The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
July 7, 2014, Issue No. 133
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
July 7, 2014, Issue No. 133
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Riley and the Littles -- Riley has been limping a bit on one of his front legs, but still gets-in his daily mile-or-two run. Stryder injured his left rear leg somehow one night (no cut or bump) but could barely walk for a week. He too has recovered and has now only a bit of a limp. The girls, Arwen and Izzie, have plodded-along without incident. And we have seen a fifth cat, orange and white, living out back in the wood shed and under the garden shed - appears tame, but too skittish to get too close to greet us.
Plowing and Planting -- We roto-tillled the garden and second field for a second time this spring to get ready for outside vegetable planting ... potatoes were in the ground on April 28. Onions the next day and corn to follow. Squash, cucumbers and tomatoes are still growing in the green house waiting for warmer weather. We brought the Oliver combine over to John Fisher for a rebuild. John is the local Amish Bishop, the leader of the church and community, who also runs an equipment repair and machine shop. He and his lone employee, Anthony Weaver, are great talkers, as is John's wife Annie. Last year one day, I met three of John's grandsons. When I asked John how many grandchildren he had, he leaned back in his office chair, looked at the ceiling pondering for a minute, and said, "Oh, I don't know, must be at least 50 or so".
On June 30, we completed the spring haying, putting 1,345 bales of hay in the barn. At an average of 50 pounds per bale, that represents over 67,000 pounds - just enough to last us for a year, when added to the 250 bales we have left-over from last year's cuttings. All in, it took a day to mow 22 acres of hay fields. Then a day to ted (think splash-around to enhance drying. ANother day for the raking into windrows. And finally, a long, long day, with four teenage helpers to bale and stack it all. Probably the four hottest consecutive days so far this year - temperature in mid-80s with full sun every day. Our baler broke three times during the day, but a replaced chain, replaced shear pin and replaced plunger bolt got it on its way toward completion, with a little assistance from Lloyd Vanalstine and John Fisher.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie, along with the bovine herd, have been spending nights out in the pasture. No incidents to report ... no escapes, no coyote battles, no intra-herd scuffling.
And They're Off -- Rio and Blondie, along with the bovine herd, have been spending nights out in the pasture. No incidents to report ... no escapes, no coyote battles, no intra-herd scuffling.
The Herd of Four -- Lately, Isaac, one of our red Jersey steer, has become a bit aggressive, taking opportunities to bump me, head-butt me and square-off facing me. I bought a cattle-prod, but if Isaac does not simmer down, his 1,000-pound frame may be making an early trip to the butcher. Abby, the youngest and smallest of the lot, is the only one that we left with horns, and she uses hers to bounce-around the bigger guys.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Spring auction season has come and gone. Although we went to a couple, not much was acquired, other than a small trailer and a heavy duty back blade (think snow plow or road grader that mounts on the rear of a large tractor). I was bidding on the back blade in the equipment section of the auction field when Bill Armitstead, the owner of the auction company, walked up to me and said that there was a woman in the first aisle at the other auctioneer using the same bidder number as mine, who was wearing the number out. He said he thought her name was Susan. I said, "Yeah, you ought to deactivate that number, for the good of all of us".
We bought a small cabin at the Amish Mohawk Produce Spring Consignment Auction and had it delivered to the area overlooking the upper pond. We prepared the site with gravel and stone and angled the front porch toward the pond and the rolling hills of Cherry Valley and West Minden. Should be a perfect retreat for relaxing and pondering the meaning of life.
Fowl Weather -- Tough time this year breeding the chickens and turkeys. Our incubator broke (overheated) and many of the eggs did not hatch. A few eggs exploded (alack and alas the sign of a too hot environment). In April, we hatched 7 Red Star chicks and bought 16 Delaware chicks to add to our chicken flock. And May brought the first hatchings of turkey chicks - Standard Bronze breed. Susan has named one turkey chick "Peep Peep" because he wanders around the yard with his mother and father constantly peeping. He looks a bit ridiculous so small wandering in, out and under the big birds as they patrol the grounds. Fairly entertaining. Peep Peep was actually hatched in the incubator and then Susan tucked him under one of the turkey hens that was sitting on eggs continuously for a month. The mother hen instantly took to him and he to her, and they have become fast companions. The next day, Susan was able to get rid of the 14 eggs that were being sat on but would never hatch. Separately, a turkey hen has been sitting on 15 eggs, presumably fertilized eggs, for nearly a month now, in a nest out by the cold cellar. Soon, these eggs should be hatching, if they are to become turkeys.
