Homesick Molly

You know that Molly came from a good home when she comes to a place with plenty of new goat friends, and plenty of room to roam, and yet she still cried for a good long time last night.

After the storm blew through, Miss Molly was out by herself in the small goat shed crying, so I went out to sit with her for awhile. She calmed down pretty quickly, ate some hay, and was very interested in those grunty creatures next door, the pigs.

The cool thing was that Rico came out to join her while I was in there. I think he will be her first new friend...after me of course.

She is much more settled this morning.

Meet Miss Molly Malone

Today I caved into pressure from the Hub to buy "a reliable milker". Mr. Jack Armstrong reluctantly sold us Miss Molly Malone, aka Cedar Park's Melody, a registered alpine. As always, we do all of our goat transportation in the back of my poor Kia. She was watching where we were driving in case she needs to find her way back home...

Lots of new stuff this week. I decided to put the big oak beam from The Pantry next to the metal bench, as a second sitting area around the firepit that does not yet exist. Next to the white "bench" is a big gray pot that was a birthday present from Evie. (Thank you Evie!) The new chickens have recently started hanging together all day with the older chickens. (They are on the left in the shade in the bench photo.)

And finally, we both decided it was time to invest in a new driveway. We have been buying a few loads of crusher run (gravel) every so often to fill in the potholes. This time we spent the big bucks for 2 full truckloads. That's the Amazing Mr. Kelley leveling it all out in front of the garage.

Culture in Cooperstown (and Utica)

Every once in awhile we get a culture fix up here in the north woods. We are no longer 10 minutes from Philadelphia, but conveniently only 10 minutes from Cooperstown.

Last night Tara and I went to the outdoor stage at the Fenimore Art Museum to see a production of Our Town. The stage is right on the edge of sparsely populated Otsego Lake. We sat up front in the stepped amphitheater so we could see our friend Mark who was perfectly suited for the role of the newspaper editor Mr. Webb. The rest of the cast was just as good.

It was perfect weather for a night out on the lake. By the last act, the almost-full moon was rising in the background.

The Husband and I went on Sunday to the Farmers' Museum to see Rachel Barton Pine, a classical violinist who also celebrates music by black composers. This excellent performance included a Bach piece, some dance pieces, a bit of bluegrass, a Scottish reel, even some hip hop inspiration. (I couldn't get a better pic without being obnoxious. But I did manage to catch the lady in the cool black-and-white daisy dress that Hub and I both liked.)

Next on the agenda is to get back to the Munson-Williams Proctor Museum in Utica to see the Louis Comfort Tiffany exhibit. And back to the Fenimore to see the Herb Ritts rock and roll photography show.

Everyone needs a good dose of culture now and then. It's good for the soul.

Short summer

Summer always seems too short, but this year especially so. Warm weather was late in coming. Now, in August, just as we are getting some of that hot humid stuff that makes me feel like I am back in NJ, we see just a few leaves changing color, and it dips back into the 50°s at night. Still plenty of summer left to enjoy, but hints that fall is on the way.

Big weeds are not acceptable in suburbia, but I love this time of year when it looks like a jungle out there. I spent some time this weekend clearing those weeds around the metal bench to make room for the enlarged dog fence. Aside from giving the dogs more space to run, I hope it will keep the deer and other critters from munching on my flowers and young trees.

Sadly it will also keep my chickens out of view. No chickens allowed in the dog fence where they would quickly become dinner for Killer Dog and his helper Woody.

I sold 6 of the baby chickens last week. I kept 3 of the young ones: 1 gray one and the red twins. Big Roo still watches over all of his girls, even the new ones. He's a good boy.

Lazy August

In spite of these past 2 weeks of visitors, we are having a very lazy August day. Warm outside, cool enough inside to sleep in the sun.

I will finish this post later. Just leaving for work at 3:45. Won't get home till midnight...

The deep dark woods

On Saturday morning I was washing dishes and looking out the kitchen window when I saw what looked like a deer. Seeing deer is common, so I wasn't paying close attention until it lifted its head and had what looked like an elephant's trunk. What? Then it lumbered off into the woods, into that dark hole in the center of the photo. It was walking like a big cat, not a deer, and I noticed just before it disappeared, that the trunk was probably a dead fawn in the big cat's mouth. I clearly saw legs hanging down.

Of course I wish I had taken a photo, but a photo of a deer would not be all that exciting so I didn't even think to grab the camera. By the time I realized it was probably a mountain lion/cougar, it was gone. Other close neighbors have reported seeing this big cat around here, the size of an adult deer but shorter and stockier, but the naysayers say there are none in this area. I had posted my sighting on a local group on Facebook just to make people aware that there is at least one big cat here, and I got 150+ comments in the ongoing debate. (Maybe I enjoy a good debate now and then. Maybe I made a few of those comments defending my beliefs.)

