The Riley Factor #65

The Riley Factor May 31, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 31 -- Memorial Day Weekend -- the holiday weekend at Rock Creek Farm was wild & wacky, primarily owing to bizzaro guests Pauline, Barbara Lacroix Semanie, Ames and Debbie.  Friday night's barbecue featured prime steaks and half gallon bottles (jugs) of Western Mass local beer, all courtesy of Ames.  Saturday was spent at the Annual Amish landscaping and crafts auction.  Mohawk Valley Auction Center was abuzz (non-electric buzz, of course) with auctioneer yodeling and cries of "Sold, a bargain".  Such prized items were acquired as a child picnic table (Barbara), quilt (Barbara), giant beer stein (Pauline), personalized key chain (Pauline), lucky horse shoe (Pauline), stuff (Susan) and tiny 3-drawer cabinet full of bullets (Chris).  What a pile.  Uhhh, of treasures.  Ames won the award for Most Amish Food Consumed, by a Non-Amish Entity.  Ames and Pauline also met several of our Amish friends.  By day's end, both were asking, "Where can I get me one of those straw hats?"

On the Fowl Front -- The 50+ Jersey Giant chicks and 16 French Jumbo Guinea Hen chicks are out of their incubators and now each flock has its own coop (stall).  One chick found a way out and was found strolling the midway at 7AM when Susan and Barbara entered the asylum (barn) for Sunday morning's feedings.  The male Jersey Giant chicks (the roosters) have started separating themselves -- you know, chest bumping, smoking Lucky Strikes, driving too fast, chasing the little chiquitas.  The Herd of Five enjoyed all the extra attention over the weekend, and spent much time bumping their noses into the new and exciting visiting rear ends.

Trail Side Wanderings and Wonderings -- Barbara was maniacal, zooming around the trails on an ATV (her first time) while Susan led the way and Pauline and Chris played Rangers in the Ute (well, actually Chris drove in the role of Ranger and Pauline sipped wine in the female role reprise of Dudley Moore's Arthur).  We did see a deer a couple of times trotting along the back Deerfield Trail.  Barbara and Susan saw a pair of turkeys walking off the oats field.  During the course of an hour's ride, Barbara morphed from, "Which lever makes the ATV go and which makes it stop?" to "Can't we get some ATVs that go faster than 50 or 60 MPH on these trails?  Where can I leave my helmet -- the added weight is slowing me down."
 
Riley -- Riley's newest favorite pastime is finding huge, deep and messy mud puddles and rolling in them.  Which, of course, requires follow-up with a swim in the pond before being allowed back into the house.  Over the weekend, he was seen eating (or at least chewing on) two birds, a frog, a mole and chicken poop.  And he did carry around the yard at least one squawking chicken like a cat carrying her kitten.  No harm, no fowl foul.

The Riley Factor #64

The Riley Factor May 28, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 28 -- The extra 24 Jersey Giant Black Chicks that arrived unexpectedly (and unordered) last week are settling in to life on the farm.  Along with the 16 Jumbo French Guinea Hen chicks, and their incubators, they were were moved into their own stall in the barn to get into life with the Herd of Five, three senior turkeys and the chicks' older brethren, the egg-laying chickens.  The Keets now are each the size of an adult pidgeon, and they now occupy their own stall in the barn -- incubator life over.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were spent planting -- an acre each of barley, oats, buckwheat and rye are now in the ground.  And nine new acres of hay has been seeded, including The Deerfield -- timothy grass, alfalfa, clover and rye grass.  (A bit of rain would be nice -- weather has been 80 and sunny 10 consecutive days).  Riley has been out for runs and pond swimming daily.  Mowing the trails, fence lines and fields is up next on the daily routine (human not dog routine; dog routine is more lying around and doing nothing; with the occasional chasing of chickens and turkeys, only when Riley can isolate one from the pack).

Animal count -- Susan counted the animals ... 5 steer, 3 turkeys, 20 egg-laying chickens, 16 Jumbo French Guinea Hen chicks, 52 Black Jersey Giant chicks and 20 American Heritage turkey chicks expected to arrive within a month.  Add in Riley and the three cats (Stryder, Arwen and AJ) and the total is 100 on site and 20 in transit.  No red fox has been seen since the Battle of May 15.

