A Letter to Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

I don't know who did what to piss you off but let me offer my sincerest apology. Maybe you're going through some sort of personal problems and you've decided to take it out on us peons.

I personally don't enjoy August weather in April. Quite frankly I don't enjoy August in August. I really don't enjoy having the high temperature jumping 25 degrees overnight. But who am I to tell you what to do. You wanted a 4 day heat wave in April. OK.

You know, it's not just me. The daffodils aren't happy. Have you looked at them lately? They're done. Some of the fruit trees have bloomed and now I hear you're thinking of dropping the temps into the 30's. That's not nice.

Now, the bugs are loving you. They're hatchin' and flyin' around, all crazy buzzin' about. But, what will they think of you tomorrow? If it is 28 degrees cooler than today will they be singing your praises? I don't think so. I don't even want to think about the poor butterflies.

You know we all do better with gradual changes. We like things to be predictable. But you need to have some fun and shake it up a little. I get that. I don't like it, but I get it. I hope you got it out of your system.

By the way nice touch with the wind tonight. Will the house blow off the foundation? I will have to wake up tomorrow and see.

I'm putting away the shorts and getting the spring jacket back out. Enough of the crazy stuff. Please?

Love Ya',
Cori

A Walk Along a Stream

It was very, very, unnecessarily hot this weekend. I'm talking insane for April in New York. A friend of mine has a stream on her property that is in a ravine that was a cool place to hang out. It was very pretty and I took some pictures and a little video. These flowers were popping up all over. I have no idea what they are. But very pretty. Here's a little video.


These odd mushrooms are coming up around our pond.

Turtles on a Log

I wish this picture was clearer, or I had a big ol' zoom lens. But I was so excited when I saw these turtles sunning themselves on a log in a pond, that I pulled off the road and took this pic with my cell phone.


Hmm. You can see that there are six turtles there? They were so darn cute and I love turtles.

A Sad Farewell

It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you of the passing of Babyface. Babyface was a large breasted white turkey. She was given to us by some good friends along with a male who we named Casanova.


The big white turkeys that have been bred to have large breasts weren't meant to live long. Just long enough to grow big and be on the table for Thanksgiving. I'm glad we were able to give Babyface a long and happy life. She was such a sweet creature. When she looked at you it was with big eyes full of personality.



This winter was hard for Babyface, but she spent her last day outside in the sun walking around like she hadn't for months. She went into the goats' stall and bedded down in a favorite corner. I actually thought she was preparing to lay an egg. She tucked her head under a wing and quietly passed. She was one of a kind.

Babyface and Casanova.

Appollo Does the Dance

When I went to the barn this evening Appollo was trying to impress the ladies. I caught his dance with my cell phone. If you listen closely you can hear the almost rattlesnake like sound when he rustles his feathers.


And here's the view from the backside.

Interesting Eggs in the Pond

Since the sad discovery of the remains of Jeremiah I had been avoiding the pond. With the weather warming up I thought it was time to see who was gonna be the new big frog. There were lots of frogs but none stood out as a potential new King of the Pond.

I did however find this odd looking egg sac.



Here's a close up. I have looked up salamanders, and crayfish and neither have eggs that look like this.


Anybody have a clue what this mess might grow up to be?

Double Yolked Eggs

We have a hen that is consistently laying double yolked eggs. I'm not sure which hen it is. No one really stands out. From the size of the eggs someone should be walking funny.


Here's a picture of several eggs. On the bottom row there's a chicken egg, double yolked egg, turkey egg, double yolked egg, chicken egg.

Turkey eggs are pretty big. But the double yolked eggs are even bigger than the turkey eggs. I feel sorry for the poor hen who is pushing these puppies out.

There's Elves in the Drains

We have elves in our drains. The mission of the elves is to drive Hoover crazy.



Mission Accomplished!

Too Cute

I have been looking at pictures of Hoover when he was a puppy to see if he was a "bonehead".

I think the pointy protrusion appeared after the fainting spells (which told us his heart wasn't working properly and then he got the pacemaker).

We have a vet appointment next week and this puppy picture shows that his head looked normal before the pacemaker.




Here's one that shows the bone head, (head bone?)

Cleo in the Barn

I was lucky enough to catch this video of Cleo. I filmed it with my phone so it isn't the highest quality. But it cracks me up.



Imagine THAT having a hold of your ear?

I Love My New Green Shoes

Green is my favorite color. So when I saw the new Danskos in "celery" I knew it was time for a splurge.




I'm a sensible shoe kind of girl. No pointy toed-high heels for me.

Peanut Is Laying Eggs and Giving Attitude

Peanut is a bronze turkey. Unlike chickens, turkeys lay eggs seasonally. As far as we've experienced it they lay in Spring. Peanut laid her first egg this year while I was driving my parents back to OH. Yesterday I found Peanut nesting in the corner of the stall.

