A walk in the woods with Woods on New Year's Eve

The first pic is Woody wishing you a Happy New Year. I'll post the video version on Facebook in the comments.

He wasn't supposed to still be here. They gave him 6 months to live back on March 5 when they found a tumor on his spleen. Since then he has been to his real vet who thinks he still has a way to go.

Way to go, WoodMan.

He took me on a walk today, his choice of direction. We went to a part of the creek where I don't normally go.

Apparently the beavers are back. And they have almost taken down one of my favorite apple trees. It's the only one that gets red apples, and they are high enough that the deer can't easily reach them.

Of course that means I can't easily reach them either, but I think this poor tree won't make it to spring 2022.The second tree is just behind this one. It definitely won't make it to spring.

Wishing you all clear sailing to spring 2022!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I took this photo of the fully decorated tree to show how all my hard work straightening it out paid off. But now that I compare it to the crooked tree photo posted here earlier, I can see it's not much better.

That's OK, it still makes me happy.

I should have taken some pretty snow pictures this morning when it was still pretty. I don't think there will be enough left for a white Christmas tomorrow, but you never know.

We continued our Christmas Eve tradition of visiting with Don on the Hill for his birthday. 83 years old today! Happy Birthday Don!

Creek and goats

Yesterday I finished the lights on the now perfectly straight Christmas tree. While I should have been hanging ornaments on it today, instead I was knee-deep in a cold creek doing this month's water testing for Otsego County Conservation Association.

While I was out walking Woody the other day, a much warmer day than creek-testing day, I caught a photo of a studly Walter Becker standing on his stage with a few of his very pregnant ladies behind him.

I think we are going to have some early kids this year. Which could be a good thing since we did not get electricity in the barns yet. No way to connect the heaters...

 

Christmas preparations

The Christmas cards and tree have arrived in spite of all the delays (you know who you are, Concept Man.)

I spent most of the week writing out the cards with the help of 2 generous cats. Willie likes to sit in the Tiffany's box that holds the cards and envelopes.

Monkey offers much needed emotional support.

The dogs are mourning the loss of their favorite dog bed in the corner where the tree goes. Now they have to choose from their 10 other favorite places to sleep.

I bought a new expensive tree stand last year based on a recommendation from Wirecutter.com. I really wanted it to work and last forever. It didn't.

So I purchased their second 50% cheaper recommendation for this year. I think it will probably work out just fine, but it still took 2 humans 2 days to get the biggest fattest tree ever to stand up straight.

Nothing is ever easy.

Decorations to follow. 

Ho Ho Ho.

Mother Nature is an artist

Calling on all science-minded folks to explain this one!

Yesterday, I was sitting just inside that bank of windows (they called it a 5-gang) where I do my morning tea drinking and bird watching, and I saw what looked like a white bird (probably not) or maybe a plastic water bottle, stuck in the copper bird bath.

Sadly, I waited too long to investigate. The sun reduced it by about half its size before I went out for a closer look. 

My little bird bath somehow created this little sculpture all by itself. It was windy the day and night before, so I am thinking Mother Nature had a hand in it as well.

I was discussing with a friend who thinks this sort of 3-sided vase-like thing is a dreidel.

I am in awe.

In the spirit of the season

So I was trying to get some catalog Christmas shopping done, but no, my 2 helpers are insisting that I toss the catalogs and shop local. So be it.

Getting the Christmas cards to the (local) printer was an equally frustrating task. The Husband likes to keep the design process going until the very last minute. Even my threats served no purpose. The cards were sent on Tuesday, but are still not ready to pick up. And the printer is near the tree farm where we get our Christmas tree every year, so the tree is on hold as well.

Then we have UPS. I have been battling with them for the past 3 years. For whatever reason, the Yuletide drivers are afraid to come down our long driveway. 

Last year we put a large plastic dog crate at the end of the driveway so they could leave the packages there. The guy that plows our driveway destroyed the crate.

This year they hung an early present, a laptop, from a very thin branch of one of the maple trees. Broke the branch, and it was pretty much sitting on the ground.

Seriously, if my chickens on their short little legs can make it down the driveway, so can you in your big honking truck!

All festive from here on in. I am done with my Christmas rant.

A bit of snow and a Beaver Moon

No more flower pics in the backyard with Woody...big snowflakes and a week of overnight freezes have pretty much killed off everything green but the grass.