Tales from Auctionville -- This Saturday, May 29 is the annual Amish landscaping and crafts auction, at Mohawk Valley Produce Center in Fordsbush, Fort Plain, about five miles from the house.  And for those of you who want to arrive early for the weekend and catch some early bidding action, Friday evening, May 28, 5PM, is the monthly antiques and estate auction at Premier Auction Gallery in beautiful downtown Fort Plain.  And that one comes with complimentary drinks and dinner, courtesy of the auctioneer.  Reservations are booked for Ames & Debbie, Pauline and her friend Barbara Lacroix -- trail riding, barbecues and bonfires are on the agenda.  Weather is 80s & sunny for today and the three-day weekend.

The Riley Factor #63

The Riley Factor May 22, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 22 -- Oh, oh.  Call Snerdley in Shipping.  Houston, we have a problem.  On Thursday, another box with holes in it, with the requisite peeping emanating, arrived at the main barn, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.  Box not ordered.  24 squawking chicks inside not ordered.  Appears to be a double shipment of the order we received a week ago.  Anyone want a couple dozen chicken dinners?  No need to keep refrigerated.  Ready to serve in three to six months.

Friday and Saturday were spent planting -- 20 rows of corn, 13 rows of soybeans, an acre of oats and an acre of rye.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon ... you know the rest.  Well, Saturday night we went out to dinner after feeding the animals and locking them in the barn.  We left one stall door top open for fresh air in the cattle stall that holds the Herd of Five (stall doors to the outside are dutch doors).  When we returned from the Triangle Tavern in Cherry Valley, we were surprised to see Eli out in the pasture.  Expecting to find a broken stall door or latch, we found nothing amiss.  The stall door was still locked and latched from the outside.  The only possible explanation ... 500 pound Eli jujmped over the four foot high stall door bottom in a vain attempt to gain his freedom, ort least to gain a few more hours grazing the pasture grasses.  We hope Eli doesn't realize the pasture fence is only three and a half feet tall.

Tales from Auctionville -- Saturday, May 29 is the annual Amish landscaping and crafts auction, at Mohawk Valley Produce Center in Fordsbush, Fort Plain.  And for those of you who want to arrive early for the weekend and catch some early bidding action, Friday evening, May 28, 5PM, is the monthly antiques and estate auction at Premier Auction Gallery in beautiful downtown Fort Plain.  And that one comes with complimentary drinks and dinner, courtesy of the auctioneer.

And finally, farewell to Nancy -- goodbye, we hardly knew ye.  Nancy has left Rock Creek Farm after 15 months of living in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Next stop, initially, is living in West Springfield with Missy, Bob and kids, Alexis, Paul and Brady.  Also farewell to Gabby, the Belgian Tervuren Shepard, and Professor Mittens II, house cat, barn cat and all-around, very affectionate good guy cat.

The Riley Factor #62

The Riley Factor May 19, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 19 -- Life on the farm has been busy of late.  An acre in field no. 3 was planted in organic barley on Tuesday.  Of course, the planting process is multi-stage and generally requires two people and two or three tractors, or switching-around several pieces of equipment.  First comes the plowing (big tractor drags several-hundred-pound blades through planet surface creating rows of 12-to-18-inch-high furroughs), followed by a few days of resting the ground.  Then roto-tilling (or disking) the earth to chop it into fine particles and smooth it out, then large rock removal (with a rock-picking bucket on the large tractor, or alternatively, and evilly, by hand) then planting the seed (via grain drill or large funnel planter/spreader), and finally culti-packing the area a couple of times (rolling the seeded area with thousand-pound ridged rollers to drive the seed underground).  --  This year, all our culti-packing will be done with our 'new' (50+ year old) McCormick-Deering Ground Pulverizer -- what a great name for a farm implement of destruction.  --  Then nature takes its course.  We'll report back and follow this barley crop this year, through harvest and use or sale -- current plan is to use it in combination with wheat and oats for animal feed (cattle, turkeys and chickens all love to eat grains).

