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.