Monday, July 31, 2006

Ahh, the familiar fog is here

Yesterday the sun shone through our north window. I don't ever remember seeing sun through this window. Has the earth changed it's axis and they're not telling us?

Yes, the familiar fog is here today. This is summer in Ferndale. At least it's still relatively warm and not drippy. So far.

I managed to get the entire lawn at the ranch mowed yesterday. It's telling that I got the whole entire lawn done in under 1 1/2 hours and basically one tank of gas. The grass has quit growing and there won't be much mowing until the fall, when the rain returns.
It does make it easy to start clearing out areas that were covered with weeds, but the weeds are now dead. It's a good time of the year to clear and sort out new pen areas and drag wood and trash out for the burn pile.

I finally delivered the stanchion yesterday, and in exchange I got 3 magic beans; I mean , a handful of zucchini (yum!!). I am so glad to get it out of the shop. I'm sending the can of paint along too, so they can now be the maintainer of the red paint coat. I have much to learn about painting metal. If I have much more of this, I might invest in an air compressor ( good idea, anyway) and learn about spray painting.
I have comission inquiry about building one or 2 headgates, like cow freestall headlocks. I am working on drawings, estimates, and how the hell to ship something like this..


It's time to start clipping does, of course, NOW the sun is gone. I have a lot of does entered in the fair, and the fair opens August 10th. Yep, next Thursday.
I have one acceptable skein of yarn done. maybe 2. I have 3 entered, but I also have to make a small sample knitted or woven out of each. And I am working on my cheese entries.

Crunch time

Sunday, July 30, 2006

It's another beautiful day at Long Lake

I can't remember a summer like this in Ferndale. We had summers like this in Bear River when we first moved out there.Sunny clear and warm day after day.

FRiday's milk test went fine; I definitely am milking way too many does. Good thing I pretty much have a few of them sold.

After the aborted attempt to keep the goats in the field here at home ( they came down the road just as I was leaving for evening milking, so back to the ranch they went) I am working on putting a hot wire inside the fence to keep them in.
This involves a battery charger as there is no power up the road there.
My nice battery charger was underwater for a good portion of last winter, and I didn't have much hope for it. Ted took it apart and it looked pretty bad in there. R & S said they can fix them, but if there's any corrosion in there ( oops) that it's pretty much a lost cause.
So I got a present; Just what I wanted! A new battery charger.
Now I have to weedeat all the way around the inside of the fence line where the dry grass is up to my waist.
So I managed to get probably 1/2 of the fenceline cleaned off as well as a nice portion of our yard done. I ran the sprinkler for a few days and it looks pretty nice out there by the spring.
Now I have to do the steep part of the fenceline and then run wire and a few fence patches and set up the charger and try again with the goats.

At Friday night's milk test I was absolutely exhausted and I couldn't figure out why, until I remembered the weedeating I did. D'oh.

Yesterday I was feeling mighty Logey and I definitely was not up for going to the Crabs game that Ted had tickets for. But he got me up and out and by the 3rd inning I was having a pretty nice time. It was a beautiful evening for a ball game, almost 500 in attendance (Woot!!)and the Crabs won, so it ended up quite nicely. We had a great dinner at the Plaza Grill, finally, after the disaster that was our Friday lunch...

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Why am I awake?

1. The hamster was chewing chewing chewing
2. Someone left the bathroom light on
3. I was having a nervous worry dream
4. I was exhausted and fell asleep hard
5. Now, when I wake in the night, I am expecting an earthquake

Friday, July 28, 2006

Whoops...?

Next time you screw something up, you can take comfort in the fact that no matter how bad what you did was, at least you didn't do this.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Plan B

So I'm starting to work on the home place, maybe in preparations for the strong possibility that I lose the ranch that I lease.

I moved a few little Boer X Kiko kids over here and stuck them in a little place that was fenced off years ago when Hoppers had her goats here.
I had checked the water system a week or so ago, but today I did a more thorough assessment and some work. We did a pretty good job on the tiny water system when we put it in, it just needed a bit of a flush and I had water running. The spring needs to be cleaned out, and I think I'll do an upgrade with a basin with a screen, but other than that it's pretty good. The little goats have water for now.

I got the weedeater running, and with fresh string and I've been doing yard work. I cleaned along the fence and gate field where the little goats went, and then I worked on the house yard. I even now have the sprinkler running, and maybe I have caught it in time and I can save the grass from dying completely.

I have a good idea how to make this place work for a small herd of goats. I need to build a little barn, and we definitely need a garage/ shop area here near the house.

I was pretty thrilled about the water, though. That's something that you really can't build, you have to find, then improve.
I knew it was probably the outcome, but I still cried.
They found her dead. In a dumpster.

A Parent's Hell

I woke up thinking about Jennifer Moore.

Just thinking about her wandering up the West Side Highway at 5 in the morning wearing a miniskirt and a halter top?
*shudder*...

The teens ended up at an NYPD impound lot on West 38th Street and 12th Avenue at about 4 a.m., authorities said.
Employees at the lot called an ambulance because Jennifer's friend got sick. The workers also said that both girls appeared drunk.
Jennifer's friend, who has not been identified, was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital.
Jennifer, who is not old enough to drink legally, grew worried that she would get in trouble and wandered off, authorities said.
Witnesses told police that Jennifer was last seen walking uptown along the West Side Highway wearing a white mini-skirt and a black halter-top.
She made a desperate call for help to her boyfriend, Kofi Boakye, at about 5 a.m. telling him she was lost, sources said.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain is safe and back in the United States after being evacuated from Beirut..

Transcript from an online talk show this morning

Arlington, Va.: Read your book...great job, well done ...

Are the majority of the Lebanese people you spoke to more anti Israel or Hezbolla? Do they see Hezbollah as a benefit to their country?

Thanks

Anthony Bourdain: I can only tell you what I saw in my limited experience. As it happened, I was standing with a Sunni, Shiite and a Christian when Hezbollah supporters started to fire automatic weapons in the air celebrating the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers as a few supporters drove by the three people I was with all instantaneously took on a look of shame and embarrassment as if a dangerous and unstable little brother had once again had once again brought the whole family into peril. At no time during my 10 days in Beirut did I ever hear an anti-Semitic or even explicitly anti-Israeli statement. To the contrary, there was a universal sense of grim resignation and inevitability to what Israel's reaction would be. Dating to the first seconds after Hezbollah started firing in the air, we were a largely Jewish crew. The last person to leave us as Lebanese fled in droves, was the Shiite from south Beirut. We had to plead with him to leave us and join his family. His house was later destroyed.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Me and my crappy teeth

I had a root canal today!!
It was actually one of the easiest dentist's visit I've had in a while ( the last few were real killers..)

