Spring Chicken, and Other Balancing Acts

It may well be late summer before I get caught up on Spring news. l0l. :) I am busy with some issues, like cold soil, too wet, too windy, too little time. What ever. Seems like the time between when ground thaws and time when the rains start is about 5 minutes, so that means hurry up. Or wait. I had to rake everything, in order to mow. Had to clean up after the roofers. etc, and was watching the weather as to when the last possible moment I could keep preparing to mow, before I had to actually start mowing to beat the rain. Once it rains, I have to wait for grass to dry before mowing, or it grows too much. blablabla. Balancing act. Like all farming.

All, and I mean every single potato and onion, was sold out at our store. I think partly it was an economic issue.. people are preparing for the worst. The other factor is that the area's main greenhouse went belly up, foreclosed, and bank turned off the heat, and would not sell anything out, so every plant in there froze, and every other thing they sell just sat there, so folks came more to us. Complicated by the fact that I had ordered every bag of potatoes that the suppliers had to sell, no more was available at all. We could have sold more if we had it, as it was we went through about 1.5 tons. And 5 bushels of onions. I hate not having what customers want, but I like not having left overs.

Computer--- I found a really nice feature on the new one-- it is called Hi Contrast for the display. I think all computers have some version of this, but the Toshiba Qosmio does a really really nice job of it. My eyes are bad... am planning an upcoming surgery... so when I found the hi contrast setting I about jumped out of my chair. wow. Made me wonder if people with normal eyes see this clear all the time, and when I get the surgery, will I have to turn off the hi contrast ??? It was so fun to use when I could see better that I did more fooling around checking into various corners so to speak. In the process, I just set up a hotmail email, not that I couldn't have done it before, but gee, the thing popped up when I was checking out what Windows Live was all about, and so I just did it. Not that anybody has to use it. Just blabbing here. I still have 5 or 6 other addresses. lolol.

So. I cleaned out an area on my porch and wanted to build a tool shelf. My sons keep buying me tools. Right now I keep them (the tools) in a kitchen cupboard, under the pot holder drawer. But now I have so many, a shelf will be nice. I scrounged around the farm for what ever wood I could find, and wallah, just the exact scraps I need are right here, all I have to do is make two saw cuts and screw in the legs and supports for a 4 shelf unit. Zip Zap. The legs will be 4x4 pieces left over from Shawn's hay bale pallets. They will be Perfect for what I need. All pre-cut, all sturdy, and all match. Lucky find. :)

Chickens have been arriving in rolling floods (so to speak) at the store. I get about 30% order pick up on first day, same on 2nd day, and have some cancellations. (One guy this week said he had to bail his son out of jail so he could not get his duck order). :0 I just sell them to someone else. Occasionally I have to do mark downs. But it's fun to come up with selling techniques. This year I did a "Duck and Cluck special. 3 ducks plus 5 meat chickens and a turkey -- get a free 10 bag of feed" . That idea just popped into my head while I was walking the dogs. When chicks are packed at the hatchery, they are put 100 into a box. that is.. 25 to a corner. This has been determined to be best shipping so as to keep chickens warm.. body heat sharing, for the 2 days of travel. Most birds do very well. Bantams, Chukars, and turkeys are most sensitive to heat problems, and ducks suffer lack of water if shipping is delayed. Otherwise, not too bad. Most of the time, out of 100, we lose maybe 3-5 in shipping, unless there is a delay.

Connie's horse... the lost in woods part.... Apparently the first owner had some sort of problem, I don't know what, but this horse and others got lost in the Caribou Hills down near Homer. Most of them never made it out alive, but this one survived by scrounging food and fighting off bears and what not. Someone finally rounded her up after a couple of years, and a mostly untrained gal had her for a while. Horse did not learn much useful stuff, but was fairly willing to cooperate. However, being in survival mode for so long, she had a strong instinct to protect herself, so when the woman's team of sled dogs started harassing her, the mare stomped one of them to death. Woman didn't want Angel any more after that. We didn't find all this out till a few weeks after she had been here. The horse was not in terrible condition when she came, but she wasn't prime either. Now, after eating our hay and pasture, she has bloomed out and looks awesome. She has meat on her neck and rump. And nice shine to coat. Starting to look rather classy. Connie loves her, and feels confident enough to ride bareback on this horse. I have been trying to get her bareback for a while because it will improve her balance, but she was intimidated by the bigger horses. Angel is just the ticket.

I saw on sports news last night a review of a softball tournament in Anchorage. In the background, just past the outfield fence, was a Black Bear strolling along the the sidelines. Not something you see very often during a softball game, even here, though I used to have a photo of my kids playing baseball right next to 3 grazing moose in our front pasture.

It's Memorial Day weekend. I hope folks will realize the holiday has the name "Memorial" for a reason, and hope they take time to honor that.

Scots and Newfs, worlds apart, yet united in purpose

I was thinking about dog personalities recently. Mostly in my life I have had 5 Scotties, and before that Dachshund, Chihuahua, 2 Labs, and Norweigian Elkhound. Except for the Labs and Chihuahua, all the breeds have been independent and self-contained, with the Scotties most independent and self-contained of all.

The Newfoundland, newest to this family, is the complete other extreme. Newf personality is devoted to pleasing a human, any human. They love everyone. Just because you exist, the Newf loves you, and shows it by being all over you, all the time.

With Scotties, humans have to earn their trust, love, and respect. And once humans earn this from a Scottie, it's almost like they keep it a secret. They might sit by you, and protect you, but they never get anywhere close to acting like it is a big deal. So I feel truly honored when I go out to my hovel out back and sit on a bale of hay, because of course the Newf lays down on my feet and looks at me adoringly, but the 4 Scotties sit on the bales of hay, not touching me, but facing outward, to guard against all foes.

Just the fact that they come sit on the bales along side me speaks volumes, because you couldn't make them do it. It only happens because, in their own understated way, they are saying, "You are worth defending."

Tigger is a prime example of Aloof, Apart, Alert. People who come into the store wait Years for her to even notice them enough to allow a few little pets, which she tolerates just long enough to be polite. But with me, she sleeps with her eyes open, she has me in her sights at all times, she goes into high alert when I move to another space. She stands between me and suspicious happenings. She guards by watching me.

Newf Rhiley guards by sitting on me if no one is around. Her thinking is that if she holds me down, she will know where I am. But let suspicion arise, and she stands up, with her hip on my leg to know my position, while creating a distinct barrier between me and danger.

One more comparison... should danger come from a distance, the Scotties will be off in a flash, to get rid of the problem, whereas the Newf will look at me to make sure my position is secure, and then she will take off to deal with things.

So, they are worlds apart in method, but completely united together in purpose.

Most people I know do not have any clue what their own purpose in life might be. If they recognized that our life's purpose is bigger than any daily chore or conversation, vocation or avocation, they might unite in purpose like the Scotties and Newfs. The Bible says that the Whole Duty of Man is to fear (Respect) God and keep His commandments (Love God and Love your neighbor). Respect and Love. Somehow, the dogs set a remarkably good example.

(ref: Ecclesiastes 12:13)