part-one- things that go bang

Things that go bang

 almost in my backyard - thanks to dynamite

        I saw this statement on a Craigslist ad, and it immediately took me back to my days as a blaster’s helper on strip mines around here. I worked for Atlas Explosive Service Company. One of the largest suppliers of dynamite in the world or was. The companies in the business of providing explosives like to change their name or their location or make up a limited liability company to shield themselves from the onslaught of lawyers intent on chasing them into financial ruin, and with good reason. Things happen when you play with dynamite.

     Some gets left behind and found by the wrong people. Your inventory comes up short, and you realize you have no clue where it went. These are just a couple of the common reasons lawyers chase them. Other reasons may be more lame in comparison but still affect people’s lives like back injuries like mine as they insist on the tradition as they load boxes of dynamite to full and assume 60 lbs is a safe level for one man to load or unload on a daily basis all day long, and then you blow your back out loading and unloading the boxes as you haul across rough uneven ground to load the holes or even to store in bunkers. This happened to me back in 1987 as I was unloading a semi full of dynamite. I can honestly say that I never left any dynamite unaccounted for while I was around that company but I did suffer from a bad back because of those jokers.

     My first days working there were not an easy experience at all. But the lessons I learned wasn’t from the workers but from the delivery people who apparently knew more than I did. The doors of their semi-trailer would go up and a driver would climb into his trailer and start throwing boxes at the rear of the trailer from somewhere within. Some would land on the ground and those that didn’t make it were kicked out of the back of the trailer by the driver onto the ground, all marked class A explosives, and blasting caps was clearly printed on the labels. I was ducking as the driver was laughing at me as apparently he knew it was my first day.  I gathered up the boxes and but failed to find any humor in his attempt to scare the hell out of me. He did let me know how safe they were for the most part. By themselves blasting caps and dynamite itself are fairly safe as long as they are never shipped together.  Both are class A explosives but if they are on the same vehicle have to be carried in separate fire proof compartments.

     So we would get a truck full of dynamite in or a  truck full of caps. Caps were light and easily could be tossed around but the dynamite I dreaded getting in, mainly because of the nitro headaches one would get from prolonged exposure inside a closed container with dynamite.

      Dynamite is a combination of nitro glycerin, perlite, which are tiny  glass shells about an eighth of an inch in diameter which provides a certain amount of oxygen needed at a crucial moment of ignition to intensify the chemical reaction and resulting explosion, also sawdust to disperse and hold the nitro in suspension till ignited, and ammonium nitrate to also intensify the reaction of the explosion wrapped inside a cardboard container to neatly allow the blaster to safely handle. This is all common information lacking specific information as to quantities of each involved, or a specific recipe. I would suggest and warn you that making dynamite, or an explosive device at home has consequences which usually don’t turn out very well.  No wonder they have a team of lawyers and change their company name often, is it?

this is where electricity comes from -isn't it pretty? 

      The process of making dynamite hasn’t changed much over the years and far as I know is still handled in a traditional way Alfred Nobel of Nobel Prize is famous for, as he was the inventor of dynamite and a safe way to handle the explosive nitro glycerin. Nitro by itself has to be carefully poured into glass containers and not allowed to get hot, or cannot be dropped and in the old western movies would be suspended in a box  full of sawdust with test tubes full of nitro inside, hanging in the air suspended by ropes to assure it would not bounce in the back of a buckboard and blow up a cowboy or two. Accidents were common usually resulting in a loss of life, so Alfred Noble having invented dynamite and a safe way of handling nitro is accredited with one of the most important inventions of mankind. This allowed us to wage wars and win without a major loss of life as just handling nitro had the same devastating consequence of losing lives as it took to win wars. Dynamite was and has been a major influence on the outcome of war, let alone the construction and extraction of minerals and ores locked in our earth. Only one other thing has moved more earth than dynamite in the evolution of man and that is the earthworm. Capable of passing more material through its body in a days’ time, the earthworm will consume up to ten times its body weight daily. This is according to Darwin who exhaustively studied earthworms and when you multiply the weight passing through their body daily and the number of earthworms in the soil, you can easily see it would average millions of tons daily.  And most of this is done in the first 5 feet below us. Just another fact for comparison.

      Dynamite is a relatively new product having been developed in the last half of the 1800’s, and so has a lot of catching up to do. But in the last couple of centuries has worked hard to close the gap. A cheaper method of moving large quantities of material allowed the industrial revolution explode so to speak as railroads were built , and factories could grow much larger and buildings taller as a cheap source of materials was now available from a variety of different sources. Replacing horse and man power and in a relatively short time, one person with a twist of his wrist could do what it took thousands of hours to do. Alfred Nobel made millions off his patent and was dismayed to a degree to see its use as a means of winning wars and being used for an entirely different purpose than what it was designed for. And so set up a trust fund to reward the most important influences on peace and the betterment of man resulting in the Nobel peace prizes. I am only telling you of all this , some or all you may know , as a means of helping you understand , the importance of having explosives in our society , and its impact on our lives.

      We rarely hear of explosives in our day to day to society, but I can attest to the fact they are out there, and I would say that your chances of passing a dynamite truck are pretty good in our area and more so due to the extraction of coal and limestone due to surface mining of these products locally in our area. For the most part they have it down to a science, but dumb shit happens. More of this will be related to you as I go along on a maybe three or four part series I am working on. I have a plan; just don’t know how long my plan is due to my inconsistent use of liberating my tongue or my mind as the case may be. So daily I intend to take you along on a journey on things that go bang, and what it meant to me and partly to you, as we have a tendency to share the same space at times. If not locally then globally as we both share the same planet at times. Although there are a few people I have known to be completely alien and hardly a part of the human race or act like it , and if so may be the reason they seem out of this world, and if so will have to excuse me as this pertains to all the rest of us here on earth. I digress; a mind is a terrible thing to waste but in my case coupled with a tongue can surely be as explosive as dynamite, hold on to your chair. Dad always told me I wouldn’t be smart enough to blow my nose even if I had a head full of dynamite, maybe with all I have to say you might agree.

     

      

check out the pics on the hyperlinks

Rendezvous

A time for carvers

        This weekend and part of next week is the annual chainsaw carving exhibition where carvers of all kinds make a trek to Ridgeway Pennsylvania to showcase their talent and to pick up pointers for the next year. I have never been there even as a spectator but I always try and follow the events on my puter.

