The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
November 1, 2011, Issue No. 111
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
November 1, 2011, Issue No. 111
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Riley -- Riley has been limping around of late - has a pain in the center of his right front paw. Nothing serious, but slows him down a bit.
Nancy -- Susan's older sister, Nancy, has rejoined us at Rock Creek Farm, arriving on October 19. Nancy previously spent a little over a year with us, leaving in the spring of 2010. This time, she moved into the larger bedroom in the brick house, so the former 'Nancy Room' will need a new name. (Back in Hopkinton, we still call the bedroom where our foreign exchange student, Moritz Gottschalk, spent the 1999-2000 school year with us 'The Moritz Room'. Probably destined never to change, as long as we own the house.) Nancy brings with her Gabrielle, her six-year-old Belgian Tervuren, a large, beautiful and extremely well-behaved dog, bred for herding sheep and other animals. Last time Gabby saw Riley, he was a young puppy who she grabbed by the collar and tossed around like a rag doll. She still herds him around a bit, and skillfully gives him the collar tackle, but with a little more effort required than before. Gabby appears much larger than Riley, owing to her thick fur coat, but actually weighs a few pounds less. Like in wrestling, and most other endeavors, it is all about the technique.
Planting and Plowing -- Farming is done for the year. Just a few winter vegetables to pick - carrots, parsnips, Butternut squash, Long Island cheese squash, Australian butter squash, etc. And we still have tomatoes and peppers growing in the greenhouse, and the last of the apples are still hanging-on on the larger trees in the orchard and back yard. Then to rototill-under the vegetable gardens for the winter rest.
And They're Off -- Rio and Lady are still content to roam the pasture day and night, and will take apples whenever offered. Most of the apples have been picked, so they are down to their last few weeks of 2011 apple fest. I hope they understand seasons.
The Herd of Four -- Oh Boy. Rural Theatre in Fort Plain. Rated R. October 18 marked the day that our new 24-month old Jersey Heifer, Lily, went into heat. No science behind telling when that occurred. We awoke to loud mooing and more mooing, much more noise from the barn than usual, from all four members of the Herd. When we saw Lily with Eli, Michael and Raphael, the Band of Three Steers, she was the object of their collective desires. About once a minute, one then the next then the next bull charmer would jump-up on her. No flowers. No dinner. No nothing. If they delayed a bit, Lilly would jump-up on one of them. Alack and alas, as they are all-three steers, no actual mating was destined to occur with Lily-the-Fertile. The jumping-up went on for a couple of hours, and we caller neighbor Ken Smith, who works for Select Sires. Soon, Ken arrived with his collection of bull semen. (Oh the hobbies some people have). We made our selection, and once we captured Lily from among her love ponies, Ken artificially inseminated her. It was all over in 10 minutes. (Let's just say the AI Process involves a glove that covered Ken's arm from his finger tips to his shoulder, and leave it at that.) We let Lily out, and she was again in the pasture running with the bulls. Count 278 days (average gestation period for a Jersey) and we should expect delivery of a new calf on or about July 22, 2012, plus or minus a week or so. Then the dairy farming begins.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Still cutting firewood around the edges of the woods and from trees fallen across various roads and trails. About six large trees remain lying to be removed. great exercise, and a great way to spend sunny fall afternoons. We have also been collecting some kindling to fill the upstairs and downstairs boxes.
Fowl Weather -- Flocks of geese are overhead, flying southward. Our two egrets and lone blue heron make daily rounds back and forth between our two small ponds, occasionally stopping at the watering hole in the pasture. With all the goldfish in the ponds, they are most likely making a feast of it, but we have not yet heard anything except tales of the big one that got away. We also have a pair of ring-neck pheasants dividing time between our second and third fields, nesting in the hedge row, we think. Beautiful birds, especially the male. Every once and a while, Susan has been feeding them deer corn and oats.
Visitors -- As fall settles in, all quiet in Middle-of-Nowhere. Susan's mother Barbara dropped-in on October 29 for a few days R&R. We were lucky in that the bulk of the big October snow storm mostly missed us here in Middle-of-Nowhere. Some places in nearby Western Massachusetts got over 20 inches of white, and power outages are widespread and serious.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Rest in Peace -- Long-time Family Friend
Quotes of the Month --
I have always found that anger is the enemy of instruction. -- Phil Jackson
I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. -- Warren Buffett
Difficulties are simply things to overcome. -- Mike Yacino, Massachusetts GOAL
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. -- Ralph Nader
The guy that shot Qaddaffi was wearing a Yankees cap. If he were wearing a Red Sox cap, he probably would have missed. -- David Letterman
Until a man reaches out, you never know how long his arms are. -- Marshall Matt Dillon
The true level of taxation is the level of government spending. -- Unknown
Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now. -- Vince Gill
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. -- Adidas
Here is the fact of the age. People believe nothing. They believe everything is spin and lies. When people believe nothing, they believe anything. -- Peggy Noonan, in The Wall Street Journal
Facts of the Month --
Recently, Joe Biden said in a speech that private sector jobs have been unaffected by the economy, and it is the government workers who have borne the brunt of unemployment woes. Well, had Mr. Biden consulted the facts, he would have found that 2.5 million workers in the private sector have become and remain unemployed since Obama became president.
Bumper Sticker of the Month --
Commentaries of the Month --
Warren Buffett's Proposed Congressional Reform Act of 2011:
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
NFL --
September 8 ... Green Bay Packers 42, New Orleans Saints 34 / Patriots 38, Dolphins 24
18 ... Green Bay Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 23 / Patriots 35, Chargers 21
25 ... Green Bay Packers 27, Da Bears 17 / Bills 34, Patriots 31
October 2 ... Green Bay Packers 49, Denver Broncos 23 / Patriots 31, Raiders 19
9 ... Green Bay Packers 25, Atlanta Falcons 14 / Patriots 30, Jets 21
16 ... Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 3 / Patriots 20, Cowboys 16
(And then there was one)
23 ... Green Bay Packers 33, Minnesota Vikings 27 / Patriots (bye week)
30 ... Green Bay Packers (bye week) / Steelers 25, Patriots 17
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