Rubber Baby Beeper Bumpers!!

Ya know, I can't even remember the joke that went with that punchline but Sara called it; Beep has on beeper bumpers to protect her feet!

Here's a close up of my handiwork which I'm proud to say, has lasted an entire 30 hours so far. Even better Beep is walking just fine.

She doesn't seem to mind her padded feet which is amazing. I was betting she'd fling off her silver shoes in minutes or worse, slip on the snow.

Joe offered to make a studded bottom out of a thin sheet of plywood with little studs, but she seems to be getting decent grip.

Time to go hit the snow on Oscar. We'll go cross country today, maybe try to find that dern fox that keeps taunting Gabby.

Cheers and here's to a peaceful 2008.
b

Winter & Trains

I've been watching the BEST scenes outside the windows lately; frosty, icy branches, arctic skies, hazy mornings...too many good things to point out and my camera has malfunctioned badly lately, along with my pc. It'll take me 3 reboots to get this post up but so be it. I'll outlast the stupid machine!

So this shot was taken this morning outside my bedroom window. I can get exactly one photo before my camrea shuts down and I have to rest it a day.

So I had the vet out today to check on Beep Beep. Turns out she has bruised feet and he prescribed some special styrofoam booties for her. The vet also prescribed bute, which I had been giving her since yesterday and it was helping. At least it's not founder---I was worried about that. She's lost some weight since being here as I've exercised her a few days/week but he wants more weight off so when her feet feel better it'll be time to hit the trails again. If I have to take her snowshoeing with me I will (I'll wear the snowshoes, she can wear her hooves).

I made a special run to Beaver Dam tonight to get vet tape. I have to make a styrofoam pad for her front feet, wrap it with vet tape then duct tape the whole thing to both front legs. That should give her a little cushion while her feetsies heal up. Joe brought over a piece of real styrofoam (not the kind you get with tv sets). It'll take a hack saw to cut, but I have one of those. I'll trace her little feet tomorrow and get the size of her new wee protector pads just right.

And get this..as I was crusing through Columbus I got stopped at the train tracks. THe daily Amtrak was going through. As I sat there watching the people in the cars I thought "how cool is that; it's still an efficient mode of transport, even with the car lobbyists trying to kill it." I was thinking that for about 6 mintutes, along with how much I missed living in NY where I traveled by train often. Then it dawned on me that I'd been sitting there for 6 minutes and with the car turned off, it was starting to get cold! Argh...I decided to turn around and take the overpass.

That worked dandy. I got to the Fleet Farm, got my vet tape and headed home. I got back to Columbus and got stopped by the freight train!!! I had to laugh at that point. Ahh, more time to contemplate the moment which I'm always happy to do. I got home and no worse for the extra time.

Well, hope ya'll are warm and dry wherever you are.
love, b

Mouse Week!

My cat is a mouser. My dog is a rabbit hunter and general small vermin killer. But my chickens are mousers too??

So far the death tally at the farm since August is one skunk and two rabbits (Gabby), a rat (barn cat) and two dead mice in the house. Now the chickens are getting into the act. I found two dead mice in the coop, both with puncture wounds the size of a beak. Don't mess with Dumpling or Pot Pie I tell you!

And last night I smelled something funny in the bathroom. I looked all around and didn't see anything but definitely smelled something funky. I finally looked in a basket and sure enough, a dead mouse in the bottom. Probably got there by way of Spider and the classic cat game of throw the catch in the air. In this case, it landed in the basket where I couldn't see it until it started to stink.

I Febreezed the basket but I'm not optimistic that it will work. I have Febreezed my couch (formerly Gabby's couch but it was my nice couch before she claimed it) and that only lasts about a day before I can smell dog on it).

Well, at some point it'll be spring and I can open windows and air out the place. Speaking of spring, it's almost 40!!! But more snow on the way so will enjoy today and keep my boots by the door.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and best of all, Happy winter Solstice to all!
love, becx

Enough already!!

Ok, I surrender. It's not officially winter yet and we've got over 2' of snow on the ground.

Yesterday brought all day long snow flurries that added another few inches to the heap. I went skiing out back then took Oscar out and stomped around the back yard, the field, the woods and then the front yard. I know we're in training for dressage but I kind of wish there was some sort of snow dressage category. We'd be good at that.
Note the pile of snow just in front of the chicken coop. That's how much snow has been plowed off the driveway in the last week! For those of you living in warmer climates, please enjoy whatever temperature it is wherever you are. It's 10 today and I'd give anything for 10 more degrees!!

In other news, I wrote out my Christmas list for Santa. Santa baby, if you are listening I've been real good and could you bring me a:
> Skidloader with a cab and heat
> A John Deer Gator with a hydraulic lift
> An ATV (used is fine) with accessories like a harrow, plow and trailer
> 300' of new RAAM fence
> 2 more acres for pasture
> An indoor arena
> An australian shepherd (which I'll name Wilson...as in...."WILSON!!!" )

Think this list will get me anywhere??

Neither do I, but it's fun to write down my shopping list. I have a subscription to "Agri-View" newspaper (Wisconsin's farm newspaper) and it's fun to look at the farm implements for sale.
You know that old saying? A skid loader is a girl's best friend?? Well, on a farm it's true. Next to the dog. And the bottle of red wine. And the hot tub. Ohhh, add hot tub to the list.

Tally ho..time to do something around here.

A View of the Snow

Dang...when the Gods give you snow, you just go with it. It's kind of hard to ride the horse when it's 8" of fresh powder on top of 5" of packed ice. So I got some new batteries for my camera and went for a hike about this morning. This is the view of the back of the house. You can see my ski tracks on the lower left. The whole farm looks different in the snow-pretty but in a different way.

ytttttttttttttttttuj that's courtesy of Spidey cat who just walked over the keyboard. Grrrr. My fat cat has her own insulation so doesn't need to try to sit in my lap 24/7.

Anyway, here's the house as viewed from the chicken coop.

The chickens are hanging in there with it being so cold. I guess they don't need toys like the horses do to keep occupied. I saw Oscar nudging his horse ball around today and that helps to keep his busy body mind busy.