      I would like to go, but I am not sure about the accommodations and have no desire to sleep in my truck in subzero weather as it is always held in February. A camper wouldn’t be bad, but still I have to haul all my equipment and drag along some carvings, to join in with about 150 plus carvers, in a free for all competition to sell. Over 300,000 people will probably view the weeklong event.

    I occasionally like to feature artists with talent, and will post on Facebook as well as on my blog works of other artists. It inspires me to try harder and to stay on top of my game when I am creating.

    Anyhow we are not that far away so I thought I would provide some links and you could possibly drive over this weekend and view the various works, and possibly buy something at a bargain as competition will be tough when trying to scare up a dollar. This will give you a chance to view various carvers and carvings, and give you an appreciation for the amount of work involved.

Another local carver in Ridgeway is Grandpa Elf from Massillon area (Jerry France)

    I am in no way authorized to speak for any carver and all I am doing is promoting an event that I wholly believe in. I feel chainsaw carving is an art form, some say it is folk art, but I believe the effort is more worthwhile when you consider the effort involved to create some of these works. Some are just mass produced BS. We have that in all forms of art. Walmart is full of it. But some really are worthy of mention and the artists who are producing the work may not have come from educated backgrounds but still know their craft better than any professor out there teaching , or as well as any student in art.

    I may get some flak for the unauthorized pics but hope that the carvers and the organizers of the event see it as free publicity in an area accessible to those being featured there. That what I may say, will have an effect on the attendance at the event. I believe it is just a couple of hours away and if you are up for a road trip , the weather may moderate enough to make it all tolerable and a fun event as well as something to do. Check it out. I will try and provide links on my page as to where it is, as well how much it will cost and driving directions as well as a few pics . Enjoy if you may.

http://www.chainsawrendezvous.org. 

http://fb.com/ridgwayrendezvous

should we worry?

Apocalypse

Thoughts about the end?

   Personally I don’t believe in conspiracy theories or in those who believe we need to have a survivalist attitude today as if the end were coming. A Chicken Little theory is what I can compare them to.

     The sky is falling, the sky is falling, and subversive idiots have taken over our government. Really don’t think this is going to happen. Believe those in the military kinda like their job and will go to whatever extreme they have to in order to preserve peace. For the same token politicians who obviously like their job as they have a tendency to spend more to be elected than they receive in compensation have a vested interest in keeping things as they are.

       The survivalist attitude is nothing more than a marketing ploy aimed at those in society that they believe will buy into the rhetoric surrounding issues like gun control, and personal freedom. Rallying cries of they are going to take our guns away. As they have taken away our personal freedoms, then they will open the prisons and all the murderers and druggies will come out and attack the populace, and we will be unable to defend ourselves. So we need ooze’s, and other high power multiple shot rifles to protect our freedoms. Believe it or not this is a high power business that thrives quite well on subversive activities or even the fear factor.

    Statements like - We need to arm ourselves because our local police department can no longer do their job. This statement is crock of crap as well. We pay these officials to do a job and if they are unable to do their job then they need to go as well as the politicians who oversee their positions and fund them. I have no desire to go out and take a bullet for someone who is unable to do their job. Also this is our first line of defense against our own, those that have decided to go against the system as it is established and has worked quite successfully for over 238 years. So is our generation is the one that is going to let this whole system fail? I hardly doubt it.

    Another statement - If there is a major calamity or natural occurrence resulting in a state of chaos, then you need to be prepared. Well if a meteor hits the earth and it happens to hit anywhere around you. Chances are you will be dead. Why do you think you are going to survive when everyone else is going to die? The dinosaurs were not safe. So do you think your gun, or all your survivalist theories are going to provide you with an exclusive pass on tragedy? I doubt it. If you happen to survive you will be just as bad off as everyone else.

      One of the most endearing statements I have heard from a time when the stock market collapsed during our depression era, was that a person said they didn’t know they were poor as everyone was in the same boat and no one had any money. The toys were handmade and people traded among themselves to get those things they needed. They didn’t go out and take over the government instead still supported our government to this day. Everyone was the same for the most part but they survived.

     If there is a military I am sure they will work quickly to restore order as they like having that power over the people. Besides what is an army when you have nothing to protect. We have a protocol in place that would be implemented in the case of an emergency. I am sure none of it involves dealing with a handful of vigilantes, intent on establishing their own form of justice. Marshall Law will be invoked to insure compliance of emergency activities. Arming a bunch of survivors intent on saving their own will only lead to more violence as they take whatever reserves that would be available for their own purpose. Much like African drug lords who intercept grain shipments destined for the poor so they can sell for money later while the poor still suffer from malnutrition. This is a human weakness we have. That is taking advantage of those in dire circumstances.

      I would imagine if you decided to organize your own party of survivors, your first item of business is to protect your supplies as they may become quite short quickly without a marketing system supplying them. Shipments from China would cease immediately, the store shelves of all the Dollar stores would be empty, and we would have very few resources we could readily put our hands on, such as fuel to heat our homes, food and shelter as well as water. So you would organize your gang of likeminded thugs and suddenly you decide to go out and scavenge those things you need to survive. You are a thief and a looter at this point and deserve to be shot. And if you are confronted by an armed representative of our government, then for sure you may as easily be shot for doing what you think is right.  

     So if it wasn’t yours and yet in the face of a breakdown of government what suddenly gives you the right to take what you want and establish your form of justice. This is easily treason at best. When that howitzer goes off you will look pretty stupid with a hole in your chest you could drive a truck through as dead hand clings to your little 357. No one is going to take the time to read you your rights, and instead the people whose duties are to provide security to an area will also be in fear of their life and will stop at nothing to preserve it if things are that bad. And chances are you will be wrong as you acted in a treasonous manner and since they represent authority they will be right and you will always be wrong. In fact the mere presence of a weapon could easily be grounds for your elimination under extreme conditions.

      I believe for the most part that humans are a compassionate lot. That we will band together to reestablish order as quickly as possible. I am sure it will resemble something much like we have today. Under impossible conditions like those suffered by the Jews under the Nazis in the concentration camps in Germany, attest to the survivability of our species as people banded together for the human good when faced with impossible conditions of survivability.  Instead of hoarding I feel most people would share those resources we have. Together will find a way to provide whatever needs for the good of the community till calm presides. I sincerely doubt having a gun will do much for you besides fill the gun dealers pocket full of money right now as he incites you to fear.

