The Riley Factor #95

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
April 13, 2011, Issue No. 95
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Make Way for Ducklings -- A pair of Mallards paddled around the lower pond for a day in early April, before winging their way on to parts unknown.  Only to be replaced a day later by the return of the great blue heron, now here for his fourth year.  In spite of our many sightings of this peculiar creature, I can never help thinking, "there is no way that that bird should be able to fly".  It is the size of a small person and stands peculiarly still in the shallows, or this time in the orchard, before jumping up and flapping its giant wings as it slowly takes-off, rising about a foot per second until it manages to get 15-20 feet above the ground and flies away.  And at dusk last night, as I was taking a short walk around the place with The Riley, four Canada Geese lined-up over the pasture and came-in to the lower pond like they were landing on an aircraft carrier.

The Snows -- Finally done.  Although we did get a bit of snow on March 31 and April 1 - only an inch or two, and quickly melted.

Auction Season -- Continued on April 2 with the annual spring equipment auction at Springfield Tractor in Ridgefield Springs.  A host of tractors, gators, mowers and other farm equipment, and about 500 people, twice what the auction brought a year ago.  We bought a new 74" tiller, needed since we annually rototill all the fields and gardens before planting, anywhere from 5 to 15 acres, depending on what we are up to, and our original tilling machine is beginning to show its wear.  Ephraim Blank welded the old tiller twice last year, and it still drips a bit of gear oil now and then.

Visitors -- Lo, it can be a lonely life here in Middle-of-Nowhere.  Nary a visitor from the civilized world in over a month.  Although Susan has made several pilgrimages to Hopkinton in recent weeks.

Solar Project -- Pretty much a fait accompli.  Except on the darkest of gloomy days, the photo-voltaic panels charge the batteries to 100% by day's end, which is enough power to run everything for over 48 hours with zero additional light from the sun.  And even those dark, cloudy, stormy days provide some light for charging the batteries.  Finally, with all the calibrations final and adjustments made, the back-up generator is being engaged only rarely.  And when it does kick-on, an hour-and-a-half running charges the batteries and power the house and barns for an entire day and night.

Planting and Plowing -- Still a bit muddy out in the fields, but yesterday, Susan tilled-in the manure that had been spread on the fields over the winter in the first field and in the garden area around the greenhouse.  So the 2011 farming has begun.

Riley -- For some unknown reason, the Golden Boy has taken to chewing paper.  Not all paper, but he is especially fond of napkins, tissues and the like.  When so occupied, Riley is impossible for one human to apprehend, and the two of us frequently chase him around the house like maniacs, until capture is achieved.  Who here is really running the asylum?

Horses -- Two days in a row, both horses escaped from the pasture - first times ever.  On March 30, they pushed through the lower 16-foot gate, which had been damaged a bit over the winter and was not latched tightly.  We saw Lady and Rio wandering around the back of the pasture fence and on the south circuit trails rolling in the still remaining snow.  A capture was accomplished by calling them calmly and shaking a bit of grain in their direction.  The cows were not amused at the horses being rewarded with mid-day grain for misbehaving, and the Herd of Three chased me around the field in search of some of their own feed.  (Editor's note: Always remember that time-tested, very wise, fundamental rule of the cattleman -- 'Never turn your back on a bull.')  Next day, March 31, we walked outside to run some errand, and saw both horses calmly grazing in the backyard near the fire pit, like it was perfectly normal.  Again, shaking some grain in a feed scoop called them back into their pasture.  This time, they had barged right through the four-foot upper people-gate and broke the wooden piece holding the latch.  (It must be admitted that some errant tractor operator snapped off two of the nearby fence posts over the winter while plowing snow off the roadway, and perhaps damaged the latch, so there may have been some human culpability involved.  But this has never been proven.).  (We asked Aaron Miller from E&A Fence to return and repair the two gates, which he has done.)  And then on April 3, Lady ducked-out of the pasture behind me when I left the pasture in the UTV, and I had to spend 10 minutes coaxing her back to within my reach as she pranced back and forth on the roadway in front of the pasture and down around the pond.  Finally, a carrot in one hand and a horse-lead in the other did the trick.  I hope she didn't learn anything.  All followed by a bit of melancholy on April 12, as Chris King came to take-away Lady for a month of horse/riding training -- to convert her from green-broke to rider-ready.  Last weekend, we put saddles on both Lady and Rio, without incident, and rode Rio a bit, and decided that it was time to train Lady to be ridden.  She should be back home in about a month.  Unlike her arrival last December, she got into and out of the horse trailer without incident, after only a few minutes of coaxing.  But it is amusing to see a horse stand still, a foot from the trailer door, and refuse to move an inch for ten minutes, despite the best efforts of all involved.  She stood firm, looking calmly from side-to-side, letting everyone know who outweighed whom, and who was really in charge.  Finally, apparently when satisfied that everyone knew she was the boss, she walked up and into the trailer.