Speaking of Oz, I attempted to ride him on Thursday but the footing was so bad and I made a critical error in clothing choice. As someone has already pointed out, snowboard pants are great for making sure anything snowy doesn't stick to them. Thus, they are slippery when applied to, say, a leather item like a horse saddle. Add to that my giant Columbia boots and a pony on a lead rope and you have a recipe for dee-zaster. Fortunately, we didn't pile up but there was a close call when Oscar was trotting through the snow/ice and I didn't have my feet in the stirrups 'cause my big boots didn't want to tuck in easy. The effect of that was a near launch of the slippy pants rider. Somehow we stayed together but I dropped the rope. I turned Oz around and said "go get Beep" and dernit, didn't he just round her up from the trees she was in and park me perfectly so I could reach down and grab the rope. My horse is a cowpony!

I dropped the rope two more times as we attempted to walk across the garden hill and each time Oz got me in position to catch the pony. After the third time I decided the footing was too risky to be messing around playing cowpony. I got off and walked them both down the street a bit so they at least got some exercise.

When I got up today it was 0 degrees. Good thing I havent' been checking the weathe report. WHen it's this cold the only thing I want to know is "will it end soon?" and if the answer is no then I don't want to know. Faulty logic for sure, but it gets me through the cold days.

Joe and I finished fixing the fence today. We had to put in 12 posts yesterday to replace the broken ones and let me tell you, nothing like pounding a t-post in with a torn rotator cuff in the zero degrees but it had to be done to save the pasture. We got new electrical tape up this morning and the last of the posts and now I can rest a bit easier knowing that the next thaw I won't be watching my pasture turn into a mud field.

That's about all the news that's fit to report. Cold, snowy and, um, cold on the farm. Oh, and the Saeco Vienna Deluxe malfunctioned. Now that's a tradegy but nothing a little trip to the Espresso Shop in Chicago can't fix. Soon, ole VPublish Postienna will be churning out hot mugs of courage once again.

I think my skiis are calling....ciao for now.
b

RIP Marsala

Well, I got home tonight and little Marsala had died. She didn't look so good this morning but she'd been having good days and bad days. She's in the photo above, in front.
Awww, I'll miss that chicken. Never thought I'd get attached to a bird but the way they run around when I come in the coop and squawk to go outside and squawk for treats--it gets into your daily routine.

So I bagged her up and decided to head out for a snowshoe. My new shoes are fantastic. I wore the wrong clothes though. I should have had my snowboard pants on because running snowshoes kick up a lot of snow and it lands right on your arse. Gabby came with and we did a loop of the field behind the house then I took off the snowshoes and went for a run to the corner and back. We got at least 5" of snow last night and it's about 9 degrees right now. Cold enough that I didn't get warm enough running and I had a lot of clothes on. I might be getting thin-skinned! Time to move to a warmer clime???

tally ho...time for a shower,
becx

Head Light!

Welcome to Sunny Hill. New name, same farm. Same crazy farmer blogger at the keyboard.

So the news is I got the best thing ever--- a headlight!!! I've always wanted one and for some reason just didn't get around to ordering one. Thank de lawd for birthdays and a big brother. Brian got me a headlamp and you know that commercial for LL Bean with the excited little kids sitting on the couch with the headlamps on, waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa? That's me. I put the thing on and can't wait to go outside in the dark. Thanks, Brian!

Day one with headlamp: I found two eggs in a different box than the hens had been laying in. The eggs were frozen which was fine as I cracked them open, scrambled them and put them back in the freezer for future quiche. Real farmers eat quiche ya know.

Oscar didn't like the headlamp at first and he took off when I was crossing the yard to the barn. He got over that when he realized the alien shining light was just me.

Speaking of the horses, it's hard to scoop manure now seeing as it's frozen and stomped into the snow to boot. It dawned on me that I really need to pitch fork some of the manure out before a thaw or there will be a sea of manure. blech. I don't mind stepping in dry poo, but wet poo is another matter.

My camera isn't functioning right and I wanted to post a photo of the farm in all the snow. I managed to ski on Sunday, then changed gear and saddled up Oscar and took him and Beep out for a ride. Oscar needed some schooling around the snow piles but other than that, it was a lovely ride in the snowy fields. Too bad the snow has turned to a pile of ice now. I can walk across it and not make a track it's so hard.

So that's the news from the farm. Come on out and bring your skiis/snowshoes/saddle/wine. :)

becx

Snow on the Outhouse

You think this was a black and white photo, but it's not! It's a color photo, taken Thanksgiving morning after a couple centimeters of snowfall. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and here's the highlights:
6:00am..phone call from Joe. "Hey becca...your horses are up on the hill."
6:00.5am..aaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6:02am, run to barn, grab halters, look for open gate (didn't see one) run up hill.
6:07am, catch Oscar,lead him down the hill with ponies following
6:10, Oscar locked in barn, start after other two who stopped following. Start tracking hoofprints in snow, which lead to alfalfa field behind house. Joe drives over in the truck to help with the round up but I it's going to be awhile as the ponies are well into the alfalfa. I found out where they got out; the gate I use to take the manure out of the pasture. It was the only gate that didn't have a snap lock so I'm betting it was Beep who played with the chain and got it unlatched.

It took Joe and I a half hour to figure out how to catch the horses. It was futile trying to walk up to them because the baby was herding Red thisaway and thataway. She's even smarter than her mama! I wound up getting Oscar and leading the two ponies back in. They followed right into the barn. Once they were captured I looked at Joe and said "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Then I got to cooking and getting ready for family. This was my second turkey I've ever cooked. I couldn't find my stupid turkey baster. I had to baste with a cup which is not nearly as good as a baster.

Jeannine and family and Brian and fam got to the farm in the afternoon and we went for a short hike. Dinner was at 5 and featured all the usual thanksgivingy things. Brian made some excellent challah bread and Neener made pie. And, just like being at Grandma Jane's, there was Redi-whip in a can. After dinner we had a vicious game of Monopoly, with Jay monopolizing the bank. Here's a photo of Jay studying his next move, and Sam bowing out (he was the first to go).
Note the cluster of hotels near Jay's elbow.