          I personally refuse to bow to the pressure of those in society who think the gun is the answer to our problems. A gun never fed a poor child, unless his daddy robbed the 7-11 with it. It only serves to provide you with a false sense of security. Chances are if you are faced with an intruder, how many people would actually have the balls to actually use the weapon in that situation. If you could, then more power to you. But you also have to provide security for that weapon when you are not using it. You have to babysit it all the time. Know for sure it safe and under your total control all the time. It is an item, when stolen can fetch a pretty good price on the black market. Then if the gun was registered to you and used in a crime and recovered you have to assume the risks associated with that. Something I have no desire to do.

      Then there is the accidental misuse associated with kids or even adults with so called knowledge of handling weapons that allow the gun to be in the wrong hands at the right time and ends in tragedy. I have known of two families in my lifetime that suffered a loss of life due to improper use of firearms. One child had his head shot off due to retrieving a loaded shotgun from behind the  seat of a truck while travelling down the road. Why?

     So is this going to avoid an apocalypse or a national calamity. Maybe we can all take our handguns outside as that meteor approaches the earth and is about to create havoc. Collectively we can shoot at it and maybe destroy it before it annihilates us. Doubt it seriously, but then if you believe hard enough in what you think is right. I imagine you may think it is possible.

     I believe in what I think is right and that is a life without fear. It is my right and it is being infringed upon. I have no desire to have that gun happy person who wants to save society whip out his pistol in public to save me. If it is my time to die then so be it. I will take my chances. It is my destiny, don’t deny me of it. But after watching armed police officers fire multiple shots into a criminal and still not be able to bring them down. I doubt if your hyped up nervous little trigger finger is going to be able to drill bullet after bullet into a criminal without missing once. The last thing I want to be is a stray bullet casualty. I have left orders with family members to use whatever resources I have left available to sue someone if this is the case. If you shoot to protect yourself and others make sure you make it work the way it is supposed to. I know I could never be responsible for an accidental shooting. So this is one of the main reasons I don’t own a gun.

       I do own a dog and I have seen the power of dogs on the Cops shows, I believe they are excellent deterrents to even the police if they are to confront you. They are your companions and will usually alert you to danger, as well put themselves out there as the first line of defense. Dogs have a unique power to read people and understand your fear. Even the smallest dog can be a force if it is ever put in a position to defend you. A house with a dog in it will provide more security than a gun locked in the case anytime. They work tirelessly for you.  And they will go fishing or ride in the truck if you want them to. I would take a dog over a gun any day. 

you just cant make this stuff up

Day from hell 542

A dead skunk, a heifer, and a dog

      You might ask yourself just what do these three things have in common. I have been asking the same since the other night after returning home. I am still trying to figure out what happened and still have no clue. Neither the dog nor the heifer wants to fess up and of course one couldn’t expect a dead skunk to say much, could we?

    All I know is something was a brewing as I noticed Babe’s excitement as she greeted the Ford  Expedition as Mom and I returned from a Sunday dinner out with one of my friends. Mom and I were heading up the lane and Babe met us and was all excited and from her actions couldn’t wait to tell us what was going on. Babe though, has a tendency to vocalize and soon her conversation became unintelligible. Maybe it is that she is female and I really just don’t understand women so maybe I tuned her out. I made sure Mom was safe in the house and let Buddy her dog out and soon Buddy and Babe were running around and Babe forgot to tell me what it was she was trying to say when I pulled up and she stuck her head in the door.

    I grabbed the feed can and began to fill it with grain, and was soon headed to the barn. Where I also soon noticed the heifer wasn’t there. This is the same heifer that avoided being loaded out and refuses to leave the farm, but in moments notice will head out and seemingly undeterred by electric fence take off on a whim. Yes this is the same one. Cause for mild panic, but still the power of grain will bring them back. This girl loves her grain. Her mom would yield to no calf except her as she is special when it came to eating in large groups. Rarely do you see the matriarch in a cow herd protect a calf as much as her mother did. Her mother was the same being aggressive and untrusting of humans. Would have loved to have kept her as all cattle I have owned.

     I have taught my cows to come when I feed the grain and I will yell “SSSSooock cow”, and they come a running after three or four yells knowing there is feed. This heifer knew the yell and I shouted loudly in the black night, scouring the dark silhouettes searching for any sign of movement. At one point I thought I heard a moo but if I did it wasn’t showing its head and was being elusive. I put Mom‘s dog Buddy in the house and headed to my house to suit up better for the cold as it was close to 15 outside. I grabbed the flashlight and headed back to the barn.

     As I trudged along I remembered back to an earlier time in the evening,  just a couple of hours before  while working on the pond, I noticed the heifer who I disturbed from her sleep on a huge pile of hay was sauntering off up the hill. I yelled to her and half joked,” Where you going, are you leaving me?”

      The heifer turned and looked at me and gave me a dirty look as if to say “Now how in the hell am I supposed to answer that. I am a cow!”

     The last I saw of her before leaving was looking up the hill, as I could see her black silhouette in the evening sun as she stood on the hill top under the storm ravaged twisted maple. The branches above her form appeared as fingers on the ends of arms stretching up into the bright golden crimson sky. She and the whole scene were firmly etched in my mind. I thought to myself surely she could not have taken me seriously. The entire time Babe kept silent but she seemed to take on an air about her. A pungent skunky smell seemed to be in the area, although Babe kept her distance and seemingly seemed to be all the time hunting for Mudder the heifer.

     Mudder received her name as she was born in a mud puddle and was covered with mud. Two minutes on the cold wet muddy ground and she was up on her feet and moving. This is almost a year ago to the date today. I can remember her dad ran out to the top of the hill and proclaimed loudly his new arrival as he bellowed time after time. The valley reverberated in bull cries. Again rarely do I hear this in farming, as if she is special. She is, she is a special pain in the ass or pia to me. Supposed to be on the truck and gone and still she haunts me daily. As now as I sit here typing realize I need to finish the story so I can feed her dumb ass. As if things are better now that the rest are gone.

     Well I guess I don’t know what I would have done without something to care for. And in some ways I am glad to still have one. I worry for her loneliness and hope she can be without cows till I can make some other arrangement. Still don’t know what I am going to do with her. One or a hundred the work is still the same, as it still takes just about the same amount of time to do both.