Our large tom turkey, who we have named McSnood, owing to his large snood that hangs down from his brow when he is agitated or excited, has become obsessed with attacking me. McSnood is the protector of the flock and watches-over the 5 turkey hens and Peep Peep all day every day as the go about their wanderings in the yard, pasture and gardens. McSnood frequently sneaks-up on me, as much as a 30-pound bird can sneak, and if allowed close enough will jump at me claws first. I have tried sticks, brooms and other items to ward him off, but he is relentless. He leaves Susan alone, and seems to react adversely to men only. My best defense? Summoning The Riley to stand watch and guard me. McSnood will not mess with The Riley - big mouth, big bark, big teeth, enough said.
Visitors -- Mostly quiet. We have had a couple of visits from Stevie and Jackson, and CJ stopped-in twice. All very welcomed. Many steaks barbecued, along with lemonade and the occasional cigar.
Visitors -- Mostly quiet. We have had a couple of visits from Stevie and Jackson, and CJ stopped-in twice. All very welcomed. Many steaks barbecued, along with lemonade and the occasional cigar.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
The White House has gone from "Change you can believe in." to "Changing the story until you believe it". -- Jay Leno
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. -- Albert Einstein
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Chirchill
It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men. -- Samuel Adams
Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way. -- Charles Bukowski, German-born American writer
The press is constipated by their own ideology. -- Wayne Rodgers
Facts of the Month --
Thought of the Month --
A U.S. college graduate will earn $800,000 or more over his or her lifetime than a high-school graduate; a number that has taken into account tuition and the opportunity cost of attending school for four years. --Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Bumper Sticker of the Month --
I LIKE MY GUNS LIKE OBAMA LIKES HIS VOTERS - UNDOCUMENTED
And then There's This ...
Homeland Security Is 'Out of Control'
The Department of Homeland Security has often been assailed from the right, with Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions calling it "the most mismanaged department in the federal government."
Now a fresh attack on the DHS comes from the left-leaning Undernews, the online report of the Progressive Review, which castigates the department in an article headlined "Homeland Security Department Out of Control."
Excerpting an article from the Albuquerque Journal, Undernews reports: "Today, in addition to protecting America's borders and airports, [the department] is interrogating people suspected of pirating movies at Ohio theaters, seizing counterfeit NBA merchandise in San Antonio, and working pickpocket cases alongside police in Albuquerque.
"Some government watchdogs and civil liberties advocates — and even the nation's first Department of Homeland Security secretary — question how those actions serve the purpose set forth in the 2002 law" establishing the department. That former secretary, Tom Ridge, told the Journal: "They've kind of lost their way."
In its first year of existence, DHS had 180,000 full-time workers, and its budget was $29 billion in 2003. Today the department has 250,000 workers, making it the third largest federal agency after the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and its budget this year is $61 billion.
A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service last year disclosed: "The U.S. government does not have a single definition for 'homeland security.' Multiple definitions, missions and an absence of prioritization results in consequences to the nation's security. "There is no clarity in the national strategies of federal, state, and local roles and responsibilities, and potentially, funding is driving priorities rather than priorities driving the funding." Ridge said: "Someone needs to explain to me how critical all these new people are to the nation. Are they getting so big, they're actually making work?"
And Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and Harvard Extension School, calls the DHS "a colossal and inefficient boondoggle."
And then, there's also this ...
The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act
Representative Steve Stockman (R-Texas) has introduced legislation that would afford average Americans the ability to “offer a variety of dubious excuses” for not having tax documents for the Internal Revenue Service after “the IRS offered an incredibly dubious excuse for its failure to turn documents over to House investigators.”
Stockman’s tongue-in-cheek legislation, “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act,” would offer taxpayers 10 outlandish reasons for not submitting paperwork requested by the IRS:
1. The dog ate my tax receipts2. Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction3. Traded documents for five terrorists4. Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon5. Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room6. Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car7. Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords8. Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar9. Was short on toilet paper while camping10. At this point, what difference does it make?