She was all tucked in and had been putting shaving on her back (I don't know why they do that). I thought she was sitting on an egg so I felt around under her to get it. She gave me such a look. I moved her to find that there was no egg. She settled herself back down with a "See, I tried to tell you. Now leave me alone." Peanut is very affectionate and I have never seen any sort of attitude from her before.

I went about finishing up the barn chores. Getting everybody in and fed for the night. I had gathered all the eggs and was turning off the lights when Peanut started calling. I turned the light back on and went into the stall. Peanut was standing there shaking the shavings off her back. A big speckled egg was at the spot where she had been nesting. She looked at me, all sweet again, saying "Now I'm done and you can take the egg. Thank you very much."


I think I must have moved her right at the time she was about to lay the egg. It might have been uncomfortable to be jostled at the very moment. I have no idea because I've never laid an egg. But don't let anyone tell you that turkeys have no personality or are stupid. Peanut us very sweet, she loves a good tummy scratch, and she is far from stupid.

Letting go of Winter

Unlike most people I love winter. For me the melting snow triggers serious sadness. I will watch the last traces of snow along the treeline, cheering on the cold cloudy days that keep it alive. But eventually it happens.
A really warm, sunny day comes along and it's over.
All the ground is bare and brown.
The grass from the fall is all
packed down from months
under snow.

It is really unattractive.
I know that Spring will
bring beautiful things. Like these crocus (croci?). And the daffodils are coming up (pictures to follow at a later date). So even though there were snow flurries yesterday I am beginning the process of letting go of Winter. Today I spent some time in the greenhouse transplanting seedlings and root cuttings. It was nearly ninety-five degrees in there and quite a shock to my system. It made me want to do the snow chant. (There's an old Calvin and Hobbes comic where they do a chant to bring on snow and I've always remembered it.) I don't want to abuse it so I'm putting it away until October/November.
So, I think it was because I was a little off kilter that Cleo caught me off guard tonight. Cleo is our Emu and she loves shiny things like earrings (belt buckles, sunglasses, corneas) and I know that she has been eyeing my earrings and I always kept an eye on her when I am in the barn. Tonight she got behind me and I didn't pay attention to where she was and then I felt my ear being ripped off. I was shocked. I'm actually glad that she picked my earring over my cornea, but it really hurt. Luckily no real damage was done to my ear. She did however totally change the shape of my earring.

Home Home Home Home Home Home

I'm home!

It was fun. It is always great to spend time with my parents (not necessarily in the car for hours.) But,I miss all the animals so much when I'm away. Every night I would ask my husband. "How many eggs did you get?" "Any weird eggs?" "How's Hoover, Kirby, the goats, the chickens, Cleo,.....?" It must drive him crazy.

Well, there were some weird eggs that he saved for me. I have gotten over the disappointment of not being the one to find them.

Hoover greeted me fresh from rolling in something disgusting.

Kirby flopped down for a belly brushing.

The cats were all over me.

I brushed the goats and collected today's eggs.

It is so good to be home!!

On the Road Again

Well I'm back on the road again.

I flew from NY to FL and now I'm driving my parents from Florida to Ohio. Then I'll fly back to NY.

I miss all the furry babies and I will have an exciting gift waiting for me. I found out I won the b-day give away from Pigtopia!! So a custom pigture (picture) of Kirby was my prize. Very exciting!!!

Here is a picture of a creepy tree at the Georgia rest stop. I have to look up what this plant is that is taking over all the trees.

Some Sunsets

I cannot seem to get a good picture of a sunset. Every night after putting the animals in the barn I have an amazing view of the sunset. And every night I stand looking at it in complete awe. I have repeatedly tried to take a picture that captures what I see. I have repeatedly failed.



When I bring the pictures up on the computer I am so disappointed. The pictures are nothing like the scene that takes my breath away when I stand out in the barnyard. I have tinkered with the brightness and the contrast, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just know that I have yet to capture the sunsets I see on "film."




I think it is partly because the pictures never meet up to my expectations that I never get tired of looking at the sunsets. No matter what still needs to be done I always take the time to enjoy it. I love that it is different every night. I'm always bummed when there is heavy cloud cover. It is something I wish I could share with everyone.

Tiny Egg

Getting the eggs is the highlight of my day (most days). That's not to say that my days aren't exciting, just that there is something about collecting the eggs that I love. I always want there to be a lot of eggs and I'm hoping there will be some really dark brown eggs. So I never know what I'm going to find.

Yesterday I found a tiny white egg. I was catching a rooster to put him in with the goats (to give the hens a break) and he kicked up this tiny egg. Now, I know HE didn't lay it. Almost all of my hens lay brown or green/blue eggs. So I'm trying to figure out who laid this tiny white egg.

Here's a picture, from right to left: really big egg (one of our hens is laying twin yolked eggs), a normal sized brown egg, a normal sized green egg, the tiny white egg. There is a second green egg on top.



So who could have laid this little egg?

It could have been one of the guinea hens.




They are all just getting old enough to lay an egg. It would be a really small egg for them. But sometimes a "first" egg is small.

