The Riley Factor #90

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
December 21, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Merry Christmas to All

Animals -- Just for fun, on Thanksgiving weekend, we counted the various animals wandering the place, excluding the stray raccoon, ground hog, blue heron, red  fox, deer, mice, coyotes, coy dogs, neighbors' dogs, hawks, vultures, wild turkeys and other true wildlife.  (Somewhat) under our control were 2 horses, 4 steer, one bull, 21 Jersey Giant black chickens, 16 RI/Cornish red hens, 9 French Guinea Fowl (which Susan recently learned mate for life and love hot weather such as found in Africa !? - well one-for-two's not bad), 6 Narragansett turkeys, 3 cats and The Riley.  Total of 63.  "Plus us", adds Susan.

The Snows -- Snow began flying early in the month and almost daily the Lake Effect drops some white stuff on the place.  Never too much at a time, but it adds-up.  After a week of frigid temps, Dec. 9-16, daily highs under 20 with wind chills in the 4-5 degree range, we got our first real snow overnight on Dec. 15-16, when 2-3 inches fell.  Just 10 miles away in Sharon Springs, they got 6 injches and in Cobleskill, 25 miles south, they received 8 inches that night.  The Lake Effect is inconsistent and a tough one to predict.  100 miles to the west in Syracuse, it has snowed every day in December and they have received over six feet of snow, a new record for any single month, with 10 days remaining to set more records.  Route 90, the NYS Thruway, had to be closed for a while for snow removal.

Solar Project -- Sun shines, wind blows, infrastructure still under development.  Solar panels (actually called Photo-Voltaic panels) arrived on Dec. 14.  Installation to begin soon.

Planting and Plowing -- Still dormant until spring.

Riley -- The Golden Boy ate (yet another) Christmas ornament given to us by someone who saw it at a craft show and thought it would be perfect for display in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Well, perfect for a snack, according to Riley.  He moved on, and late on Dec. 15, Riley escaped our control (his incessant objective, nay - make it his prime directive) and strolled the yard and barnyard at will.  Eventually, he strolled onto the patch of lawn in front of the farm field closest to the house and found a deer that had been struck by a vehicle the night before and lay dead on the lawn.  When we tried to pick-up the small doe the next morning, it had frozen solid to the ground and was immovable.  Oh well, there were tracks in the snow all around it and it appears that coyotes, coy-dogs and perhaps raccoons or skunks have been feasting on the carcass -- the call of the wild.

Horses -- Lady has become the Boss of the Field, chasing the others around at her will.  Although when push comes to shove, Rio steps in and takes control.  Like any good filly, she follows her male protector.  On Dec. 16, we replaced the river-rock floors in the horse stalls with stall mats, which will pamper Rio's and Lady's unshod feet while standing and sleeping in the barn.

The Herd of Five -- Cattle have one mission in life ... eating.  They prefer pasture grass, but readily migrate to hay when the grass is short or snow-covered.  They also like grain (wheat, oats, barley, corn), and in a pinch will chew on sweatshirts, jackets and jeans.  They love to sniff leather coats (presumably searching for some long-lost relative).  Oh yeah, and their through-put is legendary.  Well, on Dec. 14, we had our first butchering, a melancholy day.  Two of our steer, Gabe, our 15-month-old red & white Holstein, and Zeke, our 10-month-old Holstein bull, were butchered for beef for our own use and for sales.  We raised them as beef cattle, from very young calves only a few days old, to their 1,000 and 700 pound states.  The processed beef should be ready by New Year's Day.