When Jay and Jesse were fighting over rent on the Boardwalk the can of Redi-whip came out. Those of us already out of the game made whipped cream mustaches and eyebrows.




That would be Jeannine giving Sam a shot.

And Emily and Jesse got in a few good blasts until the can ran out.

Here's to kicking off the holiday madness. May we all stay sane and healthy...
til soon,
b

Dressed up Coop, er Cottage

After all the discussion about how to make the Bunkhouse livable, here's a fine design. It has everything but Sara's cat.

I love it! The geraniums are a nice touch. I think I'll move in here and rent the house out as a B&B.

It would be a B & B & CUAY. (Bed, breakfast and clean up after yerself).

Maybe we should replace the windows on the bunkhouse??

That's not a deer!!

That's Rosie, the baby pony. But those were the first words out of my mouth this morning at 6am when I looked out my window and saw a shape moving through the yard (!) about the size of a deer.

I pulled on some pants and a coat and went out for the round up. Fortunately Rosie is easy to catch and wanted to be with her pals, Oscar and Beep. She wasn't sure about coming in the barn but a little hay took care of that. I put her back inside and gave them all some hay and rigged up a barrier so she couldn't get out. She got out through the "people pass" i had built into the gate system. When I had it built I didn't factor in a wee pony!

Anyway, all three of them are doing fine. When Rosie showed up there was a fine display of "kickin' up some heels" as all three of them went tearing around the paddock. Oscar now has two horses to herd only he's a mere fraction of his former self. BG (before gelding) Oscar was a tenacious herder. Now, he just nudges them off the hay and w/o even a snort.

Here's a photo of Oz nudging Rosie off some hay. He reminds me of a T-rex, esp. in this photo.


I am glad I had the stalls built though as now I can lock Oz and Beep in their stalls and let the baby eat her carrots and supplements in peace.

Rosie has the tiniest little hooves--it's so cute!
She's got big eyes and a fuzzy mane and tail. She likes being petted and is good on a lead rope. She jumped right out of the trailer yesterday like an old pro.

She's smart too. When Oscar nudges her from her hay she walks around the fence to the next pile so the fence is between them. That buys her about 15 minutes of grazing time uninterrupted. She's holding her own out there in the herd!

Oh, and I promised Lady B a photo of the bunkhouse; here it is, and that's Joe's barn to the right (just across the street) and my pole shed/garage to the right.

It's the original chicken house and the former owners were using it for a dog kennel. The open space to the right is my lower garden (upper garden is for strawberries!). THe bunk house has the same stone foundation as the barn and house. It would take some work but with a complete rebuild, this would make a cute "cottage!"

I know just the person for that project. :)

Only she has too many houses in Florida and can't make it up here to work on her wee cottage! That's ok though, that gives me time to fill it up with stuff. It's holding a lot of plywood from the barn. It's the good old kind of plywood; 3/4" and sturdy. I used some of it for the chicken coop repair. You can't buy that stuff anymore.

The coop/bunkhouse even has windows. Those were some spoiled chickens. That's what I like about this place; the Kilians thought ahead. They planted lots of trees back in 1899 and built solid buildings and tall basements. And they left a lot of good karma behind.

Time to get a move on the day. Toodles for now,
b

Put Another Log on the Fire

Seeing as I have nothing interesting to report today, I'll post a photo. This was taken last week, just after I'd mowed up the maple leaves. It's a morning shot of the back yard, looking southeast.

Geesh, it's gotten cold round these parts. I rode to work today and I was dressed just fine so didn't feel the chill. The light reflecting on the farms and fields was amazing; there is something about the cold air and the light that make for unusual tones. I'm glad I get to see it because in a car I'd see very little.

Advertisement coming: Go by bike.

Alright, enough advertising. Back to life on the farm. Seeing as I was in Boulder M-W I have little to report. Marsala (sick chicken) is doing better although she's not out of the woods yet. More cottage cheese and garlic for her tomorrow. Oz and Beep are in good form. I took them both out last night for a walkabout the farm. I think Oscar deliberately did a detour into a field so Beep could grab a bit to eat. He does that now and then...just decides he wants to go this or thataway. It's good practice for a collected circle but all the same I think it's a conspiracy.

I've got a cold cat in my lap and dang, cat feet can get chily. Note to self: buy a small heating pad for Spider. She's a skinny cat and is always trying to steal my heat. I think I could plug in a heating pad on Gabby's bed and rid myself of velcro-cat.

Here's to a pleasant and sunny weekend. Cathy, all the best to you and your family. Rosie the pony comes to La Bella Vita tomorrow afternoon. Oh boy. Another test of my fences!
cheerios,
b

Farm Cross!

So we had a little race at the farm yesterday. Here's a photo of some of the riders getting assembled. The race went around my farm and through the "pit" and then the barn. It was hard and very fun. The spectators were cheering every lap with cowbells and timely beer handups. Post race 20 of us trooped into the house for chili and beer and recapping of the race. We're already talking about Farm Cross 08.

To top it off, me and a few of the women went to feed the animals and they got out which resulted in a hilarious 40 minute chase around the alfalfa field for Beep. Oscar was easy to catch but Beep?? Oh no...I had to do 14 sprints to keep her from heading for the back 40 and it was Natasha who managed to get her, with some help from the neighbor's spotlight. We all gave Beep a new nickname: beep the little sh^*

But, all was well and the horses got fed and I fell asleep about 7pm, in a chair. I got up very refreshed and seeing as it's my birthday, that means two things: many calls from family with offkey versions of Happy Birthday and, cake for breakfest! Woo hoo! 44 here I come.
b
PS: Here's a cool photo I took on Friday morning, after a hard frost.

Publish Post

Winter is Coming

And this was my first clue. Nothing like looking forward to crawling into a cozy bed only to find the best spots taken by furry things. I especially like how Gabby got herself tucked in so nicely. The pillow on her head is a nice touch. Today was the day to turn on the propane heater. According to Dad, it'll be easier to heat up the house if it doesn't have to start from 40 degrees all the time. Good point there, Dad! And I will admit it's nice to come home to a house that doesn't require a hat and gloves until the fire heats up. I doubt it'll keep the critters out of my bed but you can't have it all.