      So anyhow in the dark of the cold ass starry night I started the tractor and set out looking for her as trying to call her in failed. Babe likes to circle the tractor and in the night and  is just constantly darting here and here in the lights avoiding me, switching to following me at times, and leading me at other times into the black abyss called the night. Trying to find a black angus in the dark is almost impossible. I followed the fence line in those places known to be down the most and soon found where the hole was. An area frequently knocked down by deer, and soon steered the tractor over the wire and was soon heading up further onto the hill above the house where I can see for miles at times. Just not tonight as 10 feet beyond the tractor beams was a complete light forbidding darkness.

       At times especially after crossing the tractor over the wire I would notice that smell of skunk, the night air being cold and dry and seemed to accentuate that smell at times.  At times it seemed to coincide with my dog Babe and her proximity to me. Finally I had realized, it was her the smell was emanating from. She was sprayed with a skunk, and surely would require bathing at the house when I returned. I circled the farm and in the dark could not find any trace of heifer, or where the heifer had been. Facing washing my dog, I decided to head for the house after I checked the nearest road. This was about a half mile away after finding no trace of her there I was soon putting the tractor in the garage. Funny how I never noticed the smell much till I was on the tractor. Anyhow the skunk smell had to go.

      As soon as I was in the house as I herded Babe to the bathroom and without any effort she knew she was doomed and offered to jump in the shower without me man-handling her. I was running out of hot water as I washed her the last time. Applying this and that, still I can find a hint of skunk when I am close to her. I was wet and cold from being outside and I just never could get warm till I was in bed with the covers on and finally I laid there and thought of the heifer still out there and hoped she would stay close and not wonder to the road and get hit on the road.

      That was day from hell 138 as I had 4 heifers who were supposed to be of a special new beef breed , I believe belted Galloway , anyhow they were fence jumpers and decided one mossy foggy black night where light rarely finds refuge  in, that these 4 cows decided to take a romp on the wild side destroying the neighbor’s garden and ripping down grape vines to walking across the Tuscarawas river bridge  in the middle of the road , onto not  just any road but the state  route 800 as it crosses the river above Dover Dam . I know that they did because I found the cows next to my neighbor’s field and he was on the other side of the river. The river was way too deep and swift for them to cross otherwise. That same night saw three accidents on state highways involving cars and cows. It wasn’t a full moon that night but the cows were in motion. I knew my cows crossed the bridge on the road, as they left fresh cow patties on the centerline in almost the center of the bridge. It is scary to think and you could not imagine how relieved I was that no one came along and hit them. You couldn’t see ten feet in front of you that night. Other people I read of were not so lucky, as just north of my location at that same time and south on the same road cars hit cows and had damage. Must have been Holy Cow night. I know if I was driving along in a fog and 1000 lb. cow jumped out in front of me those would be the first words out of my mouth. Holy cow!!!!

      I tried to force back thoughts of how safe the cow was and figured she may have wandered off, but in the morning she will find her way back as she will miss her feed. Sleep came but soon I was up. Much earlier than before as I grabbed some coffee and headed to the barn and sure enough the heifer that was snoozing jumped to her feet as I startled her with my early presence. She looked alright and except she too reeked of skunk. I thought it was strange that first my dog and now my heifer both reeking of skunk. What are the chances both would be sprayed in the same day with a skunk, and why?

      I still had fence to fix the fence so i I was soon up on my new old tractor and I took it and headed up on the hill to fix the fence after feeding the heifer more grain. As I am heading to the area where the fence needs fixed I again detect the overpowering scent of a skunk and notice that Babe is staying by the tractor wanting no part of the area of the field I am in now parked. I looked around and saw a dead skunk, not more than ten feet from the fence on the opposite side the fence from where the heifer was supposed to be. It almost looked as if the skunk had been kicked, and it had definitely sprayed before it passed away.

      The only thing missing is an explanation as to why my dog Babe, my heifer, Mudder and a skunk were in the same spot at the same time in a field in the middle of nowhere. A wandering skunk may spray one animal it passes, but not 2 within a couple of hours and then be killed by the spot where the heifer was out.  I do remember telling Babe before I left to keep an eye on the heifer and keep her in the fence.

      Now as I have said before Babe is not the best cow dog and has been known to chase cows in the opposite direction to which I want them to go, and I have at times had to put her in the house as she is a totally disruptive force to be reckoned with when it comes to cows and moving them. I would have to listen to her mournful pleas as I walk away from the trailer as she truly wants to help but hasn’t got a clue what to do or will listen to me. And given the chance to oversee the heifer I may have given Babe to much leverage when I told her to watch the heifer. I could just imagine her sitting beside the fence or even entering the pasture area she has ventured into more frequently into, and staring at this calf as it went about its day. She does this constantly as she is rather ocd about things and especially cows.

       Now I am sure the skunk was just trying to get over some defensive issues as to why he smells so bad, and why no one likes him when the heifer showed up dragging a stupid dog along. The dog and the heifer slowly began to circle the skunk and wondering in part what it was and why it smelled so bad. The skunk made a beeline for the electric fence and before he could get there was stopped by the heifer. The skunk left with no choice and not ready to deal with her or the dog sprayed the heifer, who in turn jumped into the fence, as it kicked sideways at the skunk knocking the fence down and Babe my trusted cow dog rushed in to help the heifer, who in turn scared the heifer off through the fence and Babe also was then sprayed by the dying skunk . Babe in turn ran away in the same direction the heifer took further driving the heifer away into the night. Babe hurried back to the house to tell me what had happened but soon forgot after the excitement of seeing me come home had overwhelmed her.

       Not quite sure what happened but sorry to those I had sought help from on Facebook as I wanted to get the word out quick I had 600 lb. heifer on the loose. The worst part is she looks so good that someone would have to think twice about not adding her to his herd if he had one. I would surely hope you think twice about that.  Fortune in some ways would be mine if that happened as things seem to happen when this heifer is around.  I have pictures but one Black Angus looks like another. Not being racist just real, and in the dark are harder to see.

       Now if there is a moral to my supposed story and that would be watch what you say, as you never know who may be listening. Babe having been gave an order to be in charge of the heifer, I am sure overexerted her authority and stepped over the line into the pasture carrying things to the extreme so that rare animal events like this occur in nature. It is not normal and only happens to me. But then again it is just another day from hell. I should be used to it by now. 

just another day full of possibilities i would never have expected.

