Here's a great old song on the order of Auld Lang Syne, but the tune's more singable:
words and music Traditional
"The Parting Glass"
Of all the money that ere I had, I spent it in good company
.And of all the harm that ere I've done, alas was done to none but me.
And all I've done for want of wit,
to memory now I cannot recall.
So fill me to the parting glass. Goodnight and joy be with you all.
Of all the comrades that ere I had,
they're sorry for my going away,
And of all the sweethearts that ere I had ,
they wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot
that I should rise while you should not,
I will gently rise and I'll softly call,
"Goodnight and joy be with you all!"
It's sung in a minor key (I think) You can search on the lyrics for more information. Anyway ... the real year-end of sorrow comes when we have to do our year-end tax prep.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Poultry
While we've been taking care of the neighbors' farm I've been making mental notes about their poultry.
Guineas: Why?
Runner ducks: Funny, active, good layers
Ornamental chickens: The Houdans have a top knot of long feathers that look like a fright wig, or Phyllis Diller, if you remember her. They are high strung and flighty and will get the others going. The golden Wyandottes are pretty, with bronzy feathers accented with black, but they also seem tempermental. They fight a lot and have pulled out lots of hte others' tail feathers. That might be from being crowded in the barn due to bad weather.
Green-egg layers: These are a mixed breed called Americanas, I think. They are all colors with ear muffs of extra feathers around their faces. Some are even smoky gray and very pretty. They don't seem to lay well, though.
Brown-egg layers: These are the old fashioned breeds that I like the best, including Plymouth Rocks and cross-breds. She has ISA Browns which are a production-oriented red breed with some Rhode Island Red background, I think. These chicks are color coded when they hatch -- males are almost all yellow and females are brown and yellow. (THat's called sex-linkedBTW) Another sex-linked type are black with brown on their heads and necks. These are also color coded at hatching. I think the females are solid black and the males and black and gray. She also has white Rocks and barred Rocks. The latter have a tweedy look of gray with black barring. They are pretty variable, though. Some look almost solid black with gray speckling. Closely related are the white Rocks. They are an ancestor of modern broiler (meat type) chickens. Their white color means they are easier to dress and pin feathers don't show up very well.
Our neighbor said she did not like the ISA Browns for stewing hens since they had no extra flesh and did not taste good. I can't speak to taste, but I picked up a white Rock and an ISA Brown today and found the white Rock hen compact and well-fleshed, not angular like the other one.
So ... maybe my next batch of layers ought to be white Rocks. They are not the heavy layers like ISA Browns but probably have better salvage value.
Guineas: Why?
Runner ducks: Funny, active, good layers
Ornamental chickens: The Houdans have a top knot of long feathers that look like a fright wig, or Phyllis Diller, if you remember her. They are high strung and flighty and will get the others going. The golden Wyandottes are pretty, with bronzy feathers accented with black, but they also seem tempermental. They fight a lot and have pulled out lots of hte others' tail feathers. That might be from being crowded in the barn due to bad weather.
Green-egg layers: These are a mixed breed called Americanas, I think. They are all colors with ear muffs of extra feathers around their faces. Some are even smoky gray and very pretty. They don't seem to lay well, though.
Brown-egg layers: These are the old fashioned breeds that I like the best, including Plymouth Rocks and cross-breds. She has ISA Browns which are a production-oriented red breed with some Rhode Island Red background, I think. These chicks are color coded when they hatch -- males are almost all yellow and females are brown and yellow. (THat's called sex-linkedBTW) Another sex-linked type are black with brown on their heads and necks. These are also color coded at hatching. I think the females are solid black and the males and black and gray. She also has white Rocks and barred Rocks. The latter have a tweedy look of gray with black barring. They are pretty variable, though. Some look almost solid black with gray speckling. Closely related are the white Rocks. They are an ancestor of modern broiler (meat type) chickens. Their white color means they are easier to dress and pin feathers don't show up very well.
Our neighbor said she did not like the ISA Browns for stewing hens since they had no extra flesh and did not taste good. I can't speak to taste, but I picked up a white Rock and an ISA Brown today and found the white Rock hen compact and well-fleshed, not angular like the other one.
So ... maybe my next batch of layers ought to be white Rocks. They are not the heavy layers like ISA Browns but probably have better salvage value.
Wild weather, again
The past couple of days have been so mild that I let the pullets (young hens) out at home and also let out all the poultry at our neighbors.
Matter of fact, their chicken house smelled too much like ammonia so I even opened the windows. Poultry can't handle ammonia -- if we can smell it, it's already too much for them.
But, only days ago we had so much ice that the interstates were closed and our county declared a state of emergency. The day before -- Christmas day -- was clear and cold so we took the kids sledding.
Days before that, we went through near blizzard conditions and I thought my feet were frost-bitten.
Day before that ... we had thunder snow.
The secret to Midwestern weather -- if you don't like it now, wait a minute and it'll change.
Matter of fact, their chicken house smelled too much like ammonia so I even opened the windows. Poultry can't handle ammonia -- if we can smell it, it's already too much for them.
But, only days ago we had so much ice that the interstates were closed and our county declared a state of emergency. The day before -- Christmas day -- was clear and cold so we took the kids sledding.
