The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
February 15, 2014, Issue No. 131
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
February 15, 2014, Issue No. 131
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
It has been a while, so HAPPY THANKSGIVING, MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, from Middle-of-Nowhere.
And welcome into the world ...
... born December 20, 2013, 13 weeks premature, to Stevie and Scott, weighing 2 pounds, five ounces, and 14.2 inches in length. Lengthy stay in UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. He is doing beautifully.
And welcome into the world ...
Jackson Christopher Douglas Bentley
... born December 20, 2013, 13 weeks premature, to Stevie and Scott, weighing 2 pounds, five ounces, and 14.2 inches in length. Lengthy stay in UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. He is doing beautifully.
Riley and the Littles -- This winter, I put The Riley in charge of the four cats, AJ, Stryder, Arwen and Izzy, with instructions to keep the cats in line and make sure they each caught their quota of mice. Riley is a poor boss.
Plowing and Planting -- No planting or other farming recently. But five acres of hard red winter wheat and winter barley is in the ground and grew to about six inches in height before winter dormancy set in. The plan is for them to spring forth in April or so and grow through mid-July or so, when they will be combined and stored in the barn, mostly for feed but with some used for baking flour. In early February, we dropped-off the funnel spreader to John Fisher, for a rehab of the spreading plates and funnel gate - all rusted from too many fertilizer applications, which are generally done a ton or so at a time. Next up is the drop-off on the combine for a 2014 rehab.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie have calmed as they became accustomed to pasture and barn life together. Although, on the morning of February 15, they were up to their old tricks. Knock on the door at 10:15AM. No, it was not the horses. But only because they were in the middle of the road running away. And a nice lady had stopped-in to inform us of our latest equine transgression. By the time we found the pair of ne'er -do-wells, about 2 miles away, on Clinton Road, it took 15 minutes to corral them, with the help of a couple of young Amish girls, and their three-legged German Shepherd dog, Benji. Then, in the snow, we began the hour-long process of "walking" the two stooges home, first on Clinton Road, with little traffic, and then on state route 163, with much more traffic. Susan trailed the three of us 50-100 feet in the Xterra with lights and flashers on duty. After trying a couple of different approaches, we settled on "walking" Rio on a lead and letting Blondie run free, which was generally within 25 yards or so of Rio and me. At one point, Blondie plunged off road into the 3-4 feet deep culvert, full of snow. Surprise to her. She managed to get in and out of the snow pit without difficulty. Other than a few bloody toes from a foot stomp from Rio, everyone remained unscathed. All was back to normal by 11:30AM, such as it is.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie have calmed as they became accustomed to pasture and barn life together. Although, on the morning of February 15, they were up to their old tricks. Knock on the door at 10:15AM. No, it was not the horses. But only because they were in the middle of the road running away. And a nice lady had stopped-in to inform us of our latest equine transgression. By the time we found the pair of ne'er -do-wells, about 2 miles away, on Clinton Road, it took 15 minutes to corral them, with the help of a couple of young Amish girls, and their three-legged German Shepherd dog, Benji. Then, in the snow, we began the hour-long process of "walking" the two stooges home, first on Clinton Road, with little traffic, and then on state route 163, with much more traffic. Susan trailed the three of us 50-100 feet in the Xterra with lights and flashers on duty. After trying a couple of different approaches, we settled on "walking" Rio on a lead and letting Blondie run free, which was generally within 25 yards or so of Rio and me. At one point, Blondie plunged off road into the 3-4 feet deep culvert, full of snow. Surprise to her. She managed to get in and out of the snow pit without difficulty. Other than a few bloody toes from a foot stomp from Rio, everyone remained unscathed. All was back to normal by 11:30AM, such as it is.