I did get a ride in this morning and I'm aiming to see if I can alter my schedule to allow a morning ride. It'd have to go like this:
5:00 Rise and shine, put on riding clothes: throw hay
5:15 Drink two cups of coffee and eat two bowls of cereal
6:00 Sun rise: Saddle up and ride one hour
7:00 Clean up, drive to work

Ya know, when you write it down like that it seems like it'd work?? Humm. We shall see. I don't think I can afford any Musco lights at the moment (roof needs work) but getting up early is do-able. With coffee, anything is possible!

Ole Blue Eyes

Here's a photo of my dirty horse, Oscar. He has blue eyes. Please disregard the dirt. I was taking photos of Oz and he obliged by having a good roll and this was the only photo that showed how blue his eyes are. Looks like he went a little heavy on the eye liner, eh?

I'm having withdrawal of daylight issues. It's downright depressing not being able to ride after work.

I'm going to have to do a "Work from home" day just so I can ride during the week. Or build an indoor arena. Hey......now there's an idear!

I wonder what those cost.. hummm.
b

Learning new skills!`

Sunday was a big day in which I learned to drive the skid loader and spent some quality time with a chain saw.
It was Clean Out the Barn day and I got back from a quick trip to town to find Joe already working in the barn. Plan was to clean out the crap that had piled up over the years. Old tires, plywood, boards, miscellaneous old feeders and waterers. Joe rolled his eyes every time I wanted to save something (like the old pig waterer).
"Whatcha gone do with that?"
" Plant flowers in it."
"HA!"

Joe's got a way of saying "Ha!" that belongs in a sit com. He'd be Ricky to my Lucy.

I told him the story about how, as a teenager, I turned Dad's antique forge into a front yard flower garden. I thought it looked great; the forge was about 4' high and made of iron. I planted nasturtiums and geraniums in it and couldn't wait for Dad to see it. He pulled in the driveway and said something like "why is my forge in the yard with flowers?" I couldn't believe he didn't like it. Harumph. (yes, I took it apart and planted the flowers in the yard instead).

I wonder where that old forge is these days. It'd make a nice planter...

Anyway, he saved the old wooden feeder and I'll figure some spot to put that thing.

So I practiced with the skid loader by moving some of the manure pile around. Then I got full of myself and decided to drive it into the barn to pick up the next load of junk. I was going in perfectly straight when I got to the edge of the barn floor. Apparently, when you go over something like a ridse the front end gets squirrely. I had the bucket partly extended and when i went over the edge the bucket whipped over to the right and caught the barn support beam. It shook a bit and Joe's eyes got big but the beam held just fine and no damange done. Joe is about as patient as a person can be and he kept on loading like I hadn't just driven the skid loader into the barn beam.

So of all the wood we found in the garage there was some good pine boards that I chopped up with the chainsaw. While I'm getting adept at the chainsaw, I can't say I like it much. It's loud (I hate loud noises) and it scares me. Guns and chainsaws I can do without but they both have their uses.

Speaking of guns, I was back in the pit the other day and saw the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle in action. Remember the old pig feeder that we moved out of the barn? It's now being used for target practice. It's got a few targets on it and it's got a whole new life in the pit.

Ah yes, recycling. Country style.
b
PS: To Cathy: Rosie and Beep send their good thoughts and wish you extra strength.

Dining in Columbus

Too many highlights of this weekend to write about but here's a few natable ones:
Teammate Kate came out Saturday to spend a day on the farm. We took the horses out for a bit then went for a bike ride. It was a perfectly windy, sunny day for a ride and we worked up an appetite. Dinner was at some place in Columbus and that experience is worth a restaurant review. This is my first attempt at a review so bear with me.

James St. Dining Company
This place looks promising from the outside. Old storefront painted a tasteful green with cream trim, fine lettering and nicely landscaped. We walked in about 6pm and were invited to sit "wherever we liked." We picked a window seat with a few of James Street. Turned out that was the best spot in the house for watching the full trucks rumble by. Trucks carrying corn or hay or whatever. It was a reminder that this is working farm country.
Our server offered us appetizers so we picked bruchetta. This was my first clue that we were in for a fine dining experience woven of the greatest culinary ambition coupled with a healthy upbringing on Lutheran casseroles.
Normally bruchetta I've had or made is on small rounds of french bread, say, about 5 cm across. but this is Columbus. Our bruchetta was about the size of individual slices of bread, only round. The tomato pieces were piled high to falling off. Ditto for the lifeless mushrooms. I've also tpyically served bruchetta warm with a few bits of goat or other cheese, perhaps a bit of olive with a bite to contrast flavors and stimulate the appetite. In James Street, they don't want flavor getting in the way of filling you up. These were served cold too. Ah well, we were hungry so we scarfed them down.
Our salads brought back memories of church camp in central Wisco. A fine mix of spring greens, sprinkled here and there with tiny pretzels (perhaps they forgot to make the croutons?) and topped with shredded cheddar (not the good kind either...tasted like it was out of a bag). We were starving so we ate that. The dressing was fine...nothing inspirational, just ok.
Our meal was most interesting. I opted for chicken and that was decent, as was the new potatoes and the vegetables (which mysteriously seemed gluey with something but tasted ok, just bland). The piece de resistance though was the cachon of BAKED BEANS in the middle of my plate. Baked beans?? And these were of the canned variety. I've made my own beans for 15 years and there's no mistaking the flavor of canned pork n beans.
Kate's ravioli was ok, it had plenty of garlic so that passed muster. We decided to go for a dessert and were not disappointed; we got 4 slabs of chocolate looking cake thingy and a glass full of some gooey topping. Another close miss...
All in all we had a great time listening to the other server try and describe the food. He was tending to the table behind us and we heard him say "and it's served with a cream of broccoli soup but it's not like a can of cream of mushroom or anything like that.." I turned around and caught the eye of the diner and swear he was trying not to smile.

It was all I could do not to go into the kitchen and take over. Good thing I hav emy hands full or I'd start working at the restaurant just to get it in line so I'd have a nice place to eat out.
Anyway, out of 5 stars I'd give James Street a 1.8. I could have gone higher but the prices were that of a much finer restaurant thus, they get the score they got (below average).