This time of year, the snow doesn't stick around long enough to be an issue, just long enough to be pretty.

I think Thursday night was the best night to see the Beaver Moon, but I didn't look until Friday evening. Of course that big fat full moon doesn't look very good when it's covered by clouds, but my little iPhone has a hard time finding the moon face anyway.

No, I do not believe in early Christmas decorations. There is a nighttime feature that keeps the lens open longer in the dark. It magically turned a passing car turn into a string of Christmas lights across the bottom.

Woods and weeds

I found out for certain that my new patio in the backyard is not going to happen until spring. The proposed location at the bottom of the stairs pretty much went to weeds because I was expecting it all to be torn up in October. The lone survivors of the weed invasion and recent frost are the Zebrina hollyhocks that take over wherever they are allowed. And I have been allowing the WoodMan to dig wherever he pleases, figuring this could be his last summer. In other words, the yard is a bit of a mess...

Don on the Hill came down yesterday afternoon to have a beer with me and the boys. He commented on our beautiful weeds, and on the fact that the WoodMan has lived long past his 6-month predicted demise.

This is the look Woody gets when he hears us talking about him leaving us. Or maybe it's just because we ran out of cheese and crackers.

Fall fog and 4 chickens

A thick fog was hiding the mountains long after the sun came up this morning. Most of the trees lost their leaves before they changed color, but the sugar maples in the front, and some of the younger trees in the back managed to put on a good show.

Our friend Lydia from Trees for Tribs dropped off 15 little swamp oaks to fill in where those young trees are planted. In addition to the swamp oaks, there are bur oaks, river birch, red maples, London planes, and a variety of shrubs that struggle to survive the deer.

Lester's Flat has a baby forest. 

Lester's Flat also has 4 new chickens, thanks to friends Terry and Alice. 3 Rhode Island Red mixes, and a white leghorn named Veronica Lake are all fitting in just fine.

Another chicken on the move, Big Roo went to his retirement home with Tom and Julie. We have 2 young roosters who were vying for control, and decided it was best to move him. He is missing the tips of his toes and comb from previous bouts of frostbite, and he is about 8YO with not a lot of time left. Warm and cozy in a big barn with 5 new young ladies, I hope he will enjoy his retirement.

Downstairs Willie and the little dragon

Willie the cat had been living upstairs almost totally since we moved him up here in 2010. He made a few visits downstairs, but was usually chased back up by Woody. 

For some reason we will never understand, in the past 6 months or so he has become a downstairs cat, even to the point of being annoying. He spends most of his time on the kitchen island begging for anything that looks like it could be food. 

He also finds the open mandolin case to be quite the cozy spot.

We have had the back screen door open for the past few days because it has been so cold, and it is just easier to open the inside door to let the dogs out.

This unidentified (darner?) dragonfly found her way inside overnight. Luckily I found her before Willie did. I know she's a female, because when I escorted her outside, she promptly laid a whole clutch of eggs in the pot of rosemary where I set her free.

That other lake

Who knew that there was a competition for the best lake?

I learned on Facebook that Canadarago Lake, the one near our house, was called the "Redneck Riviera". This is most likely because Otsego Lake, in Cooperstown, is surrounded mostly by property owned by the Clark family, not a redneck in sight.

We were very lucky this year to make it out on the Redneck Riviera on Cousin Greg's boat on a perfect day in September, and very lucky just yesterday to be invited on a tour of Otsego Lake on an equally perfect day with the Shelbys (the boat owners), the Rigbys, and the Hohensees.

That is Kingfisher Tower in the top pic. There are conflicting stories about the reason for its creation, but the link here seems to be a reasonable combination of all the ones that I have heard. Even with no rednecks anywhere near this lake (unless you count the Hub and me) you are not allowed to set foot anywhere near the tower, or anywhere along the shoreline behind it for that matter. So are the rednecks allowed to take photos of it and post them for all the world to see?

It is a little crooked from this angle...

Chillin'

First nice day in a long time with no mosquitoes...nice for sitting outside with the pooches. 

I still haven't completely recovered from the house sale in NJ. We were able to pay off our home equity loan and the loan on the truck. Banking life will be much less complicated, soon enough.

Still waiting for the dust to settle.

Done deal

Keith Haring-inspired mural in the background,
perfectly framing Tom and Roberta's heads

Yes it is finally a done deal. We finally closed on the NJ house on Friday! And this is why we are quite happy with our decision to sell it and move up here. All blue skies and peace. This is not New Jersey.