Then there is Beethoven.



Beethoven is a white crested black Polish chicken. I've never really been sure if Beethoven is a hen or a rooster. He/she has never crowed. So I'm guessing she's a hen. She a bantam, and if she is a hen she would lay white eggs. It could be her egg. We named her Beethoven because when she was getting her head feathers she we debated between "Einstein" or "Beethoven" and decided that Beethoven was a name that could go either hen or roo and still invoked the crazy "hair."

Just another picture of the egg with a penny to give some sense of scale.

Happy Birthday Kirby

Today Kirby turns two. She was just a tiny little thing when we got her. I never thought she would be as big as she is today, but we love every inch of her.

This is how she is spending her birthday-




You would think the sun was shining just for her. The only thing she would like better is to be out eating grass (or the best eating dandelions!).

Here's an earlier picture of our little St. Patrick's Day baby.

A Walk on a Warm Day

It certainly felt like Spring today. I decided to take the boys (Hoover and Gryff) with me while I walked the fences. Between the wind and the deer there were a lot of rails down and they don't get back in place on their own. I actually like walking the fences. I get to see things from a different point of view. As long as I stopped to throw the ball for Gryff every few minutes everyone was happy.

I saw some lichen (I'm guessing) growing on a rail. I had never seen this bright red before.





Then I saw these mushroom like growth on an old stump. They remind me of turkey feathers.



After we had walked all the fences and Gryff had decided that he was so warm he had to lay in a puddle, we walked around the pond to see if any fish were swimming about. We didn't see any fish but I did see a sad sight. I'm pretty sure that Jeremiah, the big, big frog passed away over the Winter. He was the loudest frog on the pond. Sometimes he would wander to the pool and I would fish him out and carry him back to the pond. I'm not sure how frog reproduction works but I don't think he got to fertilize any eggs this season. Hopefully some of his offspring are around. I don't even really know that he is a he. But I did look forward to seeing him every year.

Cousin Gryff

My sister's dog Gryff (short for Gryffindor) is staying with us for a bit. Kirby and Hoover love having their cousin around. OK Hoover loves it but Kirby is indifferent.



Gryff is a Border Terrier. He is a ball freak. He will let you throw the ball until he is near exhaustion.

When Gryff is around he makes Hoover seem like a giant. Having two dogs is twice the fun. It does mean double tummy rubs in the morning, and a little less space in the bed but totally worth it.

Who could resist that face?

Little Red Lighthouse by the George Washington Bridge

There is a lighthouse right next to the George Washington Bridge. I never knew it was there. Apparently there is a popular children's book about it. I've been told that you can see it from the Henry Hudson if you are on a bus, you have to be high enough to see over the wall. A big SUV will also give you a view.



I googled it and found out you can go to the lighthouse and even go inside it. It is on my list of things to do for 2009.

Pictures of the George Washington Bridge

Here are some pictures of the George Washington Bridge. I had this amazing view from the Milstein Hospital, which is part of the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I was in the city to give some moral support to my sister while her husband was having surgery. Once the surgery was over and we knew he'd come through it without a problem I felt like it was OK to take some pictures.



It's funny how I didn't want to take any pictures until I knew he was going to be alright. As if by taking pictures I might make things go wrong or it was improper to take the pictures until we knew he was out of surgery. Strange how my mind works.

Pretty Orchids

I was so happy that I had my camera with me when I saw these orchids in the bathroom of my sister's apartment.







I really wish I knew something about taking "real" pictures. I'm just a point and shoot kind of girl. So I played with the different setting on my camera and took some with and some without the flash







I also took some at night when there was less light coming from the window behind the plant. But I think the ones with daylight coming through the window are better.









Digital photography saved me a bundle on this one. I went a bit crazy taking about one hundred pictures. I probably wouldn't have taken as many pictures if I had to develop film.

Snow in the Big City

I took the train. I probably would have made it just fine driving in but why risk it. I took a few pictures with my phone but I have have better ones on my camera that will have to wait until I'm back "upstate." Above is a picture of the subway station at 72nd and Broadway.

In an ironic twist of luck (for me) New York City got more snow that we did at my house. So I actually hit the snow jackpot.

So rare to see the snow while it is still pretty and white here. I have to say that they clean up the streets and sidewalks like real pros in the city. They don't mess around.

Big Storm on the Way (I Should Be Happy)

So we are bracing for a big snow storm. The forecasters are using such exciting words, Mega storm, the big one, blizzard conditions. These are words I long for. I love snow and big snow storms. The more snow the better...but not tonight.

I have to go into the city tomorrow. I very rarely go into the city and normally I would be so very happy to watch a big snow storm but I don't want to have to drive in one. Now I know how the rest of the world feels. Well, sort of. I'm not dreading the snow, or cursing it. I'll still think it is beautiful. It will still make me smile.

Maybe I'll take the train. I wonder if the trains run on time in a big snow?

I'll have to find the MTA website.

Wish me luck.