Next time I want to eat out I'll head to the grocery and get myself a steak and cook it outside on the grill.
That's all for now..
b

L'Escape du Farm

Beep, the red pony was the ring leader in the jailbreak on Saturday. I left for a cyclocross race and while I’d closed the gate in the barn leading to the aisleway I didn’t latch it. Beep knows how to push the gate open and has bolted out twice already but she didn’t get far as the main door was closed. This time though I not only didn’t latch the gate but left the big door open about two feet.

So I’m tooling home from my cyclocross race and I stop at Tractor Supply to get some more bedding. I shoved four bales in on top of my bike and as I was driving home I get a phone call. It was my old neighbor, Myranda, who had come by the farm with her husband. “Did you know your horses are across the street in the alfalfa field?”

Yipe! (say that like Scooby doo).

We had a bad cell phone connection but managed to communicate that yes, I would like her to catch the horses and yes, put them back.

I had no idea how long the two of them had been munching on fresh alfalfa but I don’t think it was more than an hour. I saw their tracks in the field and they weren’t that far in. Even better, they were in Joe’s front yard, more or less and no one noticed there were two equines out front.

So now I know; that pony is sneaky and crafty. I can just see the two of them crossing the street. If they could talk it’d go something like this:

Beep: “One two, hey, it’s open! I’m outta here.”

Oz: “Wait for me!”

Beep: “Alfalfa’s over here.”
Oz: “I know how to cross the street..follow me.”

Beep: munch munch

Oz: snurf, snorf crunch crunch

Hour later: Human voice: “Oscar!!”

Oz: “Busted, whoa, gotta go! Oh hey, an apple!”

Human: “Sucker”

That’s all for now.

b

Mr .& Mrs. Liggett Visit the Farm

It's not everyday that you get the "voice of cycling" dropping by your farm but today was a special occasion. It's the Bike Federation of Wisconsin's annual Gala and Phil Liggett is here to speak, all the way from his home base in the U.K. He traveled with his wife, Patricia and they are amazing, lovely people. We spent an hour grazing the horses on the lawn. They met Joe and got a tour of La Bella Vita. Tricia is a great photographer and she took lots of photos of the horses, the landscape and the outbuildings. Aside from taking photos, Tricia is an outstanding evaluator of human musculature movement. She's spent a lifetime observing and correcting posture and has done wonders to correct people's posture on a bike. I think my spring project will be getting Tricia back to the states for a seminar. She's super fit and you can tell she has a dancer's physique; she's light and powerful. What wonderful people they are.

Here she is, getting a photo of Oscar's blue eyes.
It was fun having them here and I sent them home with Dairyland jerseys and some cowirl coffee.

I took them back to their hotel and now have to do a costume change and head back downtown for the party tonight. My best date for VIP occasions, my wonderful brother, Brian, is on deck to assist tonight. I think the last time Brian was my date we went to the Mayor's inaguration party but first, Brian had to put a new battery in my car. We were all dressed and ready to go only to find my car battery had died. We zipped over to Farm and Fleet, got a battery and Brian installed it and off to the party we went. Hopefully Brian will get to enjoy himself this time w/o any surprises.

Tally ho for now,
b

The Perfect Weekend?

It might be hard to see here in this photo, but it's sunrise over the arena. Oscar got a workout there on Friday night and he went very well for me. Beep, for her part, rolled on her back and ran around all happy. I think she was taunting Oz but I'm not sure and to his credit, he ignored her and kept his mind on his work. He learned how to do a half pass and a turn on the forehand and he did them well too!


I had a few visitors to the farm over the weekend, most notably my nephew, young Master Simon. I'm still waiting for those photos to get sent over 'cause there are some cute ones of Simon on the pony.

Beep got a nice walk under Simon on Saturday and again on Sunday with Antonia, the daughter of a friend of mine, Rita. Here is Antonia and Oscar. Oscar knows she has a carrot in her hand and he's more-or-less politely asking for it.


Beep seemed to like getting exercise and attention too. Here's a photo of Oscar and Beep eating some well earned hay last night.
And that's about it for tonight; my satellite dish must be overloaded 'cause it's taking too long to upload these photos!
enjoy..more soon,
b

A beautiful day

I took my camera on my rounds this morning. I got this photo after I'd fed the chickens and was walking with Gabby to check out the arena. It's looking south, between the trees. I had a cup of coffee with me and a bag of tomatoes. I'd picked 6 ripe maters off the vine. I gave a couple to the hens and started walking.

I came upon stone henge..this is a lovely spot to sit and contemplate things such as cutting down more branches so I can ride my horse through here without getting whapped like I did yesterday.
Anyway, these benches are tree stumps with pavers sitting on top but they are nice to sit on and ponder stuff.

I walked through the back yard and then came upon the newly fenced arena. The sun was coming up and I had to laugh as I saw the arena. "I did that??"

Where do I come up with these ideas?? Anyway, I LOVE the new arena. It ended up being a tad smaller than I wanted but it's still a great size: 135x65. Plenty of room to work two horses, jump or just mess around.

Now all I need is some footing. There must be a massive run on arena sand right now 'cause I can't get anyone to call me back. Well, I'm sure there's someone out there who needs the business so I'm no worried and I can't wait to get Oscar back to work. He's a little fat right now.

And here's a photo of the arena gate. It' s a nice gate and it even had a ding in it so I don't have to worry about putting the first ding in.

So tonight my friend John is coming over to help me design the "Farm Cross" race that I'm having here in two weeks. It's a cyclocross race for Trek marketing staff and any other fool that thinks they can do a very difficult course. The race will feature Joe and Mitzi's gravel hill, a barricade to jump over--in the barn--(barn is also a beer stop), a pass through the thicket (up a hill) and a trip to the pit and back. One lap should take about 2 minutes and being that it's halloween, "goblins" will be moving the barricades around. Farm Cross 07....stay tuned for that entry.

I just heard Joshua Bell is in town --one of my favorite violinists. I'm thinking I'll take myself to the symphony tomorrow. I've known Joshua going back to my days in NY; he played at our hall every year . He's from Long Island and I last heard him play in Milwaukee when Mom and I went. It'll be good to see him again and get some culture to boot.