I love my dentist. And believe me, I've had lots of dentists.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Posty mc Posterson



Yes, it's done. The paint was trickier than I could have imagined, and it's definitely not perfect. If I wanted to fart around with it for another week ...no, stick a fork in it.

Now for a short little project..
I got a new vacuum pump so I'm going to put together a little portable milking machine to take to fairs.



Here are the components just stuck together for a picture. The pump, a reserve tank, the bucket milker with pulsator and a perfect cart. The cart was the trigger, Ted unearthed it in the garage clean out project.
I'm working on the cart first. I've taken it mostly apart, and I'm sanding and priming it.
I'll weld a little shelf above the reserve tank to bolt the pump to.
It should be a pretty easy project; I'd like to be able to use it at our fair in 2 1/2 weeks.
"The 24/7 Reference online reference service is not available at this time."

Huh?

Well, so far I have learned that our county (Humboldt) is the only county in the state to have a law against selling raw milk. Now to find out if that includes goat, or is it only cow. And if it is goat, how do I change the law?

And I'm stickin to it.

I'm teetering on the edge between two possibilities.

One minute I am selling all of the goats. I'm done. No more milking twice a day EVERY day; no worrying about herd health, breeding, kidding. I can go on vacation. I can sleep in.

Then, I am running a micro dairy. Kinda what I am doing now, but I am making money. I just talked to the local milk inspector and he's going to get information for me. He really wasn't sure on all the rules ( no one in our area is doing this. NO one), but he's on his way to Sacramento and he'll do some research for me.

So that plan is to start the thing, get it running, THEN sell the goats, as a business.

Yeah, that's the ticket...

Uh oh

Small engine warehouse...

free shipping...

Sunday, July 23, 2006

I love rock n roll history.
I could watch programs and movies and documentaries about rock n roll 24-7.

Today it's Punk: Attitude
(which actually includes a shot of Ted at a Dead Kennedy's show)

I know that I've seen it before, but, like a book, every time I see it I learn somthing.
This was the best explanation as to why Nirvana hit so hard.
I get it now.
I still don't think they were the Greatestbandavah, though.

And I have a lot more bands that I want to find albums...
Bad Brain off the top of my head.

Stevie

Todays movie
Stevie

This was an amazing documentary.
I don't even know what to say, but see it.

Sometimes we have something worth something...

I think that 78 degrees is just perfect. Who would ever think that we would ever have the best weather in the whole country?

It's prefect; the windows are open and a lovely breeze is blowing through.

I imagine this cool breeze is just what everyone in the whole country wishes they had.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Auto Expo

I came home from chores to find Ted cleaning out the garage. That was the best surprise; it's a space that I would love to have as living space as our house is very small and the winters are long.

We took a load of "non essentials" to the dump then we spent the afternoon visiting with the Auto Expo.

I managed to track down that sweet little car and I talked to the guy about it. It is indeed made from the "Jimmy Woods" plans. I got a better look at how it was made. Now to find a go kart engine...



I took pictures of some other favorites; a Model T Pick up, the bitchin '68 Camaro, Josh's pic- the Ford Galaxy, and some others, all of them are on my Flickr site.

There was not only a lovely line up of probably 50 or more Old Tractors, but also a great show of Hit and Miss engines that were all chugging away!. We spent a lot of time checking out these engines and talking to the guys who restore and build them. One guy had a display of 1/8 scale engines that were so damn adorable I could barely keep my hands off 'em. The hardware and fittings were fantastic. I took a video of a few of them ( on vimeo). Some of the really big ones just made me love them. We got a good lesson on exactly how they trigger the firing, which we were both a little foggy on.

The weather was really great, just on this side of almost too hot. It was really a lovely day.
Oh and somehow I managed to get a hay delivery! In my dealing, somehow I got the guy to pick up, deliver, and unload my hay! I would have helped, but he was over an hour late and I had left the ranch. He even apologized. Just like Tom Sawyer got the fence painted...

Kitty?

Last night Josh Ted and I travelled across the Eel to see Clerks II.
We found ourselves right in the middle of whatusedtobecalled the Fortuna Autorama.
It was the Main Street Cruisin' portion of the usedtobecalled Autorama weekend which was quite entertaining as we waited for time for our show to begin.

The cutest thing that I saw that I absolutely had to have ( well, one of the cutest things) I have managed to find on line.



It's called a Jimmy Woods, and yes, plans are available.
I think it's just the thing for tooling around town.

The movie was rank and nasty and really funny, I was the oldest person in the theater.
I'm a fan of Clerks and I do like Kevin Smith.
I particularly loved the dance sequence.
I could have used just a little less pussy, IMO.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Ewww


When we were in CostCo the other day I saw what was calling itself "New York Style Philly Cheese Steak".
I made it clear that there was no such animal, and New York wanted nothing to do with the thing.
Today I see that the creator of said "Philly Cheese Steak " (if it isn't obvious, it's called that because it's from Philadelphia, which New York also wants nothing to do with) has died. Of heart failure.

I have never had a Philly Cheese Steak. I don't like cheese from a vat.
Poor Philadelphia.

Friday Fair deadline

Oh right, this is the part that I try to remember to try to remind myself; entering not only almost 30 goats , but cheese, fleeces and yarn.
I think it's the yarn that does me in, so I'm going to get it done well before the deadline.
Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. Sure.

Since when has Craigslist become vegan? No live animals sold? Well, thanks alot for supporting the small farmer, morons.

The fogge has returned. At least we passed the night without an earthquake.

I talked to my ranch landlord last night. I get a slight repriee; she seems to think it'sll be at least a year before anything happens over at my place. From talking to her I think I might get even more time, but the end is in sight.
That definitely gives me time to plan the next phase.

Today is the last day of the American Dairy Goat National show, and it is the day they show the Lamanchas. The show is in Indiana so there are few local ( to me) herds there, but still familiar names. Yesterday was the Alpine show.

Man an 18 year old sure can smell up a house. It's supposed to be DE odorant, not ODORant.
Where did he get that? Neither of us use the stuff..