The Herd of Three -- Cattle live a simple life.  Theirs is to seek and ingest food.  Grass preferred, hay a close second and, if offered, grain a close third.  Our three steer, Eli, Michael and Raphael, are now each over 1,000 pounds, and are perfectly comfortable throwing their weight around.  But they are very gentle.  They do not, however, like the horses very much, and Lady is especially vexing to them, running the steer off of their hay each morning until she has had her fill.  Even with hay distributed in two or three locations in the pasture, Lady still keeps the steer away from all hay until she is ready to allow them to feed -- Dances with Cattle (and Horses, but no Wolves).

Fowl Weather -- Egg production is increasing fast as the temperatures warm.  Now the 36 hens are laying about two dozen eggs per day, soon to be three dozen.  I have no idea what the two roosters do all day, but they do manage to run around the yard and fields and crow once in a while.  The five remaining hen turkeys are kept in the outdoor pen now (no great torture, since it is plenty big enough) and they can roam back into their coop if they desire.  We borrowed a Wild Palm tom turkey from friends to use for breeding, so the turkey hens could mate and produce some turkey chicks.  That experiment worked-out well -- for about three hours.  The tom turkey mated several times with one hen or another (who can keep track?).  But when we returned to the turkey coop at day's end, one of the hens had the tom's neck tightly grasped in her beak, so hard that the tom's neck was bleeding.  He must have committed some great turkey breeding infraction.  (And thus he learned that time-tested axiom, that there is no scorn so great as that of a jealous girlfriend).  Well, in any event, we had to return the tom turkey to its owner before he became a homicide victim at the hands/claws of one or more of his lady friends.  In other news, the nine French Guinea Fowl (known as Keets to their close friends, so I call them French Guinea Fowl) go wherever they want, whenever they want, squawking as loud as they want, as often as they want.  To date, they have always returned to the barn each evening.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Still too wet to get up back to the woods much, but we do occasionally make a ride around the perimeter of the place.  A few trees fell over the winter, but no real damage done anywhere.  Plenty of wild turkey sightings, but the deer are still in hiding -- it is birthing season, so the fawns will soon be wandering the place with mother does close by.

Blog -- The Riley Factor has entered the 21st century, and its own official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/ and you can see all 94 issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer.  But I digress.) 

Quotes of the Month --

     Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at earth and you will get neither.  --  C.S. Lewis
     Aim small.  Miss small.  --  Benjamin Martin, The Patriot
    

     It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 555 people who stand convicted, by present facts, of incompetence and irresponsibility.  --  Charley Reese

     It is a rare problem that is so great or so grave that it can not be diminished by a good cup of tea.  --  Miss Jones, NCIS LA
     I don't live in fear of life or of death, but I do I live in fear of having to go five minutes without talking about myself.  --  Don Imus

     On average, the human foot sweats a cup of fluid per day.  --  P.J.  Thyne, Bones
     A man's reach should exceed his grasp.  --  Robert Browning
     A government bureau is the nearest thing we'll ever see to eternal life here on earth.  --  Ronald Reagan    

     I am Obama's worst nightmare.  --  Donald Trump (April 12, 2011)

Facts of the Month --

     Most people know that 75% of the earth's surface is covered with water.  But of the earth's total mass, or weight, only 0.06% comes from water.

     And, this just in -- If a billiard ball were enlarged to the size of the earth, its surface would be more mountainous and cavernous than the earth itself is.