Hold onto your Phillies hat! (credit to Little Sis for this title)

Here comes Hurricane Sandy! I am more worried about NJ with the renters in our old house and Little Sis down there too, but even central NY is supposed to get high winds and a lot of rain. The house here at Lester's Flat is on a high and dry spot, so the wind is more of a concern than the flooding, but we have more critters and more buildings up here to worry about. We are hoping the 3 sheds and our little satellite coop by the garage will protect all the little ones...

Speaking of critters to worry about, the Wood Man made his way across the highway again to go and visit with the horses. I really need to work on keeping him on the back 40, where he can't get into any trouble. In fact, we did start our walk down by the creek, and he stayed with me the whole time down there, but when he got back, he put the ear-lock on. He stared me right in the eyes when I called, and then he ran across the busy road.

He is actually more interested in the kittens inside the barn than the horses. Tiny as they are, they stand up to him, inches away from his big barking mean-boy face. I think that's why they are so interesting—he doesn't know what to make of them. I truly hope that one of them scratches him so that he finally learns that cats are not toys…or dinner. I wish he could learn that lesson in here, but our cats are still hiding on the second floor.

Trouble is his middle name, or maybe we need to call him Hurricane Woody. I thought he might have settled down a bit by now, but every time I think we are making progress, he gets wacky all over again.

This little video will give you a good idea of how much Sophie appreciates her new wack-a-doodle family member! At least this old girl can still give him what-for, just like the kittens.

A typical wild night at Lester's Flat

 

These were taken a few days ago, but will give you an idea of how wild and crazy we regularly are here at Lester's Flat. I'm not sure who wins the "Strike a Pose for the Camera Contest", but let's just say that no one put a lot of effort into it...

Sophie probably put in the least effort, but at least she managed to include the Super Timothy feed bag/seat cover, The Hometown Oneonta newspaper (my new place of employment) and a copy of Dwell Magazine. Apparently reading makes her sleepy.

After a dry summer, the beginning of fall has been wet and grey. I tried to finish painting the goat shed before the weather got nasty, but was barely able to finish the front of it. Prime time for staining is at least 48 hours after rain, AND when rain is not expected for 24-48 hours after the stain is applied, AND it has to be above 50° long enough for the stain to dry completely...I think another 24 hours...

Unless an Indian summer kicks in soon, the shed won't get finished until April or May!

Frank Sinatra comes to Lester's Flat!

Old Blue Eyes (his eyes really are lighter than the others!) joined Steve and Eydie in the pig pen today. After a conversation with Cousin Greg, who said he and Cousin Chris want in on the pig project, we decided to get a third piggie, same age as the others, about 9 weeks old.

The people who sold us Frank said he had the biggest personality of the 13 that survived in the litter of 17. He grunted the whole way home in the car telling us the very interesting story of his short life thus far.

Pigs are the least amount of work, and probably need less feed than the goats because they love the table scraps and garden leftovers. You can see they are quite happy chowing down on tomatoes and corn, although with the freezing temperatures expected tonight, those garden leftovers won't be edible for too much longer.

You might also notice that Eydie isn't camera shy. That's her with a big chunka tomato hanging out of her mouth.

Got the woodstove fired up in here today for the first time this season. Poor little Frank has a less hairy coat than the others, he might be a bit chilly out there tonight! Let's pray they welcome him into the pig pile to keep him warm!