Bought a New? Tractor

    Was looking on craigslist under farms and gardens and noticed an ad for an Allis Chalmers c tractor. For a fairly reasonable price, I contacted the man who had it and made arrangements to see it and paid him for it after driving around for a few minutes in the snow.  It ran well, it was a tricycle instead of a spread axle, but it was clean and started right up and sounded good. This thing is seven years older than me. Clutch was good. As far as anything goes I wouldn’t know what to do first to it to make it better. A 1948 Allis Chalmers C. the only problem is I have to get it home.

       The dump truck has been fairly reliable here lately and it hasn’t been that long since I used it last. in fact after the tornado in mineral city and I had the opportunity to remove some down trees , so I took the tractor and the trailer and was able to bring in several; loads of carving material. But it has let me down before but mostly in hot weather as I had some sort of a problem with a vapor lock occurring and has stranded me in Cadiz , on my day from hell part 268. Which at some time I will have to tell you about. Currently I am on day 269. Although the end result was ok I had a few trying moments.

     I tend to fret the details, not so much as if I had not done it before, having pulled small equipment down i-77 to the Lowell exit. That was day 235; it isn’t always without incident that equipment is moved. Forget one detail and you may be at risk for injury or wreck. Once in a while is plenty for me. The trouble is if you don’t do it all the time you tend to overlook things as I did because I was in a hurry.

      I had the trailer pulled out of the snow and brought out to the garage and aired the tires, I knew I had some electric lines on the trailer lights torn and Thur. evening, had to quit because I couldn’t find the electrical tape. Friday I had other plans and continued with those thinking I would have plenty of time on Saturday morning to do what I need to make sure trailer and truck was checked out. Something I needed to do because things happen when equipment sits out over winter. I had the truck running weeks ago to fetch hay for my errant calf and knew it didn’t need much in terms of checking out. The tires looked good, just had to find the tape and do the wiring.

     I called the old guy who had the tractor and told him I was coming. I said I would make it around noon, it was then I forgot I was supped to be there before 11, as this is the second time I had to postpone picking up the tractor. The first time was on our last major snowfall on Tuesday and there was no way I was dragging a tractor home in that, for almost 40 miles.  He reminded me he had a basketball game he had to go to at noon, his granddaughter’s game. I told him I still needed to check things out, so earliest would be 11. He was reluctant to accept the pickup time and I offered to have him leave it outside and I could just get it from there. He said he needs to be there to load the plow.

    See a folk as we go on the deal gets sweeter. Not only did I buy an Allis Chalmers C, but I also bought a plow that might work on it. Not quite sure but it is a large 1 bottom plow. Think it is for a larger Allis Chalmers WD-45 or so. Apparently it doesn’t fit for lack of a bar. I figured it would make a nice lawn ornament as I don’t know I want to plow with this tractor. With some work I am sure it would be a good show tractor. Don’t know if that is what I am going to do with it. Actually I had planned to just let it sit and run and power my soil screener, as I make good quality topsoil. I will be able to blend, and screen topsoil materials to suit my needs and my customers’ needs as I start to sell topsoil. All this tractor needs to do is sit and run, heck I can drive it around and looks good. Not a bad deal.

       Back to day from hell day 268 and my ongoing saga. I rose early the next morning knowing of the task before me. I called my helper in and we started working on the truck and trailer. My frustration grew as I hurried about the different obstacles facing us before we were able to leave, and saw I was running behind on time.  

    I checked the trailer hitch and all seemed ok as we seemed to have a problem with the tongue and seating it on the ball. It locked as I thought it should do, and I bolted the ball lock to prevent it coming off.

   We checked the lights and turn signals and all seemed ok and the wires secured.

   I called the old man with the tractor and told him I was on my way.

   Out our rough lane and onto the street, and up the road I went. Finally getting up to speed and then I noticed a water spray from rear of truck and it seemed as if something was wrong behind and I looked and saw the trailer was loose and I was going about 45.  It whipped back and forth seemingly contained behind the truck due to the chains. I knew I had to slowly stop and did so.

    When hooking the trailer I made special attention to hook the safety chain in a specific way to make sure they stayed attached in an emergency. I was having that emergency now. The trailer and truck and  I were soon headed for the side of the road assuring I wouldn’t get stuck, and that we would be safe. My helper and I jumped out and ran back and I assessed the situation. Surprisingly there was no damage the safety chains worked as they should have. The trailer was nudged behind the truck; I jumped in the truck and pulled up. We jacked it back up and I was able to this time assure it was completely down on the ball and then test it with the jack like I didn’t before and should have. Idiot me. All I had to do with the jack is once it was locked on the ball apply pressure in the form of lifting the rear of the truck and know that ball and everything will stay connected in worse case scenarios as I tend to have at times. We could almost pick up the rear of the truck after testing it. We later referred to this incident as  the safety chain test , thank someone I took the time to make sure those were correct.

   I knew better but was in a hurry, hence day from hell number 268 and why I don’t like farming sometimes.

     I was able to get it all hooked up and plugged in a disconnected wire connector and had lights.

     All this and no State Highway Patrolman questioning my existence on the highway at that time, this was all good and no reason to turn around and go home. I was still only a mile from the house. I kept on going and the rest of the trip was a lot tamer, and at one point while loading the tractor in the middle of the road , this old guy I was getting the tractor off of seemed incredulous at the attitude of an obvious frustrated motorist,  saying he couldn’t believe impatient some people are. I thought to myself how ironic.

   He seemed to have no problem putting pressure on me to assure our deal was done and by a certain time. I felt obligated and hurried myself.  If his granddaughters game was that important it would not have been unreasonable to post pone my pickup time to a later date. This is something I don’t do much anymore. And that is hurry. When I was younger it was always hurry up and wait, now that I am older it never seems to get to the wait period, as my time seems so valuable and so little of it, that I really don’t like wasting it. So it seems like it is one fire after another. All I do is fight fires. Tired of hurrying and tired of letting people push me to do things I really don’t like to.

     This day was why I don’t like to hurry. There is no reason why I should have to get stressed over anything. So will make a mental reminder to myself that when I run across this in my life again to not let it push me to make decisions I shouldn’t.  There are no shortcuts in life, that don’t have their limitations.