Days before that, we went through near blizzard conditions and I thought my feet were frost-bitten.
Day before that ... we had thunder snow.
The secret to Midwestern weather -- if you don't like it now, wait a minute and it'll change.
Monday, December 22, 2008
In the bleak midwinter ...
And by the way, it's just barely winter!
While the neighbors are on vacation, we are doing their chores for them. Yesterday being Sunday, DH fed the cattle and poultry before church. He thought he left everything done up "ship-shape in Bristol fashion" all but gathering eggs. Neighbor and the kids have a big flock of poultry for 4-H including ducks, guinea hens and chickens -- all sorts.
In other years with nice weather the kids and I have walked down the road there to chore for them.
This year, though, a winter storm went through. Only a few inches of snow and a quarter inch of ice but a stinging cold wind howled all day. County highway ran as few snowplows as possible. Thus we almost didn't make it home from church and dinner in town with the out-laws due to all the drifts.
At home we added layers, took some hot water just in case we needed it and headed down there. I found the water frozen in the shed for the ducks and guineas. Somewhere along the way I misplaced my gloves. On the way over to the chicken house the wind caught my "magic scarf" and blew it all around my head. I could still see but not very well and blundered into crusted drifts that were more than knee deep when I broke through. When I made it to the chicken house, I found they'd been fed and assumed DH and DS1 had finished gathering eggs. But when I checked the water, found no one had been over there yet.
Well, what was going on? I hated to leave the warm chicken house but ...
When I made it to the cow barn the wind was behind me and I could not pull the walk-in door closed for a minute or two until that gust passed. I went in the cow barn and found ... well, things were no longer ship-shape. DH and DS1 had cornered a drooling panicky steer who had gotten a gate over his head and was running around with it. It was a walk-in gate . He looked like he had a four-foot metal ladder over his head. He was panting and drooling as though he'd been stuck like that for quite awhile, clanking around and banging into things. DH and DS1 had moved the other cattle out of his pen and replaced that gate and finally had him cornered.
I thought of a cutting torch but in a straw-filled wooden barn ... bad idea. When one of the kids got their arm wedged in teh carved back of the dining room chairs and panicked, we got the kid out by soaping their arm. What about soap? My next idea was that, like a horse collar, we'd have to turn it while trying to get it over the widest part of his head, right across his ears. If the animal would hold still for that. If he got his head in the gate, surely we could get it out. DH thought if he broke the welds we could pop the steer loose. We decided to try that, first. DH got a sledge hammer and took a couple of whacks. One bar bent slightly. While pulling on it to hold the steer still, he got one ear through. The gate hung up behind the steer's poll, the bony knob on top of his head. DH grabbed the gate and twisted again and the steer finally pulled back hard enough to get loose.
As far as I know he's OK this morning.
Well, what did we learn here? Sometimes the best solution is very direct -- a few whacks with a hammer and pull -- but it's a lot of hard work. Are we sometimes scared to be that direct, thinking there must be an easier way?
Also, we need to be thankful that the steer survived and no one got stepped on, maimed or even broke their glasses with that combination of large panicky animal and metal gate caving around.
Back at teh house I did my own chicken chores. My feet were numb with white blotches when I got in, so had to soak them in warm water. Boy, did they hurt when they warmed up!
This would all seem a lot more do-able at 25 or 30 degrees.
While the neighbors are on vacation, we are doing their chores for them. Yesterday being Sunday, DH fed the cattle and poultry before church. He thought he left everything done up "ship-shape in Bristol fashion" all but gathering eggs. Neighbor and the kids have a big flock of poultry for 4-H including ducks, guinea hens and chickens -- all sorts.
In other years with nice weather the kids and I have walked down the road there to chore for them.
This year, though, a winter storm went through. Only a few inches of snow and a quarter inch of ice but a stinging cold wind howled all day. County highway ran as few snowplows as possible. Thus we almost didn't make it home from church and dinner in town with the out-laws due to all the drifts.
At home we added layers, took some hot water just in case we needed it and headed down there. I found the water frozen in the shed for the ducks and guineas. Somewhere along the way I misplaced my gloves. On the way over to the chicken house the wind caught my "magic scarf" and blew it all around my head. I could still see but not very well and blundered into crusted drifts that were more than knee deep when I broke through. When I made it to the chicken house, I found they'd been fed and assumed DH and DS1 had finished gathering eggs. But when I checked the water, found no one had been over there yet.
Well, what was going on? I hated to leave the warm chicken house but ...
When I made it to the cow barn the wind was behind me and I could not pull the walk-in door closed for a minute or two until that gust passed. I went in the cow barn and found ... well, things were no longer ship-shape. DH and DS1 had cornered a drooling panicky steer who had gotten a gate over his head and was running around with it. It was a walk-in gate . He looked like he had a four-foot metal ladder over his head. He was panting and drooling as though he'd been stuck like that for quite awhile, clanking around and banging into things. DH and DS1 had moved the other cattle out of his pen and replaced that gate and finally had him cornered.