The Herd of Four -- Lily, our on-and-off again Jersey dairy cow, is happy and healthy. And the three Jersey calves born in the spring and early summer of 2012, Abraham, Isaac and Abby, roam contentedly. We had a huge apple season this fall, many dozens of bushels of perfect apples, so the cattle and horses ate heavily most days from the orchards. As did we. The calves are now each approaching 1,000 pounds.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Mowing has long been over. Musing comes and musing goes. And we are still cutting and splitting wood for exercise and heating. We began winter with about 14 cords split and stacked for use this winter, if we need it, along with another 25 felled trees that need splitting and stacking, to get a year ahead, for use next winter. On an ongoing basis, we also cut dead standing trees from the trails area, mostly elms. Many of these trees have been dead for so long that their bark is virtually all gone, but the wood remains dense and hard, and generally only five to 10 inches in diameter at the base - easy to cut down and cut up, and perfect for use in the kitchen stove. Susan, CJ and I cut another couple of cords of the long-standing dead elm trees for buring in the kitchen stove. And, in early February, we had Aaron Miller, Daniel Stoltzfus and Vernon Peachey cut down 40-50 large hardwood trees, and leave them in the snowy woods, limbed and bucked, for use two winters out.
Fowl Weather -- Well, as usual, the weekend before Thanksgiving brought the annual butchering of our turkey herd. Always a melancholy day. We started the turkeys early this year, in April, buying 15 chicks and breeding another six on our own. We lost one in a road accident, butchered 14 and have one tom and 5 hens left for over this winter and spring breeding. All Standard Bronze breed, which is a heritage breed that was the turkey of America until the 1930s or so, when the American broad-breasted white took over as the Country's most popular. We also have one Narragansett hen left over from last year, which we will also breed this spring.
Visitors -- It has been a quiet winter on the visitors front, with a couple of visits from CJ.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
When all the experts and forecasts agree – something else is going to happen. -- Robert Farrell
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it. -- George Orwell
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it. -- George Orwell
President Obama got some good news today. The IRS ruled that he can write-off the first half of his second term as a total loss. -- Jay Leno
Capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. -- Winston Churchill
America is not divided by the differences in our outcomes, it is divided by the differences in our efforts. And by the false philosophy that says one man’s success comes about unavoidably as the result of another man’s victimization. -- Anonymous
You fail all the time. But you're not a failure until you start blaming someone else. -- Bum Phillips, 1923-2013
Who is more foolish, the fool or the fools who follow the fool? -- obi wan kenobi
Zero tolerance always goes too far. It results in authoritarian dumbness. Zero tolerance always kills common sense. We should treat each person as an individual and exercise judgment in decision making. -- Tucker Carlson
A man's true wealth is measured by the good he does in the world. -- Mohammed
Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. -- John Adams
Change your thoughts and you change your world. -- Norman Vincent Peale
If you're going to make a mistake, make it at full speed. -- Lance Briggs (linebacker, Chicago Bears)
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. -- Niels Bohr
No more excuses, Barack Obama is a liar ... He should resign. -- Allen West
Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. -- Ronald Reagan
For liberty to expand, government must now contract. For the economy to grow, the government must get out of the way. -- Rand Paul
Let us not seek the Democrat answer or the Republican answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. -- John F. Kennedy
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy. -- Winston Churchill
The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy. -- John F. Kennedy, 1962
Defiance, not obedience, is the American's answer to overbearing government. -- Ayn Rand
It is not that I am so smart, it is just that I stay with problems longer. -- Albert Einstein
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, first dig two graves. -- Confucius
Stay committed to your decisions, but remain flexible in your approach. - Tony Robbins
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead. -- Thomas Paine
Fact of the Month --
The Earth’s surface is 70 percent water, while the majority of the human population inhabits only about 3 percent of the landmass.
Thought of the Month --
LIBERALS THINK WE SHOULD BE EQUAL AT THE FINISH LINE. CONSERVATIVES THINK WE SHOULD BE EQUAL AT THE STARTING LINE.
American exceptionalism has evolved from “We are exceptional because of our free society,” into “We are exceptional therefore life in our society should be free.”
Bumper Stickers of the Month -- well, not really a bumpersticker because of its length, but ... --
The 5 best sentences you’ll ever read on this experiment of Obama and Democrat Party Socialism
- You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
- What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
- The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
- You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!.
- When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Fact of the Month --