I still have my entries to finish, but I got the bulk of it done at about midnight last night. Of course the printer has decided now is the time to run out of ink..
I'll stop at Demitri's to have him make copies.
I'm just going to wing it with my fleece entries; at 50 cents an entry I can over do it and be fine.
And I pulled out a little baggie of old Jet fur I had stashed to enter some Schipperke yarn.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Wait... what?

Creekstone Farms Slaughtered by USDA

According to the Washington Post, Creekstone invested $500,000 to build the first mad cow testing lab in a U.S. slaughterhouse and hired chemists and biologists to staff the operation. The only thing it needed was testing kits. That's where the company ran into trouble. By law, the Department of Agriculture controls the sale of the kits, and it refused to sell Creekstone enough to test all of its cows. The USDA said that allowing even a small meatpacking company like Creekstone to test every cow it slaughtered would undermine the agency's official position that random testing was scientifically adequate to assure safety.

What it didn't say was that the rest of the meatpacking industry was adamantly opposed to such testing, which is expensive, and had no desire to compete with Creekstone's fully certified beef. "If testing is allowed at Creekstone . ," the president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. told the Post, "we think it would become the international standard and the domestic standard, too."

The Agriculture Department's Creekstone decision reveals the best thinking of Soviet central planning: The government shoots the innovator to preserve market stability. Though President Bush invokes free-market principles when it comes to industry downsizing, "outsourcing" jobs, media mergers and energy deregulation, those principles apparently have their limits when a company seeks to become an industry leader in consumer protection.

So nice to have my head back

I woke up this morning with a normal head. The thing in my upper mouth has left the building, and I will survive. This has been an interesting week and a half with a wierd part of my body in pain and discomfort.
Thank you Ibuprofen.

Another sunny morning and I don't even have to run the heater. I like this vacation from our normal dank dark fogge.

California has become the Golden state, as it always does this at time of the year. No rain for months turns the fields and highways a burnt dead brown...I mean gold.
Dust is the condition for the next few months until the floods return in the late fall. After last winter's 150% of normal rainfall, I still look forward to some rain to wash away this dust and revive the land.
I don't think I'll ever get used to the annual drought nor the deluge floods.

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be working on my fair entry...

Stop the madness!!

Right before we went to bed I told Ted "no earthquakes tonight, n'kay"
It wasn't but a few minutes later and yes we had another one.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

3.4 2006/07/20 01:29:58 40.274N 124.391W 22.2 11 km ( 7 mi) WSW of Petrolia, CA
2.4 2006/07/19 06:08:17 40.428N 124.272W 41.7 11 km ( 7 mi) N of Petrolia, CA
2.6 2006/07/19 05:58:06 39.881N 123.400W 0.0 15 km ( 9 mi) NW of Covelo, CA
5.0 2006/07/19 04:41:43 40.281N 124.426W 20.8 13 km ( 8 mi) WSW of Petrolia, CA

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Sunny Wednesday

I stopped at the ironworks in Fortuna today to get one last piece of bar for the stanchion. I had made a feeder bar for it, but I just wasn't satisfied how it came out so I wanted to re do it.
By the door into the office is a pile of small pieces of steel, also some standing in a rack, I figured leftover pieces from their fabrication. I had wondered if maybe the stuff was for sale, and I asked if I could dig around in there. Sure enough that was what it was there for! What a gold mine! Many times the cut fee for what I have needed was the same as if not more than the cost of the steel, so this is a great way to avoid that! And sure enough I found exactly what I needed in there.

Back at the ranch I get right to building the feeder bar and it went just great. I was done in no time and that's the end of the fabrication of the thing. All that's left is the paint job, and I already have one coat on. It's almost time to move it out and deliver it.

The thing in my mouth/ face that has been giving me such troubles finally hit the climax today. It came to a head and opened up ( is this too gross? it is too wonderful for me) and I feel about 10 lbs lighter. I think maybe I don't have head cancer and I'll soon be done with this malady. It feels so much better and I really believe that I will get over it soon; in time for my dentists appointment next Tuesday.

Someone hacked the Yankees website yesterday and made it look like they were 10 games behind the Red Sox in the standings ( they're only 1 1/2 games back).
Tomorrow the game will be on ESPN, the first one I'll get to see in a week or so.

And the clipper blade guy in Campton Heights is a blade sharpening angel. Cheap fast and good. I took him some more today when I picked my others up.
It's deadline time on Friday for the County Fair entries. So I'll spend much of tomorrow working on that. I also have to go through my fleeces and see what I am doing there.
So far I have 27 animals entered. It's a good thing I have sharpened those blades as I need to get to work on clipping.
O K I just checked the calendar; 3 weeks from tomorrow is the first day of the fair.

Sunny again

Yesterday morning i stopped at the fairgrounds to see the crew there. I also found Kathy who I didn't know was working over there this summer. She gave me some haircutting tips. She also offered to lance my abcess with her pocketknife..

My mouth problems are ever changing. I don't know what is happening now, but at least I am down to just 1 dose of Ibu per day. I have a dentists appointment next week.

Walt J came by the ranch to pay me for the critters I sent with him last week. I got more than I was expecting, but about right anyway. He was in a chatty mood so we hung out in the driveway with his grandson shooting the gossip breeze for quite some time.

Afterwards, Sandra came to see about some milkers I might sell. I talked to her for a very long time. So far it seems they are putting in a dairy like I dreamed of. A real facility. It was time for something like this. I asked about being involved, or an employee or just if I could come by and watch and visit once in a while. I miss my dairy and I'd love to be able to help. I kinda like goats, but I don't think I want to be the boss anymore.

I started cleaning off the desk and I managed to make a larger mess. It is still in that state. Sandra bought some goats from Rae that were mine originally, so I started digging for the lists of goats. Sandra checked all tattoos so I can easily check which of mine are left.

Josh has returned from his camping trip unscathed as far as I can tell. He is at work today.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. Usually heat inland brings us thick vile fog, but not this time, which is unusual. It's sunny all day and the evenings are glorious.
If the state is short of electricity from air conditioners, and we are running a heater, do they pay us?

Why is it

that when I am sleeping I al almost always wake up well before an earthquake, but when I am awake they always surprise me?

That thing this morning was a 5! It was a shifter. Like everything just moved that way about a foot. Slide...