     All is safe and well at home and after driving the tractor around a little, I found a hole for it in the garage. I guess tractors in the barn are like cars up on blocks to West Virginians, sort of a status symbol, a badge of honor to a farmer, and practical in a sense as you never know when you might get the tractor stuck, or in the case of West Virginians and cars on blocks;  you  need to have another room , it is always nice to have one around. 

ucky business- sexing ducks

The trouble with ucks

d---s in background 

       Undoubtedly that isn’t a typo but instead has to deal with 3 letters usually as a suffix after another consonant or two. It could easily turn into a verb and conjure up all types of images and then by changing that first letter they seem to have the ability be able to get you in trouble just as simply with the addition of a s and now you have suck. Seemingly worse combinations can be conjured up. I am not in the uck business and also let it be known I am not in the duck business. I just had a lonely duck that needed a mate, not a flock. 2 ducks are plenty and entertaining but a bit bitchy at supper time. Never failing to inform what time it was as they hung by my door to let me know it was feeding time. Like clockwork they would both show up at the door and then do the duck walk all the way to the pond. all the time quacking and diving into the water to just spin around in time and shake off the water and watch as I toss their duck food onto the water.

      To spend a few minutes doing something that makes you smile as I commune with nature. What could be better?  Sorry world I don’t need your approval and you know what I didn’t miss you when I was feeding them , you were nothing right then ,  and why because of those 2 ducks and how they made me feel. You should try it. Was great. And yes I want more.

       I didn’t want the one duck to be alone and selling her wasn’t an option. I looked at baby ducks and I think they had a minimum and I it would take a while for them to accept each other. Trying to find one duck was the answer. I placed an ad in craigslist, and then went to Mt. Hope auction when my regular plans didn’t work out. Came back and wrote the story about ducks after that.

      Was really thankful for the reader support and they seem to have liked it.  Had one reader named anonymous, seems strange as it is always anonymous, just like it was always Marcia when it was the Brady’s, sorry  kinda got sidetracked a little , but anonymous goes on to say and I quote her response directly as it was sent to me in my email , this I thought I would share with all of you:

Ten bucks for a d---?
That doesn't s---!
Unless...this thought just str---.

Did you get a male d---?
Cuz you have a lonely female and without a mate she's st---.
A new d--- she can't even f---?
What rotten l---!
And that would make you somewhat of a schm---.
Yeah, now that would s---.

    Since I believe in good journalism and believe that there are always creative choices to commonly used profanity I simply removed the ucks. It is an ucky business but someone has to do it. If you are unsure of a certain word simply insert an uck and I am sure you instantly recognize what anonymous was trying to say in her return to my limerick. It was great. And thanks anonymous.

    So I wrote back and thanked her and kinda explained why I didn’t know if it was a male or not:

well dont know if i am a schmuck with a lame duck as i only know with chickens you turn them over and squeeze their butts to sex them, so i am sure a duck is similar but if you have ever heard the term loose as a goose , well a duck isn't much better, and squeezing a duck hard enough to sex it,  may be a little more than i can handle , in fact may be dangerous and done with at least with your mouth closed and safety glasses on. think i will just have to take my chances and see if i can pick them right. lol loved your letter 

, and then she wrote back to me and this response is here:

  

Oh hey,
Glad you liked my response about the d---.
For the record I've never thought you were a schm---.
Just a decent, hard-working H---.
And I also didn't know d--- genitalia was somewhere up in a t---.
That if you tried to check it you'd risk a faceful of m---?
D--- m---.
Ewww...y---!
 
And you'd like to use my response in your blog...awww, sh---s.
 

    Now folks I am tongue tied, I am sure that some of it was due to the ucks but I am surprised someone took the time to carry on for my entertainment. It was great and it is always great to inspire people to write back to me I appreciate it and hope to continue on, as I do, or maybe a little better. Always room for improvement, at least till you die anyhow. Think I will give up then. 

aw shucks more about ducks.

Had to See a Man About a Duck

     So I finally had some luck finding a duck. Took off yesterday morning and headed for Mt. Hope auction as I needed parts for the greenhouse. I needed to pick up some more wiggle wire. It is the wire that locks the plastic into a channel to keep it the plastic from flopping in the breeze, much like it is now. When I was installing the plastic and not knowing the difference between greenhouse plastics. I thought that for the end walls I could just run to Lowes and pick up a big box of plastic and it would work to finish the ends of the greenhouse. It worked and actually was quite nice until it has been up there awhile.

     Now it is starting to show wear and I find it isn’t very flexible or impervious to UV rays, ultra violet rays, and has become a problem when it tears as it disintegrates into tiny pieces after just one year. As it goes bad I have been replacing the plastic with regular greenhouse plastic designed against ultra violet rays and designed to remain flexible for 6 years at least. This is something I had not planned to do but still needs done. Thankfully the greenhouse is made of a two layer system including the end walls. This allows me to force air in between the layers of plastic creating an insulating layer of air that helps keep the hot in or the cold out of the greenhouse. It is getting that time to start plants and I have a box of seeds in the Magnolia post office to pick up. So I need to get things going in the greenhouse to be ready for this year’s garden season.

      I also had to pick up a new blower to inflate the air space between the plastic to conserve heat. It was nice walking into my greenhouse supply place as things were busy and seeds were being counted and placed in envelopes by young Amish girls.  Activity of all sorts associated with the thaw was seen on my trip up to the store as I went along from the sale barn to the greenhouse store. People fixing greenhouses, loads of manure being spread on the snow as barns now close to overflowing from a long hard winter are now being emptied and spread on the snow to release their nutrients to support the growth of crops in the next year. To see the white of the snow peppered with manure from the barns is a sure sign of a passing winter in Amish country.  As well fresh washed clothes hung from Amish houses on clothes lines attached to pulleys as they  were taking advantage of a warm drying wind and a sun that was able to provide enough energy to dry the clothes and they appeared as bright colored flags as you drive along on the back roads.

    Buggies going here and there, some headed to the same sale barn as I.  They were ever present to make my trip a little longer, but still a pleasant trip. At a hitching post outside the Mt. Hope auction I noticed a horse in particular who took an interest in me as he turned and scolded me for his owner’s ignorance in making him wait, instead wanting to be home in the barn wading through what was left of last summer’s hay. I sympathized with him and almost caught myself talking to him but doubted the Amish who are quite hard in their approach to animals, treating them more like tools, or an investment would understand my willingness to try and start a conversation with a horse. But it seemed as if the horse understood my silence anyhow, and gave me a nod of his head and a look as if he understood my plight. I surely understood his, being tied for hours to a pole while his owner would sit and discuss the world problems. The farmer content in making the horse wait as this may be one the few chances he may have to get out of the house and come to town in a while.

