflame candles to celebrate the memory of innocent victims of the attack on WTC which were killed from the hand of animals. From the hand of animals which shamed to all other animals

http://www.jordan55.com/1.jpg
the inscription proclaims : on September 11th,2001 our hearts stopped petrified with horror - on that day we were all New Yorkers.

-on the 1st anniversary of the terrorist attack on WTC - inhabitants of Gdynia.


http://www.jordan55.com/2.jpg

my town Gdynia

Posted by Beth at 6:48 AM | Comments (1)

Remember, today is a day we should never forget.

This is the 6th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. Remember the planes, pilots murdered, flight attendants murdered, passengers absolutely terrorized. Planes piloted by murderous extremist Muslim men with Allah on their minds, or was it the promise of 72 virgins on their minds?

Remember the thousands of people in the World Trade Center towers, trying desperately to escape. Some even jumping to their deaths.

And the collapse of the towers -

And then, a plane hit the Pentagon - truly an act of war, how could anyone doubt this?

(and yet, if you Google pictures of Pentagon on 9/11, the first 10 entries are by conspiracy theorists who believe that there was no plane that hit the Pentagon - these people should be seriously berated and mocked for their utter stupidity).

And then finally, the last plane to crash - this time, into a field in Pennsylvania, thanks to brave American passengers like Todd Beamer.

Islamic fascists around the world cheered that their kind had taken down the United States of America a few notches. Jihad was declared on all of Western Civilization.

Remember this, everyone. This was not a 'criminal act'. This was an act of war.

Don't let anyone, any Senator, and Congressman or Congresswoman, any talking head on TV, any Hollywood star or star-wannabe, convince you that it was our fault, that it was no big deal, or that it is a simple criminal act.

It's war. Congress should still declare war on the Jihadis - they have declared war on us, after all.

Posted by Beth at 5:58 AM | Comments (2)

September 9, 2007

Many pictures of the guineas

I think my birds are quite photogenic. They have so many funny little ways of doing things. Very much like lemmings, they wait for one brave bird to make the plunge out of the coop to range before they all decide to go - mind you, this is a drop of about 6 inches -

More pictures below the fold . . .

Lemmings:

They love bugs.

I just like this picture . .

Posted by Beth at 6:38 AM | Comments (4)

The awful part of living in the country

Sometimes, critters get killed by other critters. Yesterday morning, as we pulled up to the house for a day's work, John commented that the guineas were out - which should not be possible, as they had been nailed into the semi-finished chicken coop the previous night (I do this every night, as I'm having real trouble figuring out how to make a door). Well, I've been using hardware wire, and apparently, evil racoons pulled the wire away and killed some of my keets. John counted body parts that added up to about 4 birds, but there were only 9 keets hanging around.

Eventually, other keets, who had run/flown into the fields and woods to escape the marauding raccoons (most likely a sow and her cubs, according to Major - the nice guy who works at Horse Country and also does lots of side jobs - I have him signed up to come and help me on the 20th of the month) showed up and rejoined the flock.

One of the keets found her way back to the barn, and couldn't figure out how to get to the coop (on the outside of the barn) and started making that very loud "I'm unhappy and separated from my family" noise that they make. It was quite a challenge to catch her and take her back to the other birds. Good thing no one was shooting a video - our lack of athletic talent would have been pitiful to watch!

Anyway, that is the way of the farm. I'm still hoping that maybe one more keet will return home.

It is taking me too long to finish this project. I'm depressed enough that I find myself taking too many breaks that last too long to simply sit and worry and fret about having lost my job. But John is right, I hated the job. I whined about it, and the poor man had to listen to me whine. I have to pull myself out of this funk so I can finish getting the farm ready for us to move into.

Posted by Beth at 6:21 AM | Comments (7)

September 7, 2007

While taking my daily walk

In between my rather mediocre efforts at building a suitable chicken run and coop for my guinea fowl, I take walks. I have started bringing my new, and ever so wonderful Nikon D80 with me.

Thistles are a scourge on farmers. I had hoped they were all gone, but it looks like a few more popped up. I need to chop them down, but it is very hard to do that when they attract so many butterflies. Butterflies love thistles.

Posted by Beth at 6:18 AM | Comments (7)

September 6, 2007

Keetergarten update

Short note - I'll remember to bring the camera home tonight so I can download pictures - yesterday, whilst I was doing some stuff in the house, all the keets got out of their quarters. Every single one.

I walked outside, and there were 19 keets having a blast eating bugs and whatever else they could find.

Fortunately, my little flock all stuck together, so after I let them play for about an hour, I just had to walk behind them and guide them back into the coop. Which I have to finish.

Advice to all - have your critter housing ready before the critters arrive! They grow faster than you can imagine!!!!

Posted by Beth at 6:45 AM

September 4, 2007

Power Tools!

I never would have thought it would take this long to build a decent chicken run and coop. But, I'm just learning how to build some things and just getting used to some of our power tools.

Today, I mostly used our Porter Nail http://www.epinions.com/content_70965366404Gun. We bought it last fall when we were putting together our garden shed. I was scared to use it then, but now, I'm very comfortable with it - you just have to understand how it all works. And you have to understand that it quits working when there are 5 or fewer nails left.

The first time that happened, I spent several hours trying to figure out why the nailer would no longer work. Checked the compressor. Put oil in the nail gun. took the 4 nails out and put them back in. Still wouldn't work.

Today, I thought that maybe it just wanted more nails. I put them in, it worked! Woo hoo!

Posted by Beth at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)

September 2, 2007

SWWBO Lives!

She's just busy, what with Keetergarten and building the Guinea Coop of Argghhh!

Which she is determinedly doing herself, with me occasionally functioning as an extra hand.

But not often. This will be SWWBO's baby for her babies!

Posted by John at 7:30 PM | Comments (2)