As we have a large portion of our property preserved with a conservation easement specifically to encourage wildlife and to sustain the natural environment, I am in awe that we have these beautiful creatures here. But I must admit that I am also afraid now to go into the deep dark woods as carelessly as I have done before. I now have an even greater respect for Mother Nature.

Lillies for a day and tag-team hens

In doing a plant swap yesterday with my friend June, I discovered that I have 4 blooming day lily varieties, not the 3 that I thought I had. Each flower only lasts a day, but they put on quite a show for the few days they are in bloom.

We swapped some irises, columbines and bleeding hearts, and once these lilies are done blooming we may trade a few of these as well.

The bird in the chimney turned out to be a sparrow (I think). Chimney Man coaxed him (or her) out into a bucket, and escorted him outside where he flew off as if he had not spent 2 hot days inside my dirty living room chimney. Chimney is now clean and waiting for the next frigid July morning...

The chicken saga continues. Blond broody hen was bumped out of her nest box by Biely hen (a Bielefelder breed). I thought perhaps Blondy would lay even more eggs in the box next door where she is sitting, but when she came out for food and drink, I saw there are no eggs under her. She is still claiming responsibility for her babies.

The original 10 eggs, now under Biely, I think are down to 9, and should have hatched either yesterday or today if my calculations are correct.

I did one last chick check before going into work, and still none. I hope, for the sake of both of those hot, patient, broody mamas, that they get a few chicks for all their hard work. Not that we really need any more, but they are awfully cute, especially when mama(s) do the raising.

Blondy (left) and Biely (right) are playing tag team in trying to hatch those eggs

Trapped bird and the same bug (I think)

I was wondering why the cats were hanging out together on the ledge by the stairs this morning. Monkey almost always spends his days down here with the dogs, and Willie is usually too shy to come down here for more than a quick sprint into the basement.

And then I heard what they heard, a bird trapped in the chimney of the woodstove. Of course I don't really know what it is, and I hope that it is a starling or some other annoying bird, but either way I am not going to open up the chimney to find out. I am tempted, except the chimney sweep is coming tomorrow morning anyway (good timing!) and I will leave that for him to discover. And what would I do with a half-dead bird in the living room with 2 interested cats, and 2 very much interested big dogs?

So I was out walking one of those big dogs just now when I saw another dragonfly very similar to the one in the last post. I would think it was the same exact one, except this one has white wingtips, and the other one's were clear. Unfortunately with Cyrus leading the way, and it was windy, it was impossible to focus the iPhone.

I think this is going to be another good year for dragonflies. There were at least a dozen small ones and one little red one out front that I saw on the same walk. Maybe soon I will catch a better photo. They don't stay still for very long.

More bugs

I love when I look up the name of some exotic insect I have never seen before only to find out it is common.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_whitetail

According to my Google search and Wikipedia, this is the male common whitetail or long-tailed skimmer dragonfly.

The only common thing about this for me is that I saw one here yesterday (best pic I could get) and the same kind on Wednesday over at Colin's house about a mile from here while I was walking his beagle.

More chickens

In February 2018 we bought 5 heritage breed hens. In July 2018 one of our previous hens went broody and hatched 5 chicks. In August 2018 one of those heritage girls hatched 4 chicks.

This happened before as well, we bought 12 chicks, and then 2 of our hens went broody and hatched some more.

Should be lesson learned, but no, this year I couldn't pass up a bargain and bought 10 chicks through the mail. This must have been a signal to the broodies to get to work.

This blond hen is one of the remaining 2 chicks hatched here last year. She is sitting on 10 eggs. I guess this is a competition.

She is inexperienced at the egg-sitting thing and failed on her first try. I think a heat wave made the coop unbearably hot and she gave up on the 5 eggs after 2 days. When she returned that night, she went in a different box. So I tossed those eggs and thought she was done, but no, she's back and doing much better this time. She does sneak out for a few minutes every day, but it is warm enough that I don't think it will harm the eggs.

Only time will tell. Chicks should start hatching on July 25 if she does her job well.

July 13 is Flag Day

We didn't succeed in raising the flag for Flag Day in June, and we missed the Fourth of July, but we owe a huge thanks to Don on the Hill for making today Flag Day.

The flag pole is out front near where the trailer used to be. It was just begging for someone to put up a flag, but neither The Husband nor I had the nerve or the know-how to make it happen.

Only sorry I didn't get a pic of the extension ladder in the back of the truck, leaning up against the pole. I will let you guess who had to climb the ladder.

And did I mention we are right on the edge of a busy State highway?