We took a walk to the far side of our property. Our humble abode is just under the dog?-shaped cloud in the right third of the pic.

And we have several good musically talented friends up here who have been encouraging both of us—really! I know! I'm surprised too—to play and sing some music up here. This from Pioneer Park in Cooperstown on Saturday. Tim's guitar in the pic, and Kathy on back-up vocals. 

Go ahead. I am laughing at that too.

Happy Birthday, Bro! And Happy Sellers Are We!

What better way to celebrate Little Brother's birthday than by FINALLY selling our house in Palmyra! Done deal as of 2 pm today.

Our personal celebration is awaiting my attention. Strip steaks from The Green Cow, and a nice bottle of red from Don's nephew Billy!

Gotta go. Hungry and thirsty.

Nothing in particular

Young Roo (as opposed to Big Roo) on an apple tree branch

I have no good subject matter for a post today, just trying to distract myself from the ongoing painful process of selling a house. Fingers crossed, maybe this week.

We went from hot and humid not normal NY summer weather, to brilliant blue sky seems like fall summer weather on the day after we had our AC unit installed. Not a bad trade. 

Last night Hub and I watched the 1932 version of Scarface with Paul Muni, George Raft, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, and Boris Karloff. I thought the women actors stole the show, although it's hard not to love Boris Karloff, even in a small role.

Who knew that a movie, inspired by the novel which was inspired by the gangster Al Capone, could be both humorous and violent, and still watchable?

The cat on my knee, and the cat on the sofa behind me were not interested in the shoot 'em up movie, but there was this beautiful almost full moon in the window above Willie's head that stole my attention. Is that Venus to the right? 

Calling on Starman Frank to answer that.

Zelda and the apples

Zelda is the newest addition to the family, although I am still trying to keep The Husband from making her part of the indoor family. She appeared over a year ago, and has been crossing the busy road to visit us a few times a day.

We caught her and had her spayed this week (which is where I got the pupper video I posted on Facebook. We caught Dr Julie on a busy day in surgery.)

Lots of love and attention and food, a nice little crate for a bed, plenty of goat milk when she wants it, and maybe when we set her free from the crate she will decide to stay.

Did I mention it's apple season! We may not have the prettiest apples, but we have more than we could ever use and they taste really good. I have 13 pints of apple butter and a quart of applesauce already done. 

Husband just picked at least twice the amount of apples that I picked this morning (top pic). I guess there are a few more pints to make, and maybe a pie or 2.

 

The water

It was a perfect afternoon for a boat ride on Canadarago Lake with Captain Greg. We took a tour of the whole lake passing my cousins (the Smiths) and Greg's brother and his wife (Tim's cousins), and several other folks out enjoying an almost cloudless day on the lake.

Of course a few clouds would have made a much prettier sunset, but we were not in a mood to complain. Other folks come up here for vacation, we are blessed to live here.

 

The sky

Even before the leaves turn, there is plenty of color this time of year. For right now, it is mostly goldenrod putting on a show, but soon the purple asters will join in. And that blue sky isn't always bright blue, that's why I have to sit there and watch it change.

This week at The Freeman's Journal, we are supposed to write reviews of fun Fall activities in the area. This will be a tough job for me, since my favorite Fall activity is sitting in the yard and watching the sun go down with a glass of wine. I know, not exactly active, and not exactly something I want to encourage other people to do.

Later today we are going out with Cousin Greg on his boat on Canadarago Lake. Another Fall activity that doesn't involve any activity on my part. Getting lazy in my old age just taking in all the beautiful color up here!

The wind and the air

Wednesday was not a good day for South Jersey and Philly. Several tornadoes blasted through the area, flooding streets and ripping homes apart. As far as I know, all my friends and family are safe, and I think the old house in Palmyra is safe as well.

This photo was taken by a driver at the toll booths for the Burlington Bristol Bridge. Imagine being the toll taker stuck in that one open booth!

I was just on that very narrow (it's scary when it's clear) bridge 2 weeks ago!

The road off to the right goes down to the Delaware River by St. Mary's Hall-Doane Academy where we had our wedding reception. I can only imagine the damage to that beautiful old building.