Over the next week or two, planting is scheduled for an acre each of oats, buckwheat, alfalfa and corn.  Potatoes and other vegetables are also in the mix.  Four acres of hard red winter wheat was planted last September, planned for harvest this summer.  It is growing well in field no.1, along with a half acre of semolina wheat.

Riley and Gabby continue with their daily runs chasing Nancy-on-the-Quad for a couple of miles once once or twice a day until they drop into one or both ponds for needed breaks and swims.  The ponds have held a pair of geese and a pair of Mallard ducks of late, and the three dozen recently added orange, white and silver pond carp are doing well in the lower pond.

The Keets (French Jumbo Guinea Fowl) have doubled in size since their early May hatchings.  The Jersey Giants (black chickens) also love life in the incubator and have doubled as well.  All the chicks are still cute, according to Susan and Nancy.

And shout-out to Lizzie Miller, who joined the Rock Creek Farm staff on Tuesday.  An Amish teacher during most of the year, running a school house with 27 students in grades one through eight, Lizzie will be spending a day per week this summer working in the fields and gardens with us.

The Riley Factor #61

The Riley Factor May 15, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 15 --  Today's lead is from the weekend sports page ... CELTICS 94, CAVALIERS 85 ... FLYERS 4, BRUINS 3 ... SUSAN "DEAD EYE" SLATE FUCHS 1, RED FOX 0 ... Yes, that's right, Susan met-up with for the brash red devil that had killed nine of our egg-producing chickens over the past two weeks, and had taunted us every day or two by prancing across the pasture, or a trail, or the back yard, or one day even sitting in the middle of Cherry Valley Road staring back at us,  Well, Saturday morning at about 8AM, while we were feeding the Herd of Five, turkeys and remaining chickens, the fox waltzed right into the barn as we stood there.  The fowl sounded the alarm, Susan chased the fox away and said, "I'm getting the gun".  She returned from the house with the LSI .357 magnum lever action rifle and a box of cartridges.  She stood in the center aisle and awaited the return of the fox.  It did not take long.  Ten minutes later, she saw him in the steer stall and waived him off.  He ran around the other side if the barn and entered the turkey stall where he was first seen earlier in the day.  A shot rang out and the fox dropped ... an adult, about 20 pounds, and looking well fed, although appeared to be not in the best of health, with a very mangy fur coat (and big teeth), even before his encounter with the 130 grain, full metal jacketed, .38 special missive.  Susan added, "I prayed for steady nerves and a steady hand, and the Lord gave me both."  Case closed.

Now on to the less exciting news from the simple life.

On Wednesday morning and into the afternoon, we decided to clean out the flu from the wood-burning boiler -- BIG MISTAKE.  While the big black box needed its annual cleansing, and taking the flu apart was a breeze, putting it back together was more of a hurricane.  We seem to be missing pieces, while at the same time we had more pieces than we need and also had pieces of a different shape than those we need or those we started with.  We are now waiting for Kore-to-be-in-the-House to perform his Amish plumber magic and put the molecules of the stove back together, so much like the transporter on the Star Ship Enterprise.  Beam that furnace up, Scottie.  And beam it back in one working piece.  Kirk out.

Thursday was a beautiful warm sunny day, spent relaxing and traveling locally.  Friday was similar, with some greenhouse planting and other minor around-the-yard-work shuffled in.  On Saturday morning, Susan and Nancy were all set to climb into the horseless carriage and travel toward Eastern Mass for a couple of days for Stevie's long awaited bridal shower, hosted by Stevie's many bridesmaids and two maids of honor, Liz Charette and Crystal Raymond, at Jim and Lisa Charette's house on in Hopkinton.  No doubt to be a beautiful and wonderful affair, albeit likely overdosed in estrogen.  Unfortunately, an injury to Chris' arm delayed the girly trip a day.  :-(  But at the same time provided the opportunity for this week's installment of Red Fox Safari.