   Now back to my luck with a duck story as I stood and looked at the rows of ducks placed under the rows of chickens whose poop would come down and cover their heads. I could just imagine trying to pull those ducks out of their cages and what a mess that would be. Imagine they do that as ducks have a tendency to clean things up as compared to a chicken. Always grooming themselves and soon any crap landing on them would soon be worked off or ate depending on how it tasted.  I was quizzed once or twice about a certain duck I intended to buy. It was only one, the right amount I needed no more no less; although he was a bit small he was colorful being almost black with a green head. Nothing spectacular I guess except I wanted him.

     Now I am sure to the Yoder’s and the Millers over there I kinda stood out , although I have been a farmer longer than most in the room , I am certain I appeared as a novice in the duck buying market. I didn’t fondle them, try to pick him up, or examine his bill to see how old he was. That last item I just made up in case you were wondering how to tell the age of duck. Ducks are usually ageless and all seem the same age. They do this in case it is time for the chopping block, then they can look at each other and point with their wings and say take him he is younger. Usually there is a lot of camaraderie within the ranks of fellow ducks except when they know humans are going to get them. Then it is every man for himself or duck as the case may be.

     At one point a man came over close to me and dug me for information as to what I was after. Well considering I had drove quite a ways to get over there; a duck was coming back with me one way or another. I think this was the same guy I was bidding against and probably the owner of the duck, as ducks for the most part would go for 3.50 / duck on the average. But when the bidding started on this duck the auctioneer almost spitted out sold as fast as he said 2 dollars to start the bid. It was over almost as quick as I could bid. And very soon I set the record of having paid the most for the smallest duck. After paying for my newest duck and acquiring papers as to his ownership I was soon grabbing him out of cage and whisking him away to the safety of our farm. Well after finishing some errands and then driving almost 50 miles to the house. Assuring he would not have the ability to fly to his old home after being set free.  Now thoughts like this are original and I haven’t heard of a duck flying home after being auctioned off, but I am sure if it could happen, then it would or could happen to me. The reason I drove so far away as there was no other ducks to be found. Maybe they all went south to Myrtle Beach or somewhere warm.

    Anyhow I brought him home and introduced him to the other duck and changed her water in her pan and soon the two of them were following each other. With my duck teaching the new one all the tricks of dealing with humans, she will have a couple of days, or for that matter both will to learn while in the greenhouse or till we lose some of this snow and ice. There is still not enough open pond area to give the ducks much of a chance to escape a predator if one happened upon them.  The safety of the greenhouse will offer them some protection till it thaws.

   The moral to the story can be summed up with a short limerick:

     So wtf

     I saw a man about duck

    And he made me spend a tenbuck

    To get the duck

    I said wtf,

   Ten bucks for a duck,

   Seems I have no luck with f------- ducks

   So wtf.

   So I put the duck in the truck.

   Don’t this all suck ten bucks for a duck,

  As I drove off in my truck.   

another last hurrah for winter!!!!??????

Just One of Those Days

       Awoke to a pretty good snow fall and felt hurt almost immediately and it didn’t get much better. I think a lot had to do with the weather as that is what I am blaming it on today. Can hardly think that age would make much of difference, or the fact I overused my body when younger and didn’t use my head enough.  Heck I always figured I was right, and to heck with anyone questioning it. So it is the fact I didn’t plan on a lot of this stuff earlier in life, and this might well have had a lot to do with why I hurt today. Or it could very well be the weather. If it didn’t hurt so bad maybe I could write and make sense, now that’s an idea.

      Was kinda hoping that was what i am doing now , but the pain has me so wrapped up it will be almost impossible to make any sense out of any of this . Blogs are whatever you make them.  I can make mine philosophical, intellectual, artistic, however I want it. I choose to shoot from the hip as I just need to keep going with the process and keep writing. It is tough to concentrate sometimes as the pain does interfere. Not looking for sympathy, as I believe we are all destined for some kind of ailment as we get older.  I started way too early as child doing heavy labor. And now I am at this point where I either take prescription meds to handle pain or instead choose to deal with it.

       And deal with it is what I am doing, and as an analogy:

       It’s kinda like the guy asking how you carve a duck from wood.

     Well the carver told him it is easy, just cut away everything that doesn’t look like a duck and this is what you will have left. It isn’t so much about the carving but it is doing it. Actually carving away everything that isn’t there, and being active is just doing something. It is so much easier to sit around and do nothing, but the pain is still there and now it is what bugs you the most. Keeping active helps you forget all those aches and pains. Sometimes nothing helps but to change what I am doing. And that is what I did. I lay down for a while and just relaxed. It helped and in reality I could have laid in bed all night except I haven’t fed the animals. Well I did have dry feed out for George the cat and Babe the dog, but that is never enough as they along with all the rest of the animals have come to expect more.

     This time it was up to Babe to come and wake me up as George seems to know better and can seem to always encourage Babe to come lick my fingers of the hand hanging over the side of the bed. I was awake and heard her moan a dad you forgot something moan and as soon as I felt her cold nose brush against my hand I had already been prepared and extended it over the top of her head and she pushed hard against it petting her self . Knowing food and supper was still in the works she seemed happy when I finally stood up.

     Had some problems from the duck and figured I might as well catch you up, so anyhow I purchased a water pan I could dump a five gallon bucket of water into and give the duck a place to swim and simulate her former pond experience. Though her first day inside I found her wedged up against some pallets and looked like she had been there awhile. I felt bad since I was the one who placed her in the greenhouse to save her life and now this. Well I was able to get her out and she limped away and her bill had a hunk torn as if she was using her mouth to try and right herself. She was sore and hurting, and that was when I knew I needed to find her a mate besides the chickens, and also some place to get some water. Well the pan works well and the duck gets all excited about me getting her water and talks to me letting me know what she thinks, and how she really feels about me. Those words of remorse I will have to save for another time and I in turn tell her to find someone else who can try harder, and of course as soon as the water hits the pan and food gets dumped in, you know that special fish food (hint- fish food) she loves so much, after that she has nothing but words of praise for me. At times I would think she is glad her friend became coyote food, now there is more duck food for her. Also she appears to be healthy as long as keep the water coming.