Well, time for my once-every-three-or two-years doc visit. It's the "check under the hood" visit. Blech.
ciao,
b

Heyyyyyyyy, macARENA!

I don't know the words to the Macarena song but that's what's going through my head because today the arena was getting built! I know the photo looks like a bunch of posts, but notice how straight they are. Ahhh, lovely. Nothing makes a lady farmer happier than a straight fenceline.

I gave the arena a name: J. Skalitsky Arena, in honor of my best mate, Joe. Where would I be without Joe?? One sorry farmer that's for sure.

I rode home from work today and saw the posts as I cruised down the hill on my bike and got kind of excited. Turns out we needed a gate so Joe and I went to Tractor Supply and got a gate. And some stall bedding. And a nice wheelbarrow. And a new pocket knife. And some tools and a toolbox....and some other crap that totaled $400 and I figured that was getting out of there cheap.

Best part there was Joe let me drive the diesel truck. It's a six speed so we were tooling along on Hwy 19 and Joe said "do you like that 5th gear 'cause there's an overdrive if you want it." I thought that was a mighty sweet way of pointing out the 6th gear. Last truck I drove only had 4 gears so it was nice to hear about the sixth gear. Joe also pointed out that he was a bit of a "pig pen" with his truck. I told him that was ok since he had a very tidy farm.

I'm all about a tidy barn. My laundry might not be folded but damn, my hay bales are straight.

So I lugged the bedding into the barn and noticed that Gabby had rolled in something offensive so I took a few minutes to wipe her down. Then I noticed that Oscar had a snarled up forelock. I have to go on a burdock search. He must be catching the burdock near the fenceline.

Speaking of Oz, I took a photo this morning but the light wasn't good. Tried again tonight to get a good photo but discovered my horse has a giant ball of burdock in his head. Not attractive. Beep looks good though, thanks to her thorough brushing last night. Anyway, here's a photo of the two of them this morning, waiting for some hay to fall over the fence. Note: Oscar did not like my coffee which I set on the fence post to take the photo.

He turned his nose up at it. Beep didn't care; she was busy nibbling on the grass next to the fence. The two of them kind of remind me of when my dog Gabby gets together with my brother's dog, Bekett. The two dogs have opposite shapes but similar coloring. Beep has the best little white spot on her right shoulder. You can see it in the photo.


Now I'm in for the night, having some wine and soup and writing about my farm. I love this place. It'll take dynamite or bankruptcy to get me out of here. I think I have an afterwork function tomorrow and another on Friday which is annoying. I'll have to try and ride Oscar in the morning tomorrow and see how that goes.

Tally ho for now,
b

....and then there were horses

And there they are: Little Red (aka "Beep") and her new "companion" (very Jackie O don'tcha know) Oscar Rudolph. Today was monumental. Two horses showed up at La Bella Vita!That's cause to celebrate and don't any of you worry; I'm celebrating now with a my favorite bottle of Cabernet and some Sicilian olives. Everyone, raise your glass!! Tink!

What a day. I woke up at 5:30 and listened to public radio for an hour. I was running through my mind all the things that I needed to do before 9 am. I was supposed to leave for the (now) old barn at 9 to load up Sir Oscar but before that I had to string up the temporary fence to block off the newly seeded pasture. All went swimmingly. I got the fence in then got the call from Cathy to say that the pony loaded fine. Then Keith called and said he was on the beltline. I was ready: completely caffeinated and sitting on "start." I hopped in the car and got to the (now) old barn and got Oz out of his pen. He grazed for about 5 minutes in the yard before the trailer pulled in. Oscar is an easy-to-load horse but when the trailer door dropped and Beep neighed that sexy pony "hi" he waltzed in. Sucker.

We pulled into La Bella Vita at 10am sharp. I walked Oz off first. He looked around and gave an excited kick. If I read him correctly (and I belive I did) his kick said "hot dog, REAL GRASS...!.. now where's the chick that was in the trailer?"

So then I brought out Lil Red. They did a two second sniff and went trotting up the hill together. Oscar bucked the whole way, hind legs about 5' high and happier than a dog with a stolen hamburger. They walked about all morning, with me checking on them every half hour.

In between, I was working on other chores with Joe. The stall guys were working hard and so were me and Joe. Can't remember exactly all that I did but I know I didn't stop until 30 minutes ago!

Here is what the stall's looked like going in.
In case you are wondering, that's a pig feeder
on the right side of the stall partition. Joe

had to get that thing out with the skid loader. It was heavy!
Here's a photo of Joe taking the pig feeder to the "pit" which is the farm version of a "dump" for you city folk.


As it was going down the road the artiste in me was thinking "is there anything I could DO with that thing?"
I had to admit to coming up empty handed but I'm sure the image of the pig feeder will haunt the artiste reaches of my mind at some point and I'll wish I'd of saved it.

Oh well. Even in its demise it became part of a nice photograph of a skid loader heading east on Muller Road, into the afternoon light with a pig feeder in the bucket.

So the horses are in their barn eating hay. The light is gone and I'm starting to fade too. I heard the Packers won today. I'm so out of the regular world but I'm glad to hear my old team won.

I'm not sure what to do now. Take a shower comes to mind. I have grass seed in my shoes, my hair is a mess and I probably smell like a horse.

Ahhhh. La bella vita.
ciao ,
b

One Hundred Forty Bales of Hay on the Wall....

ear.


So we're getting down to the wire; much to do before the horses come but it's all falling into place nicely. That first photo is what 150 bales of hay look like, sitting on my road next to the barn.

I kicked off today with another school presentation (no photo this time) at the same school as last week. That went well and then I went to Whole Foods to get some cool stuff that you can't get in the country. I don't shop at Whole Foods unless there is something there I really want (in this case it was Meyer's counter surface cleaner, geranium scent). It's kind of fun to walk through the store and go right by the $8 tub of salsa. There must be enormous margins on salsa. Perhaps our team ought to get into the salsa business? That's one way to fund the operations.

