The Riley Factor #92

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
February 6, 2011
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

The Snows -- More snow on Feb. 1-2 added another 14" to the foot already on the ground.  Trails remain open, but only barely in a couple of spots.  A few more inches fell on Feb. 5-6.

Solar Project -- Sunday Jan. 30 saw the solar engineers scrambling around the three-quarters of an inch ice coating on the garage barn roof, beginning the attachment of the 30 solar panels to the roof.  Next day, the solar panel and wind turbine installations were all completed.  Next up: running the wiring, installing the inverters and charge controllers, connecting the batteries, installing the monitors and building the control room enclosure.  Need some sunny and above-freezing weather to proceed further.

Planting and Plowing -- Plowing continues its dormancy.  Manure continues its spreading.

Riley -- The Golden Boy's newest favorite pastime is trotting around fluffy snow with his nose buried in and shoveling up the white stuff.  He always comes up with a face covered in it.  And near the end of his twice-daily two-mile runs, he now just stops and drops in the deep stuff, and spends a minute or two eating unflavored snow cones.

Horses -- Rio and Lady are becoming more and more affectionate, especially to Susan.  Lady frequently places her chin on Susan's shoulder, probably seeking some carrot, apple or grain treat.  It seems as if they are not as scary to the steer as they once were perceived to be, but this is a human, not bovine, interpretation.

The Herd of Three -- Eli, Michael and Raphael, each now tipping the scales at around 1,000 pounds, are beginning to feel their oats (or in their specific case, it is actually wheat, but I digress).  They wander in and out of the barn on their schedule, not ours, mooing and and thinking nothing of tossing us a head butt or two on their way in, out, or for no apparent reason (best decision we made was to de-horn them at an early age -- too many stories from the locals of farmers being gored by bulls, never with a happy ending).  The Herd of Three has decided that they like last year's second cutting of hay better than any of the other hays, and they complain, moo, bang into walls and stomp around when we try to feed them anything but the best dried-up old grasses, sometimes going on a hunger strike.  Although they don't have any real teeth, and wouldn't ever bite anyway, at half a ton each, we do give them the utmost of respect, and stay out of the way of their hooves, lowered foreheads and running frames.  And at half a ton each, they aren't exactly starving.

Fowl Weather -- Both the red and black chickens have been laying eggs like it is still summer - eight or ten dozen per week.  If you need some eggs, stop in and take some.  Please.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- We have managed to keep the main trails clear of deep snow, enabling daily circuits on the ATVs or UTV with The Riley running alongside.  Recently, the colder nights seem to bring packs of coyotes or coy-dogs out of the woods and in fairly close to the orchard and barns, maybe 100 yards from the house, probably in search of rabbits or other unlucky quarry, a corpse of which we occasionally find in a trail near to the house.

Quotes of the Month --

     You cannot strengthen the weak, by weakening the strong. -- Abraham Lincoln

     All that you can do is decide what to do with the time that has been given to you. -- Gandolf the Gray (Fellowship of the Ring)

     Beer is proof that God loves man, and wants us to be happy. -- Ben Franklin

     Some women is lookers, and lookers must be looked at. -- Festus Hagen (Gunsmoke)

     They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. -- Ben Franklin

   To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he believes and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. -- Thomas Jefferson

      It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds. -- Sam Adams

    
Facts of the Month --

     57% of the dollars spent by the federal government are spent on entitlement programs.

     Currently, for each dollar the federal government takes in, it/they spend $1.66.


Superbowl Report -- February 6, from Dallas ...

     Green Bay Packers  31
    Pittsburgh Steelers  25

    Green Bay Packers win their 13th NFL Championship -- more than any other team.
    Aaron Rodgers is the Superbowl MVP and is the best quarterback currently playing in the NFL.
    All is right with the world.
Oh Boy --

The Sierra Club and the U.S. Forest Service were presenting an alternative to the Wyoming ranchers for controlling the coyote population. It seems that after years of the ranchers using the tried and true method of shooting or trapping the predators, the Sierra Club had a "more humane" solution to this issue. What they were proposing was for the animals to be captured alive. The males would then be castrated and let loose again. This was ACTUALLY proposed by the Sierra Club and by the U.S. Forest Service. All of the ranchers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes. Finally an old fellow wearing a big cowboy hat in the back of the conference room stood up, tipped his hat back and said; "Son, I don't think you understand our problem here... these coyotes ain't screwing our sheep... they're eatin' 'em!" The meeting never really got back to order. . .