Fuckin earthquakes.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Bragging?

I just put on a long sleeved thermal long john shirt because I was a bit chilly.

"Baby Doll" 1956

We watched this movie late Sunday night on AMC. Seeing it was a Tennessee Williams play and an old one, I was surprised I had never seen, nor even ever heard of this movie.
It was shocking. I mean really; tense and there's no relief until the very end.
I wasn't surprised to find the following review, just surprised that I had never heard of this film before this.

And how could Eli Wallach play a hot Sicilian?

Yeah I might just give this one a 9.5; there was really no climax so the ending was sort of a let down. It never really peaked, so the denouement was a bit false and cheesy; strained.


Baby Doll (1956) has been called notorious, salacious, revolting, dirty, steamy, lewd, suggestive, morally repellent and provocative. Time Magazine was noted as stating: "Just possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited..." The stark, controversial, black and white film was so viciously denounced by the Legion of Decency upon its release that many theaters were forced to cancel their showings, but it still did moderately well at the box office despite the uproar. Baby Doll's impact was heightened by its themes: moral decay, lust, sexual repression, seduction, infantile eroticism and the corruption of the human soul.

Its advertisements and posters featured a sultry young "Baby Doll" curled up in a crib in a suggestive pose, sucking her thumb. The young actress portraying Baby Doll, Carroll Baker (25 years old and in her second film) received a well-deserved Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role. To make the film appear more genuine and authentic, most of it was filmed on location in Benoit, Mississippi.

The landmark, tragi-comedy film, one of the most erotic cinematic works ever produced, was based on Tennessee Williams' first original film screenplay, interweaving and adapting two of his earlier one-act plays: "Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton" and "The Long Stay Cut Short" (aka "The Unsatisfactory Supper").

Poor Judd is dead



At dawn this morning it was 47 degrees. I am sitting by the heater as I type. But then again, I could put on socks and a long sleeved shirt...

SF came by yesterday morning to see about buying some of my does, but I had an errand to run so Icouldn't do that right then. She says that she thinks she'll be milking in 3 weeks. They were pouring cement as we spoke. The parlor is a double 20 taking 2 milkers. I am interested ( to say the least) in seeing this whole operation. I'd like to work something into our purchase agreement where I get to hang out over there and see what's going on and check on my does. Of course more than willing to help as well.

Afterwards I hooked up the trailer and went to Loleta to pick up a couple of lambs. The ranch where the lambs are is beautiful and picturesque ( although with the same low lying problem I have; I doubt it was as beautiful 7 months ago..). The pastures have board fences like a Kentucky horse farm. I'll try to get some pics next time I go over there.

Off to Eureka and I drop the lambs off at the butcher. I pick up some of the best looking hay I have seen in months at the Eureka Nilsens ( finally this years crop) and then stop at the thrift store where I score a pair of small bike wheels for 3.00.
Next at Piersons where I get the red paint for Fosters stanchions and home I go.

Finally I feel well enough to get back on my feeder project and I manage to make the best welds I have made yet. The base if mostly done to the point where the feeder is back upright and sitting on the base.

Josh has been in Ruth since Sunday and he had promised to call me yesterday as I have been worried out of my mind about this trip. He hasn't called and I have been planning his funeral. If he isn't dead I'm gonna kill him.

Monday, July 17, 2006

RESUME
GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington , DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

LAW ENFORCEMENT
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine , in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

COLLEGE
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas . The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union .
During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America
I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida , and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.
More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden [sic] to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for publi c review. I am a member of the Republican Party.

PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

No global warming here

Yeah, I've had the heater on here all day. I just turned it off as the sun has come out for the evening and the windows are open.

I think here is the only place in the country that it's not outrageously hot. I don't think I am complaining

blerg

One more movie for yesterday
Unbreakable.
Uh, M. Night Shymalan. Need I say more?
It's a 2 hour movie with about 20 minutes of content. Too drawn out for me. Too many exchanged glances, thoughtful pauses, so drawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn out.
I only halfway watched it and I didn't miss a thing. Pretty cheesy.
I give it a 4

I really felt like crap all day yesterday. Headache, toothache and Aunt Flo all conspiring against me, plus angst and worry.
I feel slightly better this morning. The headache is somewhat beaten back by the Ibu and Suda cocktail. I woke up about 4 in the morning and I was up for 2 hours. I watched the dawn.
I think not eating anything but 2 pieces of toast all day didn't help matters.

I'l like to finish my feeder today. I looked at it yesterday and had no desire to do anything. It wasn't in me, and I don't think I should deal with an arc welder and large power tools when I am not 100%.
The people who I made the stanchion for have finally told me what color they want it painted, so I can FINISH it. Move it out. Red, BTW.

I am curious about how the show in Brookings is going.

I vacillate between selling all the goats, and starting a micro dairy.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

What IS the POINT??????


Boiling Point

WHOLE FOODS, WHICH now has 17 stores in the Boston area, is starting to pay a price for its phenomenal success. Ethical eaters want their food to come from local, small-scale, sustainable farmers. But Whole Foods is a huge corporation that gets much of its produce from distant, industrial-sized organic farms. So it’s ironic that live lobster is the one item Whole Foods sells that’s consistently produced by an industry composed almost entirely of model fishermen using environmentally friendly methods. Unlike corn and cows and chickens, live lobsters have not been processed into unrecognizable food products by faceless corporations. Yet it was these live lobsters that the company was now threatening to remove, all for the sake of appeasing ethical eaters.

Next movie

Shermans March
Much better. This was an interesting "stream of consciousness" type self documentary.
I liked it.
But, I like the south.
Crash won best picture?
It sucks.
I can't even finish watching it.

This is a cheap predictable movie with crappy dialog.

Arcata n stuff

I woke up with a headache this morning. So far one dose of Ibu and one of Sudafed has pushed it far enough back to be able to get up..
I'm sure the dark dank fog that has descended has something to do with it.

I am still oohing and aahing over the bronze pour last night. That was most definitely pretty impressive. How can metal be like water?

I think I'll do something really simple and try to cast something out of aluminum as soon as I can. Maybe some goofy plaque; something flat and one sided. And of course if I don't like it I can melt it down again!

