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