The Riley Factor #60

The Riley Factor May 12, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 12 -- Sunday was spent working around the yard and in the workshop, and otherwise trying to look busy to keep CEO Susan off the backs of the laborers.  Late afternoon, in the kitchen, Riley decided to spar with Stryder ... MISTAKE.  The big (redundant) Maine Coon Cat did and does not back-down or back-up a single stride when taking-on the eight-month-old Golden Retriever.  In fact, when Riley unadvisedly gets within a pace or two of the feline, Stryder moves forward and swings that right front claw with a vengeance, claws extended, in case Riley has decided to get his long nose or big teeth too close to the senior member of the indoor menagerie.  No blood spilled, but forewarned is forearmed.

Monday morning brought a trip to Sprakers to Tri-Valley Crop Center in search of seed for hay for the six acres just plowed in the bottom of field number 3, and also for the three acres of the Deer Field.  Neither had been plowed or planted before by us, so the experiment continues.  Probably a mix of timothy, rye, clover and perhaps some alfalfa will be seeded later this week, aimed at producing harvestable hay in 2011.  Monday overnight brought (hopefully) the last hard freeze of the year, with temps down to 27.  All the outdoor plantings of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and corn had to be covered with plastic oe mulch by Susan and Nancy.

Tuesday, Susan and Nancy went to the Big City in search of quilting materials.  Journeys down Wolf Road and Central Avenue brought bright lights and civilization to the pair from Middle-of-Nowhere.  In Albany, they have the electricity, just like we do, but they also have lines painted in the middle of the roads and red and green lights stopping and starting the traffic.  And not an orange triangle in sight.

John Fischer is having difficulties repairing the hay tedder (large rake-like machine that tosses mowed hay around for drying and leaves it in neat little rows), so it remains to be seen whether or not that machine will ever function at Rock Creek Farm.

This week brought great celebration at Rock Creek Farm, one that will be long-remembered through the annals of time (well, at least we probably won't forget about it for a few days).  Following upon the grand tradition of that long-storied march in Selma, Alabama, extending beyond judging a man not by the color of his skin but on the content of his character, building on the aftermath of the Germans' bombing of Pearl Harbor (apologies to Bluto, Belushi and all the brothers of Animal House, but don't interrupt me I'm on a roll), the Rock Creek Farm hen house has become integrated. Two dozen black Jersey Giant chicks arrived via USPS Wednesday morning and are doing their workouts in their (segregated for now) incubator in the main barn.  About two weeks from now, these new arrivals, which currently look like miniature penguins marching around a tiny prison yard with high steel walls under a giant red sun, will parade out the door, around the corner, and into into chicken coop history.  Free at Last, Free at Last, Praise the Lord Almighty, We Are Free at Last.

The Riley Factor #59

The Riley Factor May 9, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 9 -- Last Friday night brought a business financial planning meeting with Aaron Miller at E&A Fence LLC.  Sales are not the fence company's problem, but receiving and reviewing reliable financial statements seem to be absent from Aaron's regular activities, primarily owing to his accountant who finds little time to meet with Aaron or to provide him with monthly financials showing how the business is doing.  I would have been more helpful if I had thought to bring along my abacus, but the meeting went well.

The 16 Jumbo French Guinea Hen chicks (the Keets) that arrived Friday morning are all doing well in their incubator in the barn.  How they have grown in their second day of life -- we remember when they were so small and frail, at just a day old.  Now at two days of age, it seems as if they have grown so much so fast; we remember them when they were half their current age; they seem so mature as they crawl all over each other and gurgle as they march through their water and feed.  Oh well, the cycle of life circles on.

Saturday's Annual Amish Equipment, Tack & Tools Auction was another hit, despite the soggy weather.  In addition to the many 'valuable' auction purchases (including some concord grape plants, work lights, tool cabinet, benches, horse-head hitching posts, decorative grasses) we also met someone who wanted to sell some laying chickens, the exact same kind that we already have.  So after the auction, we went over to Ruben Miller's and bought 12 that had just started laying eggs, so production should be back to normal with the dozen new Mrs. Cluckworthy's.  We added them to the chicken coop and the new family of 22 seemed just like they had always been together.  By night-time, they were even squabbling about who lost the remote and squawking, "She touched me ... Don't talk to me ... I hate you ." ... But, the red fox shall never triumph.