It was nice to get out of Fernville and do something different. Of course, the problem is Arcata. Both a curse and a blessing.
I am thankful for Arcata. For creative and thinking people. For the university that brings in outsiders and the money that comes with it to provide stuff like the foundry. For choices in food, movies, bookstores, all the great things that come with a university town.
The curse is the social nature of the people. I can only take an hour or two of the gentle, peace, "diversity" (not), liberal, vegetarian voice. Like my previous post about food, I don't need to be talked down to, to be constantly confronted about my choices, or talked to like I am your child. People talking in groups, but positioning themselves so everyone can hear because they think they are so interesting surely I want to hear what they are saying.
And the people who know it all who start telling the people involved all about what they know, and how they do it. "In my class we..."
Arcata is not a humble place.
I don't think I'll be taking classes there. I'll stick with my Yahoogroups guys.

AArgh. Rant.

In other news
I started the daunting task of cleaning out the barn, and if my headache stays at bay I'll continue to chip away at it.
I moved 2 fat weanlings out of the pen they are dominating ( 2 fatties monopolizing the feeders, 3 smaller does cowering) and into a pen of their own. I'd like to get a bit more weight on the smaller does for the fair.
I've also sorted out the 2 smallest bucks back into a pen, and I'll start feeding the big bucks to get them in a bit better shape for breeding season.

J and the C's are up in Brookings for a show. I decided not to go. Just not in the mood, and I'm not regretting it.

The hay in the hayfield is done and they are starting to pick it up. None was offered to me, and when I asked about buying it, I was told no, none for you. That was a bit irritating. It's not like I had anything to do with it...wait..?
I'll be a bit less responsible about keeping the sheep out. Let them build a fence.

Friday, July 14, 2006

My first

Josh and I went to Fire Arts Foundry tonight, where they were giving a bronze pouring demonstration.
When we got there the molds were already ready and they were melting the bronze.

This was the first time either of us had ever seen this.

When the metal was ready and they tipped the crucible I was totally blown away. The color and quality of the molten metal...it took my breath away. I have never seen anything like it. It actually made me cry.
It was more beautiful than I could have imagined...
Even cynical Josh was impressed.

When I came home I find that the 2 pamphlets on metal casting have arrived in the mail.

I might be hooked.

You definitely can't go home again.



And now the 2nd Ave. Deli is dead.


One more loss of the old, real New York.

My Aunt and I would often walk over from her apartment on C st for lunch. Or call in an order and I'd pick it up.

East Village, indeed.

Productive Thursday

I totally was on a roll yesterday.

I finished the deck for the stanchion, the last 2 support bars cut, welded and primed. The thing is pretty much done. I just need to know what color they want it painted.

I started back on the feeder that was interrupted by the stanchion. I got the legs on one side cut, footed, welded and set in place. Last night I got the second side cut and footed, all ready to weld.

I also started cleaning out the fresh goat pen and am almost done. Then I start on the rest of the barn. One wheelbarrow at a time. I need to have the barn cleaned out by the time the fair is over so I can take loads of leftover shavings.

I lost a buck yesterday. Izzy has had some wierd abcesses on his head for the past few months. A few months ago he had some nasty obes on his cheeks/ jowls which burst finally and then he was fine. But last week he started growing one on his throat and it got pretty big. I think it choked him. As long as I have animals, there's always something I have never seen before. I do have 2 of his daughters, anyway.

T is gone to Portland until tomorrow. Josh and I are going to Arcata tonight for a blacksmithing and casting demonstration at Fire Arts.
Dr Phil said it

"There's nothing in the world smarter than an 18 year old."

it's a wonderful life

From Megnut


This is the height of human arrogance, to think that we’re somehow above the animal kingdom.

"..And so are we, but in our self-consciousness have become hubristic, and therefore harmful. Make no mistake: we are animals. I am no different from a salmon. Why else would I return to Cleveland!? Cleveland! I had to return. I returned by smell. I returned to spawn. I’m not kidding. There is no other logical justification for the apparently ludicrous decision to live in Cleveland when I don’t have to. I think if we acknowledged our place in the animal kingdom—happily at the top of the food chain—and stopped thinking we were so damned superior to animals, it would be a better earth all around. We are animals who eat other animals. There is nothing wrong with this. Has this country gone insane? Even the restaurant critic for the New York Times, former Italy bureau chief, a thoughtful and reasonable man with a powerful pen, he’s having a moral dilemma over his shrimp! This is crazy!.."

and a comment by Anthony Bourdain

"...The fucktards at Whole Food, however, have done us a real service by providing the most ludicrous example of "animal welfare" concerns with their public hand wringing over the fate of shellfish. Comedy Gold. Extraordinary that in a time when we're force feeding PEOPLE at Gitmo--and when hundreds of thousands of PEOPLE are starving to death in the Sudan and elsewhere, that there is no more burning issue on the minds of educated, well-fed, financially comfortable citizens than whether or not a clam feels pain.."

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Aftermath

When I got propane yesterday morning, we talked about how warm it was. Pretty much anyone I ran into yesterday wanted to talk about how hot and humid it was. Gary said there was a 20% chance of rain; I didn't see it. I should have remembered the pattern we were in this past spring where warm would precede rain.

So last night I wasn't completely surprised to hear drippage.
This morning there are actually puddles in the road.
Everyone who was furiously baling hay yesterday in the first clear day in a week now has hay down getting wet.

Last night I had my recurring dream where my teeth all fall out. All at once, like a wall. I know where this came from.
I think the antibiotics are working. I have much less pain, but there is still swelling. 2 more days.

I can't remember the last time I lost my temper like I did yesterday. It doesn't happen very often. I was hyped up for hours afterwards, however. What a trip.

I finally got a roll of wire for the gates that the little goats keep crawling through. In the gloaming last night I cut and sewed on a panel with wire. The fencing is called rabbit wire, and it's so damn adorable. 3' tall and graduated like the hog panels. I can see this being a useful addition to the ranch repertoire.

I cut my hair last night.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The real cowboy way

See, here's the deal.
The auction yard will take anything. They take blind animals, 3 legged animals, animals with abcesses and wounds.
Lame, skinny , infectious, fine bring em on in.

But we don't sell anything thet SMELLS BAD???

It's like the dump telling me, sorry we can't take your garbage because it smells bad.

I lost it at the sale barn

First of all it's hot today. I mean hot. And humid. A rare situation here.
So already everyone is a little on edge.