Fowl Weather -- The turkeys and chickens are becoming accustomed to staying in their indoor/outdoor pen rather than wandering all over the place as the mercury drops.  Most days, they remain in their 24'x36' coop and pen that is half indoors and half outside under the barn overhang.  Most have the capacity (but not the desire) to jump-fly over the six-foot fencing that separates them from the entire outside world.  They await return of warmer weather to return to that roaming life.  The Keets, those French Guinea Fowl, have taken to pairing-up, and one of our nine is left as a bachelor (or bachelorette).  One night, he/she stayed outside roaming in search of wedded bliss in 10-degree environs.  Alack and alas, at sunrise, he/she was found leaning up against one of the stall doors waiting to be let in to return to the flock.  Apparently the rural bird bar scene had not produced the desired hook-up.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Ponds are frozen, almost ready for the first ice skaters of the season.  Korey-in-the-House -- Korey the Amish Plumber, arrived on December 7 to shut-off the greenhouse water for the year.  Temps had been in the 20s for several days, so it was fortunate that we escaped any unwanted pump, tank or pipe freezing.  For no reason, Riley acted scared stiff when Korey entered the house -- may have been the boots, black pants and jacket and straw hat.  After a minute of petting and talking, Riley was back to his old self, jumping on Korey and nibbling on his hands.  On one of his daily runs, December 10, one day after deer hunting season ended, Riley flushed-out a small herd of six deer in the third field.  They ran all the way from the bottom up into the woods, six large does.   Later in the week, he spied a lone doe on the trails and chased her into and throughout the south woods.  After 15 minutes or so, he emerged doe-less and huffing and puffing, unsuccessful in his chase and no worse for the wear.  The Golden Boy would not know what to do if he ever actually got close up to a deer.

Quotes of the Week --

     Failure is not an option. -- Gene Kranz, NASA Mission Control (Apollo 13, April 1970)

     Hope is not a strategy. -- true source unknown, attributed to many different individuals

     I tried being reasonable.  I didn't like it.
     If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.
     A good man always knows his limitations.
     We boil at different degrees.
     Go ahead, make my day.                          

  -- Clint Eastwood, various movies, various points in time, each a classic

     Churchill knew the importance of peace, and he also knew the price of it. -- Rudy Giuliani

     If my kids graduate from high school, and want to become puppeteers, I'll send them to friggin' puppet college.  But for now, just teach them how to read, write and do math. -- Susan Fuchs, circa 1995, to the Hopkinton Superintendent of Schools

     What the hell is going on out there? -- Vince Lombardi
     One on my predictions for 2011 - the rich of the world, the real workers, will rise-up and unite in protest. -- Charles Payne, FOX Business Channel

     The Troubled Asset Relief Program was a complete failure.  Government spending does not create jobs. -- Steve Moore, Wall Street Journal
     The real Obama is more complex than his simplistic, outdated  'Yes We Can' mantra.  Obama's real slogans morph over time ...
          2008 Obama: Weak and Ineffective.
          2009 Obama: Dishonest and Incompetent.
          2010 Obama: a Socialist, a Liar, Hopelessly In-over-his-head. -- CF

     Good workers have choices. -- John Stossel

The Riley Factor #89

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
December 5, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

The snows -- are flying.  The lake effect has begun in Middle-of-Nowhere, NY.  Constant lake effect snow forecast for Dec. 5 - 7.  Could amount to a foot in the west by Tuesday's end, Buffalo through Syracuse.  Been snowing here for 12 hours and looks like a white two days likely.  High temp today forecast to be 24, with with chill of 13.  So, the animals are in the barn for today -- a toasty 40 degrees in there, with a wind chill of, wait for it ... 40.  Although, you do have to listen to the Keets honking in there -- maybe the cold is not so bad.  Much too early for winter to actually arrive.  It won't be long before the ATVs are being ridden and slidden across the snow -- always fun.

