The Riley Factor #68

The Riley Factor June 10, 2010
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

FORT PLAIN NY, June 10 --
Planting and Plowing --We are preparing for our first attempt at making hay.  No, really, that's what it is called when you spend the requisite three days mowing, drying, raking and baling the coveted livestock food.  Update to follow.

Riley's Antics -- High speed racing around and through large mud puddles is the favorite Golden activity of the week.

The Herd of Five -- Moo.  Much chest bumping and head banging -- their idea of fun.  Size doesn't appear to matter, as Zeke (150 pounds) gets into it with Gabe (600 pounds) and anyone (Michael, Raphael, Ari, each 450-500 pounds) in between.  Susan and her band of Amish sisters cleaned-out the entire barn Wednesday morning.  "Now it's so clean", commented Susan, "that the chickens and turkeys don't want to hang out in there any more.  They head for outside as soon as the doors are opened in the morning".

Fowl Weather -- The Keets are now flying, and running at high speed around their stall, and the barn when one escapes, which happens on a daily basis.  Only a little while before the next phase of this experiment arrives -- releasing them to roam freely around the place and wherever else they are inclined.  Separately, it turns out that the reason one of the three senior turkeys roams so widely is to lay her eggs out of the reach of the chickens, who peck them into scramblers, if given the opportunity.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Recently, we had our closest encounter with a deer.  Chris took a shortcut on a little used trail while racing Susan and after making the turn back on to a main trail was 20 feet from a large doe, just standing there looking at her new favorite human.  After a few seconds of study, she trotted back into the brush.

Tales from Freysbush Garage -- Leon Douglas has run Freysbush Garage ever since he dropped out of the sixth grade over 50 years ago.  Cash only, and be ready to go to the auto parts store to buy whatever parts Leon needs to fix whatever you brought him to fix.  Recently, I have made the trip to Fisher's Auto Parts in Fort Plain to get brakes all-around and a horn for the Jeep, and a water pump and serpentine belt for the Xterra.  I could recognize about half of those items if they were laying on a table in front of me.  Leon is the local mechanic and a great guy, very talkative whenever we are there for something or other.  Freysbush Garage is halfway between our place and Downtown Fort Plain (remember, don't blink), about three miles away, on the corner of Cherry Valley Road and Nestle Road.  The business is located in a green and black two-story building, formerly a house, covered in asphalt shingles that were applied back just after asphalt was invented.  Leon lives about 200 yards down Nestle Road and walks to and from work twice each day, including the trip home for lunch with his wife. The Garage has no employees, other than Leon, although there is a helper there some days, who provides conversation for Leon -- unclear what else the helper actually does.  Leon stories abound.  The tale of Leon's installation of his car lift 18 years ago is a good one -- which involved a couple of neighbors, three tractors, and several days of digging and cursing.  One of my favorite Leon stories is about the airplane he once built.on the second story of the building.  A full-size two-seater with plush deep button leather seats, polished wooden dash and beautiful crimson paint job.  He spent 18 years on the project.  When it was done, it sat fully assembled on the second floor of a building with no external doors, ramps or stairs.  Once the plane was on the ground at some landing strip (still a mystery or two there) he flew it once and sold is for $36,000.  Next time's story >>> the submarine.

Quote of the Week -- "Am I the only  guy in this country who's fed up with  what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage  with this so called president? We should be  screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of tax  cheating, clueless leftists trying to steer our  ship of state right over a cliff, we've got  corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we  can't even run a ridiculous cash-for-clunkers  program without losing $26 billion of the  taxpayers' money, much less build a hybrid car.  But instead of getting mad, everyone sits  around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Trust me the economy is  getting better." -- Lee Iococca, in his new book, Where have All the Leaders Gone?