I load up 2 buck kids and the 2 lambs and drive to the auction yard.
As soon as I drive up I see there are a lot of trucks waiting. That's also odd.
Some lady announces to the gal checking the animals in that I have a "truckload of goats"

Uh, no I don't. And I announce back.

I get out to help the gal checking in and she's really flustered. What's the problem? She's running out of pens. It's an hour until sale, what's the worry? Mellow out. Deal with it. This is a job for a moron, get it together.
She doesn't want my help. I point out an empty pen, she ignores me.
Fine. I get back in the truck and wait my turn.

I unload the 2 lambs and go back to get the bucks.
"Oh they are really smelly. I can't take any really smally bucks".

I'm like what? You have to be kidding me. Is this a stockyard or what?
"Lee says I can't let in any smellybucks".

At this point I totally lose it.
"This is insanity, you have got to be kidding me. "
Then I point out that there are 2 kids in the truck, do they both smel;l too bad?
I ask her to stick her face in each one of the kids and determine which one is too smelly. Or maybe I just hauled a smelly buck in the truck, maybe it's the truck that smells.
What kind of stockyard has a no smell policy?
I tell her to tell Lee I will never ever bring any animals here again. I take back the lambs.
Does he really think cows don't smell? Does he smell each one to determine which ones he will sell?
Oh I got so mad.

UPDATE
Oh the phone just rang.
In my temper, I wanted to get rid of these animals that I had already loaded and I had called a very nice livestock dealer that I often do business with. He just called me back and he said he'd take whatever I had. I had driven to his place before I unloaded and I didn't see him.
I have to remember him from now on. He doesn't mind smelly livestock. What a weenie that Lee Mora is. He's no cowboy.

Wednesday

Yesterday was a day for running around and doing errands in Fortuna. Josh accompanied me on my travels which was very nice.

I have ordered some supplies for my little project. I have 1 month to get something done.

Today I think I'll haul some extra goats to the sale barn as well as my little pair of lambs. I could use just a little more cash in my pocket right now.(stops and calls the Eureka fairgrounds about where is my premium check from over a month ago..)

The new season of Project Runway starts tonight!

I have found a new forum for selling my fleeces.
I need to register anything that is going to Ferndale.
Start working on my entry form due July 21.
House cleaning is in order.

I started the antibiotics for my face/ tooth . It seems to be better already, but I could be hallucinating.
If I have bone cancer and they have to carve my face away I will become Kenny

What is he. 12?

Dr Bartha's letter reads like a Junior high school kid's slam book.

What a nut.

Too bad he had such a cute house. It's gone now.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Varmints



This explains what was making the dogs go nuts last night. I counted at least 4 babies and the mom.
They are gone now. I hope I worried them enough not to come back.

and so it begins

One month until opening day at our big local county fair, and the temporary stables for the racehorses have arrived at the fairgrounds.
I can mark time by the fair. It seems like we just finished last years fair. How does it come back around so fast?

The end of the fair marks the end of summer.
How connected are you to your place?

Hunh
I didn't hardly have to think about any of these before I answered them.
Well except for the growing season; frost to frost? We haven't had a hard frost in years.

Red letter day; doesn't really mean what you think it means.

It seems good news wants to come all at once, and often in the mail.

The mail was almost all for me yesterday.

1. I have been waiting for 3 checks to come from various sources, and 2 of them came.
2. I got a flyer from the foundry in Arcata about courses being offered in the fall.
3. I received the most recent production volumes from the Dairy Goat association, and the very first name on the top of the first page (Alpines..alphabetical..but still..) the top producing Alpine in the nation last year is GCH Shining-Moon Parisian Dancer, the dam of one of my new does!!

Plus:

The results for our Dairy Doe Project blood tests came back. This is a very nervewracking time, mostly because 4h kids and their families have invested a lot of time and money into these does, and they have to be negative in order to participate in the sale.
I have positive does, so it's a real chore to try to keep these kids clean. Last year the only doe that I had sold into the project came back positive; fortunately the family had bought 2 does from me at the time,and they just switched does.
I was so worried that this family ( who had again bought does from me) might have to deal with this again, but as it turned out all of the does, even the extra ones I had tested in case I needed to substitute, came back negative!
What a relief!

I like my dentist. Far far away from me.

40 years of dealing with these rotten teeth of mine and I was able to self diagnose pretty well with this one.
I just talked to the dentist and it seems I was right on. I need to be on antibiotics before the Dr can deal with my toothal pain. I knew that. I was not looking forward to him digging around on it the way it is now; swelling and pain up into my nose.
So I'll get a prescription and hopefully it will get the immediate problem to subside enough so that the "operation" won't be so nasty and scary.

Plus, any way to postpone a dental visit is totally fine with me.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Moorit Ewe lamb!


It was a good thing I was expecting I might find maggots in my sheep's feet. It's such a nasty surprise, especially if you don't know thay might be there.
I'm really gald I don't have maggots living in my feet.

I treated the worst ewes, my big ram and a lamb. I didn't have iodine to put on to kill the maggots, but being exposed to the air through trimming and a good dose of kopertox will be a good start.
I strangely enjoyed working on the sheep today.

The new lamb is a ewe and she is quite brown; Moorit! Her mom was one of the worst foot problem offenders. I imagine in a day or 2 when she feels better she'll be eating better and making more milk for her babies. The ram lamb has a brown tip on one ear.
If I had known this ewe was going to lamb I would have dealt with her feet earlier. She lost triplet lambs in December so I am relly glad she rebred so well and so fast. She's one of the new ewes from Holmes.

I'll gather up the sheep in a few days and treat them again and that should take care of it.

Monday, not very manic

Remember the dentists appointment I managed tomiss because I was 5 10 minutes late?
Sure enough a few days later I have pain. I think I have an abcess going on now. I'm going to call the dentist and see if he can fit me in, probably I need antibiotics for now before he does any mining. At least it's not really that bad and Ibuprofen is handling it just fine.

The fog has returned with a vengeance, just in time for me to be working my sheep today. At least they're not all wooly wet sponges now that they've been sheared, but no doubt I'm gonna get wet. My new little buck already has contracted my lovely foot problems and is limping. So much for harder feet on the Romneys.
I have 4 new lambs in the past week and I think one of them is brown; a Moorit. This would be ( if it is) my very first. The color is pretty rare. I'll get my hands on it ( I think it's a ram) today and see for sure. That would be so awesome.