I thought of a cutting torch but in a straw-filled wooden barn ... bad idea. When one of the kids got their arm wedged in teh carved back of the dining room chairs and panicked, we got the kid out by soaping their arm. What about soap? My next idea was that, like a horse collar, we'd have to turn it while trying to get it over the widest part of his head, right across his ears. If the animal would hold still for that. If he got his head in the gate, surely we could get it out. DH thought if he broke the welds we could pop the steer loose. We decided to try that, first. DH got a sledge hammer and took a couple of whacks. One bar bent slightly. While pulling on it to hold the steer still, he got one ear through. The gate hung up behind the steer's poll, the bony knob on top of his head. DH grabbed the gate and twisted again and the steer finally pulled back hard enough to get loose.
As far as I know he's OK this morning.
Well, what did we learn here? Sometimes the best solution is very direct -- a few whacks with a hammer and pull -- but it's a lot of hard work. Are we sometimes scared to be that direct, thinking there must be an easier way?
Also, we need to be thankful that the steer survived and no one got stepped on, maimed or even broke their glasses with that combination of large panicky animal and metal gate caving around.
Back at teh house I did my own chicken chores. My feet were numb with white blotches when I got in, so had to soak them in warm water. Boy, did they hurt when they warmed up!
This would all seem a lot more do-able at 25 or 30 degrees.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Small town Christmas
Wind-chill is below zero ... the star's lit on top of the feed mill ... Santa's reindeer and 4-H Club llamas have arrived ... a live nativity scene is set up in the horse & buggy parking shed ... burn barrels full of sawmill scrap are blazing ... it's time for the town Christmas festival!
The kids' choir including DS1 entertained at our hometown Christmas festival following a six-block parade from teh library to the depot plaza ... er, parking lot.
We had not gone before since this is DS1's first year in the choir, so we didn't know what to expect.
First, the mayor (in a Victorian top hat and tail coat) welcomed everyone and read the Christmas story, including " ... and they all paused for the west-bound freight ..." which roared by about 45 miles an hour, before continuing with the shepherds deciding to go into Bethlehem.
Then the city council (all in Victorian costume) lit the town Christmas tree. It's a 30-foot live spruce in front of the depot. It had two strings of lights, large bulbs and small. Everyone ooo-ed and ah-ed all the same.
The kids took the stage in the retired mobile grandstand stage from teh county fair. The fairgrounds got a bigger, better one some years ago and this one was handed down to our hometown.
But as the boys and girls bounced up and down the sound system started to fade. It could have been age, or cold weather, or kids jiggling stuff loose. DS1 said later that when the next freight train went by the stage shook the whole time.
Anyway, the kids had to finish their favorite song with no accompaniment and no microphones. Teacher belted out the accompaniment and they all carried on and finished the song. We would have given them a standing O but we were all standing anyway.
Next year we hope to go a little earlier, see more of the sights and if the weather's better will bring the rest of the troop. It's not to be missed!
The kids' choir including DS1 entertained at our hometown Christmas festival following a six-block parade from teh library to the depot plaza ... er, parking lot.
We had not gone before since this is DS1's first year in the choir, so we didn't know what to expect.
First, the mayor (in a Victorian top hat and tail coat) welcomed everyone and read the Christmas story, including " ... and they all paused for the west-bound freight ..." which roared by about 45 miles an hour, before continuing with the shepherds deciding to go into Bethlehem.
Then the city council (all in Victorian costume) lit the town Christmas tree. It's a 30-foot live spruce in front of the depot. It had two strings of lights, large bulbs and small. Everyone ooo-ed and ah-ed all the same.
The kids took the stage in the retired mobile grandstand stage from teh county fair. The fairgrounds got a bigger, better one some years ago and this one was handed down to our hometown.
But as the boys and girls bounced up and down the sound system started to fade. It could have been age, or cold weather, or kids jiggling stuff loose. DS1 said later that when the next freight train went by the stage shook the whole time.
Anyway, the kids had to finish their favorite song with no accompaniment and no microphones. Teacher belted out the accompaniment and they all carried on and finished the song. We would have given them a standing O but we were all standing anyway.
Next year we hope to go a little earlier, see more of the sights and if the weather's better will bring the rest of the troop. It's not to be missed!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
We're Scrooged
Our state has been "fixing" the property tax mess for the past couple of years. First, our the value of our house was marked up unrealistically. Apparently, many others' homes were also over-priced. After great wailing and gnashing of teeth, the state adjusted the system again and provided tax relief! To home owners! Yay!
Well, the money had to come from somewhere.
They re-assessed farmland -- bare, unimproved farmland -- and raised the taxes on our ground.
So, we are still paying a staggering (to us) amount in property tax, but not on the house. On the ground instead.
The best part, though, is that bills were delayed ... the first installment was due Dec. 1 and the second is due in mid-January.
Just in time for Christmas.
Well, the money had to come from somewhere.
They re-assessed farmland -- bare, unimproved farmland -- and raised the taxes on our ground.
So, we are still paying a staggering (to us) amount in property tax, but not on the house. On the ground instead.
The best part, though, is that bills were delayed ... the first installment was due Dec. 1 and the second is due in mid-January.
Just in time for Christmas.
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