On a happier note, we finally had our air-conditioning unit installed yesterday. Yay! The coldest day so far this summer, with a high of 63° and a low of 46°, and we are ready for the next heat wave—next July.

I caved and put the heat on last night. I swore I would never do that in September, but my toes were cold and I was too lazy to fire up the woodstove. 

Porch music and critter updates

Our thanks to the Rigbys for loaning us their wonderful porch on their wonderful house for Play Music on the Porch Day Worldwide on Saturday. Kathy, Tim, Tom, Roberta, and Wayne (L-R) were singing and playing for all the world (6 people) to hear. Much fun was had by all!

Annie and Franklin Chapter 2: Annie the goat who was never bred is now producing milk from both udders, so she needs some more help from Farmer Tim while her owners are away. Franklin, her donkey husband, was pushing me away while I was trying to take some photos.

The chicks are finally big enough to set free. Momma kept them close to the coop on the first day, Sunday, but the next day she had them all the way back to the goat sheds. She magically got them all back in the coop and up on the top roost with her for the night.

Since she only wanted to raise 3 of the 6 that I bought just for her, I am going to give the other 3 to Annie and Franklin's parents. They lost a few chickens the last time they went away. Then I won't have to worry about how to train them to free range with the rest.

Bro and sis

This is the little bro and sis trying to say goodbye as I was heading to New Jersey on Friday afternoon. Look at those ears!

I got to see my own little bro and sis on my trip back to the old homestead—the old homestead in Willingboro, the town where Hub and I both grew up; and the old homestead in Palmyra, where Hub and I spent our first 13 years together.

There were a few hiccups in my short visit. Ten minutes before I was supposed to be meeting the buyers in Palmyra, I realized I left the house key in Willingboro, and I couldn't figure out how to open the realtor's lock box even though I had the code. Then I had the brilliant idea of heating up the Georgetti's lasagna I bought in Palmyra to bring back to Willingboro for dinner, not thinking I had no oven mitts, and no easy way to bring an overflowing hot juicy lasagna in a flimsy foil pan back home. 

I managed—no breaking and entering, no lasagnas were harmed. 

The rest of the trip went very well. The young couple who are buying the house seem to already love it. Zach and a buddy of his helped me clear out the basement and are disposing of some of the toxic waste (old paint, motor oil, furniture stripper, etc.) that I thought I would be stuck with forever. They saved me numerous trips up and down the basement stairs and out to the curb. 

I have mixed feelings about leaving my favorite old house, but I was mostly relieved and happy to wave goodbye. Tropical storm Henri darkened the skies and did all the crying for me.

On my way to NJ

Just a cute pic of Willie in the laundry basket...for no good reason

I am headed to New Jersey today for a last visit to my favorite old house in Palmyra. We still have to make our way through a few hurdles to get to closing in September.

As a way of saying goodbye to my favorite old house in Palmyra, I will be introducing her to her new caretakers, Zach and Krista. I am turning over all of the deed research that I did. I was able to follow the deeds back to 1833, but I am fairly certain the house was built around 1885. 

I am also giving them a little box of all the goodies I dug up in the backyard over the years. All the goodies, except I am keeping the glass marbles that Albert Heeter, as a boy, used to shoot with a slingshot at the dogs trying to get to his female collie. His brother Richard, in his 60s (?) at the time I talked to him, was still upset because they were his marbles, not Albert's.

Their mother, Mary Viola Kooker Heeter, sounds like a very interesting woman. She inherited the house in November 1920 from Agnes M. Kooker (her mother? who bought it in 1902). Mary died there August 17, 1977. Several single women have their names on these deeds including me—I bought the house in 1992. I hope we did Mary Viola and Agnes proud by taking care of their old house, and I hope they approve of the newest caretakers.

Not all these marbles were Richard's, some were mine and my brothers'.

Grace and Greg, goats, and the other gazpacho

We had another crew of family visitors today from New Jersey. Grace was interested in all the farm animals, but found it hard to resist the goat kids. Everybody loved the calm unassuming Cyrus (Killer) but Grace and her brother Greg also had a soft spot for the not so soft-spoken Woody.

We had homemade pizzas for lunch, and some of my chunky gazpacho. I think this is better than the smooth one.

We followed lunch with a visit to the horse farm across the road to meet the foals and Harper the pup. Then Folk tried to convince the owner of the '63 Corvette, who just happened to be pulling into our driveway, to sell it to him. Terry said no.