I have an idea for a farm/ art project which looks like it's going to go well. I need to order some materials, and it should be easy. I'd love to unveil it at out County fair here in August!!

Another movie from yesterday (yes, I laid around watching movies all day yesterday)
Carried Away, starring an old family favorite, Dennis Hopper.
This was an interesting movie on an old theme. Not bad. I'd give it a 7.5 8.

O K off to start the day. First, a call to my dentist...

(edit) Sure enough it's the Dr's birthday so there's no one in the office.
I'll try again tomorrow.
Damn teeth.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Today's movies

The Invisible Circus
I rated it a 6. I mean I watched it through, but I didn't really pay much attention, the acting was poor and predictable. But I did watch it.

The Slasher.
A definite 9. This is a sad and strange movie. The used car salesman. The slasher himself is a very interesting but unsettling guy.

Now I'm going to take a bath.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Goat farming and humility

So the goat couple came ( they're not a "couple" just a coupla ladies who are farming replacement does) yesterday morning.
When they started this project last year, only just down the road from my dairy, they really didn't want any help from me. They knew all about raising goats, as one of them had raised a few goats once.
I offered help, invited her to come by and see how I did things, to show her my little sheds I build for the kids, etc. She never came and I just let it go and stayed clear. Whatever.

Funny how a year of farming snaps some humility into a person.

They were coming by because they are milking a few does and raising kids, and have been milking squatting on the ground ( which is ridiculous!!) and were looking for me to build a stanchion for them as they had been told that I do such things.
No problem, I'm glad to help ( and get paid) and still interested i helping a fellow goat farmer.
Sure enough they immediately started asking questions, for advice, ideas. I kinda know about this stuff, and if I dont' even just talking to other breeders sometimes you can work out new ideas and solutions. It's been this way since humans have been doing, well , anything.

We looked at the stanchion that I had just built for the 4H family, and I showed them the one I am milking on now. I told them to take the little green wooden stanchion I don't use for now, until they have their own and quit milking on the ground. That's insane.
(it took me about 3 hours to build this little stanchion when I needed one for a show)

They took it and they also bought a nice little lamancha buck. They also seem to have realised that good genetics might be important.

I am glad to help them. There are very few goat farmers here and it's good for us all to kinda keep in touch. Goat networking.
They still seem to think they'll be running a dairy in a few years.
They are both older than me.

In other news
T came by and helped me start the lawnmower. I think it still might be the funky gas problem. I really should completely drain the all of the gas out. I got it started and got my side of the front lawn done.

J came and brought me a bunch of buck kids for me to feed my excess milk to. They are all dam raised and crazy wild and not so thrilled about sucking off of a bucket. I did manage to get 4 of them (out of 8) to drink a bit last night. They should be good and hingry this morning. I don't think today's plans to disbud them will help their attitude towards me, however.

2 days of sun and now the fog is back. I hope the gas station in town is open because I am running on Hanukah gas. I'd like to hit some yards sales..too.

Class of '75

In the "voices from the past" department, I was snorking around on MySpace last night ( the first time evah, really) and I found a classmate from High School. Not someone I really knew well, but had neither a good nor a bad school experience with. I remember her athleticness and she has a really really cool name. Will I tell her I named a goat after her because her name has stuck in my head all this time?

I really have had no contact with my high school classmates for these past 30 years. I would run into one or 2 when I was ever in the region ( sometimes on the street in Manhattan, once on the beach in Seaside N J.). My HS experience was pretty non eventful, and I have not been to any reunions. It's something for me to ponder today.
I sent her a message and she wrote right back. I am surprised she remembers me; it was so long ago and there were 450 kids in our graduating class ( Hunterdon Central HS in Flemington N J)

It was so so long ago in a land far far away.

It's kinda neat, though

Friday, July 07, 2006

Why?...

Do you know how marijuana came to become illegal? Do you really?

Mostly, it was William Randolph Hearst.
Oh, and the national campaign ( that is still going on today ) against Mexicans.

Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug.

The actual story shows a much different picture. Those who voted on the legal fate of this plant never had the facts, but were dependent on information supplied by those who had a specific agenda to deceive lawmakers. You'll see below that the very first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate.

You'll also see that the history of marijuana's criminalization is filled with:

* Racism
* Fear
* Protection of Corporate Profits
* Yellow Journalism
* Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators
* Personal Career Advancement and Greed

These are the actual reasons marijuana is illegal.

Friday

Sure enough we drove south to find the sun and for the first time in a week, the sun came out here at home. It seems the clouds followed us.
It was too chilly to swim, but we still had a nice afternoon lying on the creek beach and catching some sun. I got some good tannage. Yes, I loves me some tan.

I got a call from a local new goat person saying she had heard that I build stanchions ( well, I built one). Thanks for the tip A F. So this morning she's coming by to see what I built and see if that's what she wants. I just found out that she's been milking on the ground. A few years ago I spent about 3 hours building a wooden stanchion that I still have; maybe I'll lend that to her as I'm not using it, until I can get hers built. That's crazy to milk 2x a day on the ground. A milking stanchion is not a complex piece of apparatus to build.

And yes the sun is out here today, although I can see it's still foggy a bit towards the valley. Imight get some home tannage.
I have to get my lawnmower running. For the first time evah the other day it wouldn't start . I have pulled the spark plug and I'll try a new one. I have never put in a new spark plug, so it's a good possibility. I definitely need to mow.

No other plans for the day.

I agree

The 92Y Blog has five questions for Gary Shteyngart.

If you could change one thing about NYC/Russia, what would it be?

New York: End the mall-ification of the city. Throw out many rich people and replace with adorable starving artists. Make Manhattan much poorer.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Casting the first...

Well it's been a week without sunshine here in never-summerland, with no sun in sight. It's a good thing I got some sun in last Saturday, and more tannage time is scheduled for today when we drive the few miles south out of the fog and into Summer 2006 for a swim.

I'm glad I didn't try to grow any tomatoes.

Yesterday I spent a lot of online time trying to learn about metal casting, and mold making. I can't wrap my head around how to make molds. A one sided mold, O K I get that, That's easy.
But complete molds are making my head hurt.
I am on a list of "junkyard projects" and "metalcasting" and these guys are often building machinery from scratch. That's crazy, yet intriguing enough that I have to know how to do it.
I saw this page where they are making pulleys for a lathe and I want to be able to do this. But I can't understand the mold making.