I left Whole Foods intact but nearly got schmeared by an elderly lady who decided to make a slow, left u-turn without looking. Seeing as she was to the right of me this posed a problem but nothing a long blast of the horn couldn't fix. No harm done and on I went--to the book store. I had a few minutes to kill before a meeting but found myself surrounded by absent professor types. Bearded men with a glazed look about them. One had his long legs sticking out into the aisle and it's a small store so I had to step over his legs to browse the magazine section. It just so happened that his gangly legs were in the home magazine section and I grew annoyed at having to step around his legs. I love bookstores but officially crossed that one off my list.

Confidential to Barabara: I browsed the Bungalow magazine and saw the ad for Canmore Cottage! I immediately thought of our thanksgiving dinner in the Mayflower pub, the year my life changed for the better. Ahhh, such fond memories! I'll miss that place.

Speaking of missing places, I drove by Hoboken Hostel today. The lawn wasn't mowed and the gardens needed tending. I was sad for that, but am very content at La Bella Vita.

I got back to the farm at 1 and found Joe and we hatched a plan to get fetch the trailer of hay. First I helped him change a tire on his tractor. He's got one of those 30# rivet guns you see the race car drivers use so that was cool to watch.

I knew the fence materials for my arena were to be delivered today so we waited until that truck arrived. The semi showed up and the guy had no way to lower the pallet to the ground. It was 400# of fence material so Joe revved up the tractor, I hitched a ride and we met the trailer down at the arena and got it unloaded. Then it was on to the Weisensell farm for hay. That went smoothly; Joe and I talked in the truck on the way. He was telling me about a cow he had that could produce 100# of milk/day. That's really good for a cow.

So we hitched up the hay wagon and drove it home. We both kept an eye out the window, hoping the clouds would hold off and the trailer would stay hitched. It had been raining off and on all day and we lucked out. We got the tractor into the barn with Cassie's help then those two had to leave for a family dinner function. That left me and 150 bales of hay--but it was dry at least.

Here is what 150 bales looks like from atop the bales, looking out the barn across the street.


I went at it and got the trailer unloaded and the hay stacked in under 2 hours. It was hard work and I swear some of those bales weighed 70#. I took a few monkey bar swings on the cross bar of the trailer. My shoulder did not like that, but it was too hard to resist a nice landing in the hay.

I was going to ride Oscar but was running out of steam so I opted to call it a day. I sat on the last hay bale and took a photo of the stacked hay.

Here are my feet, atop the tired and huddled masses of hay that I'd just stacked. It smelled good in the barn, I'll say that much. This was very nice hay and from what I could tell, it looked like a mix of timothy, possibly orchard grass, alfafa and maybe some other seed. It was something the Trelay seed company mixed up especially for horses. Will have to check with Sara on that.

And now I think I must take a shower. I'm off to Vegas for a few days for work and I'm not happy to leave the farm. I love it here and wish all of you were here to see it!
til soon,
becx

Barbara's Pony

One thing one does with a pony is take more photos of the pony! Let's hear it for digital cameras!!

Here's a photo of Little Red, now known as "Babara's Pony" or "Beep" (BP) for short.
She didn't want to get caught which is classic pony behavior so she'd walk 5' away, stop, turn, and look at you.


And Beep's baby, Rosie, was doing exactly what
the momma was doing. Here's Rosie in her version of the run and look:

You'll note that Rosie is looking back to see if anyone is still following her. We were.

I took Beep out side to trot her around. Cathy walked her a bit first and Cathy has the biggest heart of anyone I know. It's going to be hard for her to part with Little Red and she got a little teary about it. But she is keeping Rosie who is the spitting image of Red.




Here Cathy is leading Red with Rosie following.
Their hooves are sooooo cute and little!

If anyone reading has a nice, smaller horse to give away, let me know. Cathy bought her daughter a horse that turned out to have Cushings disease (fatal). The guy she bought it from knew the horse had the disease and sold it anyway and refuses to come good on it.

THere is a special place in hell for horsemen like the guy who'd knowingly profit off of a dying horse.

Well, on a happier note, Beep will have a good home here. The one thing she's not fond of doing is cantering. Perhaps she'll be on the "Sir Oscar Walk-Trot-and-Runforyourlife" exercise plan?

Stay tuned for that episode: And then there were horses...
ciao,
becx

Pony and Pasture Grass (and book club)

This was an unusual day, even by my standards. I started by giving a school presentation on cycling to White Horse Middle School. They have an annual ride around the lake and I've presented now for 3 years. I'm in that photo, somewhere. The kids were great and every year more and more kids that I talk to know about road biking or have a parent that rides. A good sign.

After that I headed to Monticello to see about a pony for Barbara. She's just as adorable as her photos and here's one of the pony and her current owner, Cathy. I couldn't stop myself and wrote out a deposit and now I get to work on getting Little Red here.

That's easy enough; Keith (the horse hauler) will fetch the little one and get Oscar on his way here. That way the two of them will have a chance to meet in the trailer before they get plopped in a pasture together. Eta on that: October 2.





I had to stop at the grocery on the way home as it was my turn to host book club. I got ample amounts of wine, exotic olives, crackers, cheese and such then scooted home. As usual, Joe and now his brother in law, Cassie, were in the pasture. Cassie had a chain saw and Joe was in the big tractor tilling up the soil more. in his words: Every time I do that I grow a new crop of rocks!"

He sent me to C&D Feed Supply in Columbus for a pasture grass mix. It's a groovy little store, family owned and you can buy chicken feed, bird seed, horse food, grass seed and they will mix it all up for you right there. I got my timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa and something else mix and skeedaddled home.

My first task was to pick out the big rocks that had turned up. That's good for your hamstrings, all that bending and stooping. Got that done and then got to use a seed spreader to get the seed down. After that I dragged it with a harrow behind an ATV. Whooee that was fun. I rode Mitzi's ATV which is "modifield for a lady." Well, this lady was tearing it up and dragging with zest. ATVs are way more fun than a Gator because they have speed!

Here's a photo of how it looked; newly tilled and seeded yard and lower pasture.