And let's talk fish ... one of the best purchases made at the Amish Auction was four buckets of goldfish, pond carp actually.  About 35-40 fish, mostly orange, with some white, black, and silver mixed, in four to five inch lengths.  With great reverence, all were ceremoniously dumped into the lower pond mid-afternoon by Susan as the thunder-clouds once again approached.  In an unrelated story, a local dining establishment, The Charter House, announced a new fish fry every Friday night.

Lastly, and rather unbelievably, Nancy reported snow flurries as she and Susan fed the Herd of Five on Sunday morning.  And this as the 300 tomato plants, 100 cucumber plants, 100 corn stalks and a few squash plants are 'enjoying' their new homes in the garden outside of the greenhouse.  And speaking of the greenhouse, there are a dozen lemons hanging on one of the two lemon trees, and both lime trees are flowering.  The two olive trees growing but not blossoming yet.

The Riley Factor #58

The Riley Factor May 7, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 7 -- Riley has become a daily swimmer and those webbed Retriever paws work like canoe paddles as he and Gabby swim around the ponds.  The pair of Mallard Ducks appears to have taken-up permanent residence in the upper pond, and can be seen paddling around the edges most afternoons.  No ducklings yet.  Although the quacks are not yet dog fans, at least they don't panic when the two pups hit the water, but they do duck for cover in the cat-and-nine-tales while the swimming canines go through their workouts.

On Wednesday, Kore was in the house (actually mostly outside the house), and he installed a pressure tank and four outside water faucets around the greenhouse, to make for easy watering of the gardens, blueberry/raspberry patch and vineyard.  Field no. 3 was plowed this week, which took most of Wednesday and Friday to get the job done.  Beautiful weather both days, and two large black hawks and one red-tailed hawk circled Chris-on-the-Kubota in search of easy-picking food.  But mice were few and far between as the earth was moved.  Although, AJ the cat did manage to catch a full-sized (albeit small) rabbit -- he looked a bit ridiculous as he carried his catch around the yard in his mouth, like a mother cat carries her kittens.  Now if we could just teach him to catch a red fox.

On Thursday morning, we had two visitors ... two unknowns, self proclaimed 'neighbors from Sprout Brook', who dropped in to chat with Susan on farming, quilting, sewing and other rural America hot topics.  To add to the excitement, Riley showed-up at the door with snake in mouth.  It appeared as if he had caught an already dead one -- no doubt a precursor to advanced hunting activities to come.  The rest of Thursday was a day of well needed rest.

Early Friday morning, the Fort Plain post office called (yes, yes, they do have telephone, electricity and indoor plumbing there) -- the keets are in, the keets are in!  Yes, Sixteen one-day-old guinea hen chicks arrived and were put into incubation for their first month-or-so supervised growth upstairs in the main barn.  Cats and dogs no longer welcomed there.  Also, it appears that we have acquired a new barn cat.  There is a small framed adult all black cat, gold eyes, living in the old equipment shed out back.  Seems very docile, but you can't get any closer than 10 feet or so before he/she scrambles away (we think he is a male)..

On tap for this Saturday is the annual Amish equipment, tack and tools auction, at the Mohawk Produce Auction Center in Fordsbush.  No doubt a good time will be had by all, including the Yoders, Zooks, Millers and various Stoltzfus/Stoltzfoos families.  The annual Amish landscaping and flowers auction is set for May 29, same place, same time.

The Riley Factor #57

The Riley Factor May 4, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 4 -- Sunday was big sun and big heat in Middle-of-Nowhere, and Riley went for his first big swim in the upper pond -- the Golden's webbed feet worked great.  Gabby led the way into the depths, and both canines collapsed upon following Nancy back to the homestead.  And a trip on the Ute up into the back trails showed much drying has occurred and the trails are basically ready for the season's riding & hiking.