I found a few videos. This one is so complex, I had to watch it a few times to figure out what the heck was going on. YOu make a positive, then a negative than a positive then a negative then you cast. What is all that about?

Then I re watched these videos that I had seen a few months back. It was much simpler and I completely understand how to do this.

Then finally I found a local foundry that offers classes in Arcata; Fire Arts Center,
Next Friday night they're having a bronze casting demonstration. I'll try to make it up there for that.

It makes me want to stay with clay.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

DA IRY

DA IRY

"Please accept this offering of dead vegitation in exchange for your wonder tonic."

4th of July. 1986

My best memories of the 4th of July are when we lived in Westbury , New York.
Every year we would go to the house of a friend ( I seem to think it was actually the people we bought our house from) who lived across the street from Salisbury Park (now known as Eisenhower Park).
Our neighbors also came and there was a huge barbecue in the backyard culminating in , of course, the fireworks in the park. The best part? We got to sit on top of the cars. It was the one time we were allowed to sit on top of the cars. I have no idea why.
I think you have to think of the cars in terms of 1960's cars.

Today is as close to what we might call our anniversary, if we had one. 20 years. That's a lot of years. That's a huge part of my life. It seems like forever, yet it also seems like not so long ago. Life goes by so fast.

I talked to my uncle earlier this week. I knew his birthday was around here somewhere, but I wasn't sure of the date (now I know it's the 7th)so I just called. I miss my family alot. He told me a story I hadn't heard before, about when David was a baby and when they decided to have my cousin, Morgan. I don't have my dad nor my aunt to reminisce with now, and I have talked to my uncle more in the past couple of years than for most of my life, besides family gatherings. I didn't know that he was 9 years younger than my dad. That's a big gap; I always thought they were closer in age.

I talked to Kathy this morning. She hadn't heard about my place getting sold next summer. It impacts them as Tim leases the other 50 acres of the ranch. I was surprised that they hadn't heard.
It seems I am not the only farmer that might get thrown off their place in the near future. Not only are a lot of the landowners old and dying off, and their places getting sold off ( More farmers than I was aware of are leasing) but also with the advent of the Organic milk and the rules about grazing, pasture is at a premium, and so the biggest organic producer is overbidding places for sale and grabbing up farms all over the valley, not making any friends in the process.
And yet another dairyman who left for what seemed like greener pastures in Tillamook is coming back. It seems that farming up there isn't the Oz of Dairyland. For some reason it seems the cows won't graze the pastures like they do here, and most of the feed must be bought and fed.

Tomorrow Kathy and I have a date for more swimming!

And one more note on Independance Day
a good article on Patriotism and religious fanaticism
Put Away The Flags

StealWrite This Book

Steal This Book
as a Wiki!
That's fantastic. Complete with a list of communes.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Video of the Day



Stevie Wonder doing Superstition on Sesame Street.
This actually made me cry a little.

How come Sesame Street had better musical guests then than Saturday Night Live has now?

Monday, July 03, 2006

Chop chop


I found my machete and I sharpened on my new bench grinder.
In less time than it took me to find it, I had chopped down a large part of the hemlock forest in my yard. That was satisfying.
I'm ready for more, but I need armor against the stinging nettles.


Uncle Arthur


Ha this is a "sports card "( like a baseball card) of my Uncle!

This is just what it looked like at the beach on Saturday!

Monday

I sure have been kinda low key lately. Maybe because my future is so up in the air.
I wonder what will happen.
The bucks are getting smelly with breeding season approaching. I bred one of J's yearling's last night; the first of the season. Only 3 days after my last doe kidded.

I did some ranch tidying, weed whacking, moving stuff around. I finally "fix a flat" ted the tire on the little flat bed, moved it and the steel on it to the barn and started dealing with it all. One of those sheets of steel I will need a tractor to lift. What was I thinking?

The best ( in shape. good roof, high out of flooding) building on my ranch is the old tank room. I am thinking I'll start there, and build a little deck out in front of it so I can actually get in and out of it easily. At one time (years ago) I cleaned it all out, painted and furnished, thinking it would be a good office.
Now I immediately need a place for my fleeces, and maybe I'll make it the metal shop.
Whatever.
But I think I have most of the materials (sans screws/ nails) to make a nice deck with steps in front. In back is where the cows came into the dairy barn, so it's all cement. And sunny ( south facing)

Swimming was so great. It's dark and damp again here today. I know it's sunny and hot less than 1/2 hour from here. My slight sunburn is turning into a lovely shade of brown on my shoulders. I'm ready for another swim.

To do
1. Finish stanchion
a. Support bar
b. feed pan bar
c. paint
2. Start cleaning out barn
a. Move kids
3. Finish feeder
4. Buy machete
a. machete hemlocks
5. Gather materials for deck
a. Pier blocks
b clear area

Sunday, July 02, 2006

http://cookingupastory.com/index.php/2006/06/27/artisan-cheese-on-the-farm/

Here's
a great video on a goat dairy and cheese making operation in Oregon. I ended up with a buck from this ranch via the dairy I helped start 2 years ago.
Pat Morford has some of the milkiest Alpines in the nation, hence my interest in a buck from her herd.
I like her stanchion; it's kinda like what I was thinking for my new parlor, which will probably never be built now.

Swimming is teh fun


After morning chores we packed it up and headed out of the dark and damp into the bright sunshine only 30 minutes to the south!!

And it was summer!

We went to the spot we swam in last fall, in the heart of the Redwoods.
This time we weren't all alone on the beach. It was a regular holiday weekend crowd, enough people to make it interesting, but not too many that they were close or annoying.

The weather was perfect. The water was perfect. We swam and tanned and ate from my new cooler.
It was so great. Swimming and diving and swimming some more.
I got water up my nose and it felt like summer.

Back home and back into the cave of fog.

In the evening I watched "Gone With The Wind" (again).
I think everytime I watch it I get something different.
Maybe I'll go and read the book.

My last doe to kid had twins yesterday; one of each. Alpines. I am all done.
When I think of thinning the herd, I can divide them into many subsets. Alpines? Older does? Youngest kids? CAE positive? Negative?
As of today I am thinking of eliminating all of the Lamanchas. and keeping the grades and Alpines.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Environment

I'm sitting here by the heater getting ready to go swimming.
Isn't that messed up?