Are You My Mommy?

Blossom and Speckles are baby chicks.

Flippers is a baby gosling.

They are all the same age.

All three of them still sleep in a cardboard box and still need their heat lamp to keep them warm.

only.....

thing is....

Blossom and Speckles didn't get the memo that they are in this world on their own. They decided quite naturally, that the "big one" must be the mom!

Flippers on the other hand, isn't quite sure what the chicks are for or why they keep following him around.

Blossom trys to eat from Flippers beak... "feed me mommy"

and if Flippers lays down to rest? Oh joy! The little feathered ones cuddle right up with shrill chirps of happiness.

Maybe Flippers should be called Mother Goose?

Hello Spring!

Meet Bloosom (foreground) and Flippers!

Food For Thought

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time,

F. Scott Fitzgerald

I went out to dinner with a friend the other day. A very dear friend of long standing who was about to enter the hospital for some quite extensive surgery.

So I wanted our veritable "last hoorah" dining experience to be as perfect and enjoyable for her as possible. While she works in the legal world by profession, my friend is a fantastic cook who caters weddings and events and has for years out of her sheer love for the process of creating memorable food.

Just last week she catered an event I attended that included delicate puffed pastries stuffed with savory crab. Tiny tortes some filled with berries others with lemon or chocolate cream. All made completely from scratch of course. She is the only woman I know who could open her own branch of the library filled with just her cook books alone,

(she reads cookbooks like most people read novels)

.So imagine my suprise,

Wait!

I am getting ahead of myself here.

I let her pick the restaurant which is smart of me because she always knows the chefs and quality of menu etc..

We began with a wine.

A merlot.

with hints of summer cherry and chocolate the wine list read.

After a careful perusal of the menu choices, my friend ordered.......

a hotdog.

Yes.

She laughed at my shocked face and enjoyed it with relish (yes, I couldnt resist using that word)

"Its what I wanted" she said laughing.

A fine pairing it was, the wine and the hotdog.

And two friends laughing and quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pyromania. (Or Just Mania?)

PYROMANIA-
A type of impulse control disorder, pyromania is an impulse to deliberately start fires to relieve tension and typically includes feelings of gratification or relief afterward. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ ('pyr', fire).


I love fire! I love the beauty of it. The crackling sounds. The crisp smell of smoke.

After today I may retire of my lame pyromania however.

but I am getting ahead of myself. Let me begin the story.....






Its that time of year!

Time to start burning off the fields. This gets rid of early spring weeds and adds valuable carbon and nitrogen back to the soil.

We got the burn permit.

Plowed a fire line around the burn site.

Put the precaution of a plow standing by in case of emergency

Notice that nice line of freshly plowed dirt there to contain the blaze?

well.....

it didnt quite work!

I wish I had my camera to show pictures of what happened next..

a gust of wind and soon the adjoining field was on fire. It was racing along at about 5 -10 miles an hour (slow) and the tractor was flying around it and at some heart stopping moments even through it.

A much wider fire line stopped it.

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About five acres later and about 50 feet short of the bee hives.

The bees are fine.

The field is fine.

All of our heart rates have returned to normal.

Handsome Son and his fearless tractor driving saved the day!

Spring On A Dairy Farm

New little ones!




New Pets




Spring wishes

Spring Has Sprung!

Although the "official" first day of spring wont be for a few weeks yet,

(Sunday March 20, 2011 at 7:21PM EDT or 11:21PM Universal Time - kicks off the first official day of spring.)

you cant tell it by looking outside!

The Red bud trees are in full bloom, as well as the Pear trees and the Dogwoods.

Even my said herb pots which I kept going ALL winter dragging them in and out and watering them ONLY to lose them (I thought) to a frost last week....

seem to be making a revival!

See the little bit of green in amongst all the dead stuff?

tiny little buds of hope

The Bridal Wreath bush (spirea) is bursting with big fat buds almost ready to open.

Winter was brutal here - and long. Now nature is extending her conciliatory hand in a gesture of remorse by sending an especially beautiful spring it seems.

Time to throw open the windows and enjoy the colors!

Hiding In Plain Sight

There was a highly classified meeting held this week.

Born out of desperation, the chicken ladies decided to:

take the bull by the horns.....

wait a minute - too much metaphor mixing -

to take matters in to their own hands

wait a minute - they have no hands-

to take control of their biological destiny

Yes! Perfect! Has a strong chick sounding appropriateness.


So where were we? Ah yes, highly secret planning meeting to come up with a plan to keep that horrible egg stealing woman from robbing the nest. This woman was clever, she built a nice comfortable house and made soft hay filled nests. The rest of her diabolical plan became clear over time.

She actually thought she was entitled to take the eggs that would be laid so trustingly. With the passing of winter and the first whispers of spring - the meeting was held. At this grand poultry summit it was decided to hide the eggs from the crazed egg stealer.

Turkey Lurker, the most highly evolved of the hens, mentioned the concept of hiding in plain sight. Her daring plan was approved and implemented immediately.

Enter the "truck"

The plan for this old truck was to strip the frame to make a small trailer out of it.

notice the proximity to the chicken coop?

It is now the repository of the hens valiant efforts to produce young

Nestled amongst oil cans and old candy wrappers are the secret stash of eggs.
Brilliant, no?

Meanwhile "crazed egg stealer lady" spends her days pulling her hair out in frustration and wondering..

was it the new feed she bought last week? Why are there no eggs in the coop? Are the chickens sick? Should she Google this and try to find out?

Do not waste your sympathy on her though.

This is what she gets for trying to fool Mother Nature.....

Gatlinburg & Points Beyond

Its been wonderful to leave freezy cold rainy Florida for even colder, frozen points north of us!


The rationale is: if you're going to be cold anyway it should at least be pretty.
And fun.

And exotic.

Mornings waking up slowly in a hot tub while you look at the mountains

Afternoons on a ski lift!

An actual sighting of Pippi Longstocking

It takes a secure man to wear a small pink silk backpack, no?

Too soon it was back to sunny Florida which had turned green in one weeks time. Or so it seemed.

Goodbye cozy little house in the big woods.

goodbye snow drifts

and winter.

Hello Spring!

Hello to cows grazing belly deep in green fields of oats.

Its good to have the memories.