Plowing and planting are on the menu of the day for the first week or two of May.  The first field has already seen four and a half acres of wheat planted, and will also grow an acre of corn and an acre of potatoes and perhaps some soybeans.  The third field will be receiving an acre each of buckwheat, barley, oats and alfalfa.  Also, probably plowing for and planting six acres of hay (mixture of timothy, alfalfa, rye and clover).  Late last fall, the second field received its first cutting in over 25 years -- mostly brush in the six to eight feet high range was growing there.  Lloyd Van Alstine (the unofficial Mayor of Mendon) told us that he was the last person to mow that field, and it was in about 1983.  Since then, it was left uncared for and became overgrown with grass and brush, until last fall's cutting.   This spring, the field has thousands of dead four inch tall stubs and a lot of good looking grass.  A couple more mowings and a pasture should be born -- about four acres in all.  The brush stubs have been beaten to death by the bush hogs and will not regrow, destined to dissolve into the soil.  And field no. 4, the field at the top by the main entrance to the woods, is about eight acres of hay in its first full season of growth after plowing and seeding.  With any luck, we will be able to take a couple cuttings of hay from there this year.

On Monday, we planted another 18 grape vines in the vineyard area of the orchard, for a total of 30 -- trellis still in the design phase.  It normally takes until year three for grape vines to bear fruit in any real quantity.  And we installed a gateway & gate in the fence between the pasture and the orchard, so that occasionally a steer or two will be able to graze among the fruit trees -- we'll have to see how that experiment works out.

More plowing and rototilling also done on Monday & Tuesday, in spite of Tuesday afternoon thunder storms.  Only the pair of Mallard ducks swimming and floating around in the upper pond seem unaffected by heat or cold, sun or rain.  Perhaps they have a nest with eggs or ducklings in it -- a search may be done later.

The Riley Factor #56

The Riley Factor May 1, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, May 1 -- Riley & Gabby went swimming several times on Friday, well wading, in both the upper and lower ponds.  Warm temperatures and warm water made for a perfect canine beach day -- no sunscreen required.  After noon, the Holstein triplets were walked to the orchard and spent the afternoon grazing and running around their new playpen.  Surprisingly, at dinnertime they returned in an orderly fashion to their pasture, and were perfect gentlemen as they were put away in the barn for the night.  The Dexter brothers missed out on the bovine outing, as they were too ornery to allow for being walked on a lead to the orchard and back.  On Saturday afternoon, Riley made his first attempt at actually swimming, in the upper pond.  No drownings were reported.

Chris began Friday with a tractor trip down Highway 163 to Hill Top Tire, trailer in tow, to have new tires put on the hay wagon acquired at the Fort Plain Equipment Auction last Saturday -- always a treat to roam the New York State thoroughfares in a 55mph zone, crawling at 12.4 mph with flashers on and the ubiquitous red & orange triangles in full display on the tractor and the trailer.  No incidents to report, and Dave/Mork & Mindy Webb were entertaining as always.  Chris returned to the NY Compound at noon and plowed an acre of the field next to the garden shed and new barn, surrounded by the wheat crops, probably for planting of corn and potatoes -- exact layout to be determined in a few weeks by CEO Susan.

Really a routine day -- Susan and Nancy uncovered the outside tomatoes and cucumbers, and mowed the lawn and fields.  Nancy finished painting the library bookcase and filled them with books.  It remains to be seen as to whether any available time exists to actually read said books.  There is probably a hidden (or perhaps obvious) message in the four categories that we three agreed represented all the books we own ... farming, building, religion and science.

Saturday brought a new gate for insertion between the pasture and the orchard ... a new gateway for the steers to roam through.  Installation to be completion later.  Associated therewith was an hour long discussion with Aaron Miller (the "A" of E&A Fence) on the business side of the fence business ... riveting.  And Saturday also brought an afternoon with Ephraim, repairing the plow which had been compromised by a certain female farmer racing through the corn field with plow in the earth.  Guess what happens when the plow hooked to a two-ton tractor hits a thousand pound stone under the ground?

And lastly, the red fox continues to roam -- last seen at dusk Thursday, sitting in the middle of route 163 about 100 yards up from our driveway.  Mocking us.  His time will come.