The Turkey Report -- Well, now that Thanksgiving is over, we can report that we sold-out of all the turkeys this year, the Narragansett heritage breed.  We received compliments from many of our customers.  One woman, Julie from Sharon Springs, who visited us a month or so ago to meet and greet the living and breathing turkeys, wrote us, "We wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know the turkey we had was WONDERFUL!  There was no fat on it, and the taste was amazing!  Also, I cooked the 10lb. bird, and it was plenty for all plus leftovers.  Everyone at the table was very impressed, and we all really appreciated knowing the turkey was raised in such a wonderful environment.  Thank you both so much for all the hard work and care in raising your animals."  It is great to hear back from folks who bought the birds. 
Solar Project -- Empire Solar has begun work on the solarization of Rock Creek Farm.  On Nov. 30, the support posts for the two wind turbines were installed on the east end of the garage barn.  Next steps calls for installation of the rotors and also 32 solar panels to be installed on the garage barn roof.  Then comes all the inverters, batteries, switches, transformers, generator hook-up and other hardware to get us off of the electric grid.  Stay tuned.  Timetable calls for a mid-winter completion.

Planting and Plowing -- Still dormant until spring.  Replacement weed-seed/grain filter screen for the combine arrived, so installation of that will transpire sometime before summer.

Riley -- It is possible, perhaps alleged, that some of Riley's recent high energy was due to his collar being too tight ... bad owners.  In any event, Susan loosened the collar one hole, and Crazy Riley became Riley the Calm.  Of sorts.  (Everything is relative).  He is still doing two two-mile runs on most days, snow or shine.

Horses -- Daily, Rio and Lady still appear to love roaming the pasture.  They graze and sprint back and forth at will, occasionally wading into Rock Creek and stopping for a splash and a drink.  Their favorite activity seems to be chasing one or more of the steers across the pasture.  Funny to watch those sprints -- frequently looks like the cattle will run right through the fence, but (so far) they have hit the brakes or veered before impact.

The Herd of Five -- The bovines are very calm and collected these days (when not running for their lives from the horses).  Still spending days in the pasture grazing, although the grass now is fairly short and sparse.  Hay is the preferred feed of the day.  And night.

Fowl Weather -- Score it French Guinea Fowl 1, Raccoons zero.  On Thanksgiving morning, a giant raccoon wandered into the barnyard, no doubt in search of a few scrambled eggs followed by a turkey or chicken dinner.  What he got was the flock of nine Keets chasing him and squawking their brains out until the raccoon trotted across route 163, back into hiding.  We did send a couple of rifle rounds over his head to give him the official human 'vamoose'.  The raccoon has not returned since.  Also, on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving, the great blue heron lifted from the lower pond and flew side-by-side with the Xterra as we drove down route 163 on some errand or another, staying 15-20 feet from the vehicle only a couple of feet off the ground for over a quarter mile -- looked great, but still a bit of a mystery how these creatures are able to fly.  They are about five feet tall, if stretched, with a five-foot wing span.  The blue herons always look like something would go terribly, horribly wrong if they were tossed from a helicopter door ... falling, falling, oh, the inhumanity of it all (apologies to WKRP in Cincinnati).  But herons do fly.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Ice formed on the surface of the upper pond on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and on the lower pond the following Monday.  A bit on the thin side, but nevertheless totally covering the pond surfaces.  Riley has tested the ice a bit, but not yet enough for his 70-80 pound frame to walk out on it.

Rock Creek Farm Records -- CORRECTION from our last edition ... the earliest guest departure record goes to Stevie, who left one day last year at 5:30AM, easily besting Babs and Betty, who left for parts unknown at 7:50AM this year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Quotes of the Week --

     The problem is that Obama's campaign slogan, "Yes We Can", has turned into, "Thought We Could." -- David Letterman

     You can have a full day if you laugh, think, and are moved to tears. -- Jim Valvano, (late) basketball coach

     Where there's a will, there's a dead body. -- Gallagher, comedian

     Now they say that if we stop paying people not to work, it will cost the economy 600,000 jobs.  What?  How could this possibly be the case?  The people running the government are, of course, liberals.  They are Marxists.   They are socialists.   They are also incredibly stupid. -- Rush Limbaugh

     You are not elected to public office to get re-elected.  You are elected to serve the people, children, grandchildren and other citizens of the country right now.  Get some courage, or get out. -- John Kasich, Governor-elect, Ohio