The Riley Factor #51

The Riley Factor April 14, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Fort Plain, NY, April 14 -- Riley spent Tuesday in the surgical suite at Glen Animal Hospital, enduring the infamous neutering procedure now ubiquitous in the civilized canine world.  He came through it unscathed, wandering relatively aimlessly in a stupor until about midnight when he awoke and had his first water and food of the day.  Today he is still a bit groggy and limited to in-house mild play while the pain subsides and anesthetic wears-off.  Riley was a big hit at the vet, and one the medical assistants ran out to the car as we were leaving to bring him home and lavished him with hugs and kisses, saying that he was a very good boy through it all.  As this edition of The Riley Factor is being penned (key-boarded on a word processor, for those of you readers not born until after 1980) Riley sleeps with his head resting on the lower wooden chair rail -- position looks completely uncomfortable, but he looks completely at peace.

Yesterday, we spent the day cleaning-up the GIANT composted hay and manure pile in the pasture near the barn, which came into existence over the winter from cleaning-out the stalls, spreading it on the new large vegetable garden and rototilling it into the soil along with quite a bit of used bedding hay -- went well and should make the soil perfect for planting in a month or so.  Susan also rode the New Holland tractor over to Ephraim & Rachel's place about two miles away, and tilled their two gardens as well.  Israel & Annie considered accepting our offer to rototill their garden, but opted instead to use a two-horse team dragging a one row plow, to be followed by a single horse dragging a harrow, to get their garden prepared for the 2010 planting.

The road crew will be returning today or tomorrow to give a final grading to the new road out to the new barn and the trails.  Muddy conditions around the property are much improved and fairly dried-out, except for the worst places (i.e., the quick sand area, where Brooksie was nearly lost, low those many months ago, is still a place the natives avoid).  The actual grass trails are still a bit on the soggy side, but heading in the right direction.  Plantings in the green house are thriving, with some already bearing vegetables.  Sunny day temps in the greenhouse are now always over 100 degrees, with a record high reading of 116 seen on a warm day last week, before the doors were opened late morning for ventilation.