So at 5:15 I had to stop the farm chore business and get things organized for my book club. I'd been cooking minestrone all afternoon so got the house reasonably clean and table set and then....nothing. Six o'clock came and went, then 7 and I started to wonder where the ladies were. Turns out that 4 had decided to drive together and they waited for one to show up who never did, then they got lost and didn't have my number but finally showed up. The last one also got lost but she started out heading to Verona (wrong way on 151!). We had read "Desperate Characters" and had a fine ole discussion.

So now it's time to go to work....talk to you soon!
becx

Grass Seed & Shorter days

I didn't get a photo for this posting but picture this: I arrive home (by bike) and pull into the yard and there's a sprinkler running on the newly seeded yard. Guess who? If you didn't answer "Joe" you need to go way back to the beginning of the blog and get ed-u-ma-cated.

The yard is looking good. We seeded it last night with a mixture of rye and timothy and other yard type seed. The frost free pump is working just fine, and the rye grass should sprout in no time. I'll get a photo of that for ya...nothing better than grass growing. Seriously! All paper pushers need to put some seeds in a pot on your kitchen windowsill and remember what the cycle of life is about. It's gratifying, I tell you. And heck, the farmers have known it for a loooooong time. No wonder they know the value of the city life v. the country life. Smart people, those farmers. They can see things from different perspectives which is a skill that more humans could use. That and heaps of patience and I'm working on the latter.

Anyway, by the time I moved the sprinkler over the last section of yard it was going on 7:30 and it was dark already. that makes me sad but I try to remember that come Dec. 21 the days get longer again.

I'm 'tarred' and need to read a book before book club tomorrow. I'm hosting. I've been in this book club for 10 years and it's a great excuse to drink wine (like I need one) and talk about books-my favorite thing. I LOVE books. Our bookthis month is: "Desperate Characters." If I remember I'll write a book report.
ciao for now,
becx

Fambly Farm Weekend

Holly Molly, what a weekend. Much silliness, some good eats and a few highlights. Best told in photos.

The weekend started about 9am Saturday when I heard Joe's tractor start up. I went across the street to find out what we were doing that day (when I hear the tractor it usually means time to work). I found Joe and his grandson, Joe, in the wood bin. we hatched a plan to load a flat bed trailer full of wood into my basement. It was a perfect day for loading wood into a basement and Little Joe was the perfect sidekick. Here he is with his grandpa riding the big tractor.

Joe and Little Joe were a good team; they loaded the wood, I unloaded and stacked it. My stacking needs some work. The pile started out ok, then got narrower which I imagine is a common rookie wood stacking issue. Will work on that. Somewhere in the middle of all this Dad, Doris and Jimmy showed up. Doris and Jimmy live in Arbor Vitae and Jimmy is about to turn 16. He's a hip kid from the northwoods and he had on a belt to die for. I wanted to trade him any cd in my collection for his belt but never got around to that barter. They were on their way to a family reunion so Dad got dropped off and we got to loading more wood.

Loading wood is fun. It'd be more fun without a torn rotator cuff but so be it. I knew I'd be sore but the few logs that whapped me in the shins were hurting more than my shoulder.

After that chore Dad and I did some home maintenance projects including starting up the wood stove. Dad taught me how to start the fire and regulate it and we got it going pretty good. It was *weird* having it be warm in the house. I was comfy and not freezing for the first time in years. My old furnace (the one that finally quit last fall) in Madison never worked well and the house always had a chill. Not now; the wood fire was cozy perfect.

Sunday was another pretty day. Somewhere in the middle of the second cup of coffee the old kitchen light started flickering so Dad got after that one. He found the problem; some old cloth covered wire. He took out the light and we went to town to get a new one. The True Value in Columbus is the bomb! The staff actually know what they are talking about and are polite. What a concept. Really makes you realize how brainwashed one can get living in the city and having only Home Depot at your disposal. Long live family harware stores!!

Anyway, we got a new light (it's only temporary, Barbara!!) only I don't have a drill yet (doh) so we couldn't install the new one. Note to self: must get drill.

We had to put the light aside but that was fine as Sara, Ben, Mike, Brian, Erika, Simon, Doris, Jimmy and my good friends from Madison, Julie and Bill arrived. My goal for the day was to get the barn cleared out and thanks to Julie and Bill, the upper deck was ship shape! They swept up tons of guano. Bill named the climbing wall "Mt. Guano" and I'll have to have little sister Neen give the wall a rating. Ben was helping out too by driving the wheelbarrow full of bat poo.

In between the barn sweeping was the chimney check. Dad and Joe had the chimney open to check for creosote and wanted to show me how to do it. Here's me getting some instruction from Joe.

Turns out I have an insulated chimney and it was sparkly clean--no creosote. Since we had the ladder out I got up to the second floor and knocked a bird's nest out of the chimney. I couldn't quite reach back behind the chimney so Dad went up the ladder and finished off the nest.

I went back to the barn to see how Julie and Bill were doing and it was impressive. They had cleaned out the main floor and it looked great. Here they are, in full sweep mode. Julie used to race for Dairyland and retired two years ago but she's as fit as ever. After racing Julie returned to her first hobby, horses. I followed not long after and between the issues our two horses had, we've been good support for one another.

I went back twice last night to enjoy the clean barn. Thanks you two! That's a huge help and now I can get hay in there!


So while they were sweeping, the kids were discovering the chickens. Ben got one egg, Little Joe got 2 on Saturday.
I have added more chairs to the chicken coop viewing area for those wishing to enjoy the chicken show.

Here's my nephew, Ben,
taking a break from the barn clean up to watch the chicken show.


Ben and Dad had just planted a tree. Dad brought a red pine from up north for me. They planted it in a spot where I could see it out the window, not far from the peach tree.


And just as the day was getting on, I got my other nephew, Simon, out on the yard master. He got to wear the ear protection and steer. Like most little kids, they like a ride on anything mechanical.

Doris and Jimmy wanted to bring me a chicken for a present but couldn't find one. Turns out Doris loves chickens too so they got the next best thing; a fine looking roasting chicken. It got roasted last night and Brian, Erika, Simon and I had a great dinner, thank you very much!

So that was the big weekend on the farm. Much learned and more to come.

til soon,
becx