      I would hate to see the day when the feed bag runs dry when there is no more feed and just how precarious my life really would be,  if and when that day came around. Leading the list of those heading out the lane to greener pastures would be that damn heifer Mudder, following up would be Babe chasing her on down the lane. Next would be the duck and chickens, then the birds hundreds of them in a cloud as if they were searching for Noah. Still not done with the list of animals chasing each other out the lane and that would be some huge black crows that seemingly have the ability to find something on our farms along with the possum who cleans up left over feed, the deer of which I would have to estimate at least fifty of them, along with about 10 squirrels and some groundhogs too, would also have to be in the mix headed out the lane. It’s more like, I am their ark and as long as I am feeding we have calm. Let something mess up the food chain and the trickledown effect is felt with a resonating ripple that may end up with the feeder, me in this case, somehow becoming the food. 

kinda hard to type with cold fingers!

Is this about Enough or What?

    I understand the importance of having a good winter and how it relates to agriculture, hydrology, and for those that still can enjoy the recreational pleasure a good snow will bring on. But lately I am tired of just being cold and hurting all the time. I need some warmth and some melting. I have snow piled alongside my greenhouse over 5 feet high where it has slid off the top of the greenhouse. No sooner than I pack down a path another snow comes along and obscures any traces of where I have been. And it is snowing again outside now.

     I have huge snow drifts and the lane is a narrow path with sides so deep that if we get a significant snow fall I will have to push the sides of the road back to just get the snow off. My solar lights are barely visible above the snow and sometimes still catch enough daylight to light for a few hours in the evening but it is still a neat sight to see.

     Please feed the birds where ever you are as the snow is so deep that foraging for food is undoubtedly harder than ever before. You must also start watching your roofs of your houses and garages for snow sheeting off a slick roof along with ice sickles that could hurt you if they fall far enough. I just saw this the other day in Wooster as snow sheeting off a metal roof was perched precariously over the man door to the building. The people working there were totally unaware of the danger. Look up and check before entering a structure.

     Kind of senseless to try and heat the greenhouse just yet for seed planting and growing,  but I am well under way for planning this year’s growing season. Will have some new ideas on container gardening and intend to have grown tomatoes in pots big enough for you to take home and hopefully enjoy fresh tomatoes earlier than anyone else . Have a wider variety of trees available including some nice redbuds trees already started at very reasonable prices.

     If you have any requests then hit me up on Facebook, or on my email at kdavis3051@yahoo.com if you want something special grown out for you. Time is of the essence and need to have your orders in soon. Making a trip to order plants next week, so let me know if you want something. Unless it is a big order I won’t need any money up front, and will try and have plants ready for Mother’s day at earliest.

   If you have a special shrub tree or perennial you can’t find, let me have the information on it and I will scour my seed catalogues and internet and try to find the best deal for you. Anyhow hope you are still planning on a great summer and figure you may appreciate a few hot humid days after all this.  

will miss my quacker.

Had a bit of bad luck with the Ducks

     Lost a cherished duck and one of the last two I had here. The white male drake has disappeared and that only leaves the female of whom I had captured and placed in the greenhouse till spring or until the ponds are unfrozen enough to allow her a chance at escaping the predator who keeps making the farm here a smorgasbord.

   The only thing I can think it would be is a coyote as whatever it was completely removed the duck as there are no traces visible where there are feathers or blood. It saddens me as he was quite a character and always very alert. If anything I could imagine him sacrificing himself to save the female.

     This has been a hard winter on all animals especially the ducks. They refuse to be part of any attempt to domesticate them like being in a building, preferring instead to over winter in the ponds in what I thought was a safe area where they were sheltered and the spring water coming out of the hills provided them some warmth. It was overhung with trees and briars also protecting them to some degree. But apparently their cove of security had been breached as something stumbled across them in the daytime. I returned home to hear the yells of the female and when I went to check on her. Found her alone and wanting her companion. Their hole in the ice had shrunk significantly and allowed them no escape by water. I should have put them in the greenhouse before this as I did the chickens who took to roosting in the tree in the front yard by my window as something had been bothering them also.

taken just a couple of days ago. 

    Catching the female duck proved to be quite a venture and resulted in myself ending up in the pond with a foot soaked as I busted through the ice. I am sure I was intimidating to her as the only thing I could find to shoo her away from her hole and enclave was a pitchfork. I would bust twigs and toss them at her eventually getting between her and the pond I was finally able to capture her in a snow bank. I was completely winded after the ordeal and she was to, but relented as if she had a choice to the capture and allowed me to place her in the greenhouse . Conditions there are much more favorable as the chickens can attest to.

     The chickens have found a favorite roost and enjoy all the creature comforts from their perch high above. It is neat to walk in and here them cluck when talking to them. They always let me know they are alright. I figured they would provide companionship to a point to the duck till I can find her a replacement. The farm would never be the same without the ducks daily journey from the pond to the house seeking their duck food, alias fish food. I just loved how they would talk to me as if I was going to forget them as they would waddle ahead of me to take their place at the feeding table which is the surface of the pond. The male duck had a good life and will be missed. That’s the trouble with pets , so soon they are gone and you are left with memories. I need to focus on getting her another mate, as I am sure she will miss him. I already have. 

she was free!!!

Mudder Busted Out Again!!

early morning pic

   Yes folks the same calf who escaped on loading day when the rest of the herd went, she decided she wanted to stay, well today it is different as she wanted to go. She went to the same place I saw her on loading day and that was the area to the side of the barn where I store the hay .

     I bring in a round bale and then cut it apart and roll it out and she busted out and was eating off the bale outside her barn this morning. As clever and devious as she is , she left a few clues as to who it might be. Tell tail droppings of the large gooey size, like I stepped in before. A half-eaten bale of hay outside the barn and none of the hay inside the barn touched. And lastly her fat butt where it shouldn’t have been. Anyhow I sent my cow dog Babe on her.

       Oh by the way Babe really isn’t a cow dog, in fact she is the worse cow dog you ever saw. As both the cow and me have both stopped and wondered just what this dog is trying to do. Finally I have to threaten babe  with Mr. Stick or even put her in the house at times to get her to finally leave the cow and I alone. Her rants and mouthwatering flinging, barking melee is enough to deaden you. Every time I do anything Babe goes off and I can’t control her but only laugh at how irritating a mess she can be. It doesn’t stop until at last she finally quits on her own which is hardly never. And if she is chasing a cow, she doesn’t herd or block the cow off she barks and chases her as fast as she can out of sight through the neighbor’s garden and into the next county if I would let her.

       I told Babe to go ahead and put that silly heifer in. Anyhow Babe stalked her way through the snow, her eyes always intent on the heifer until the heifer realized that this time maybe she should return to the pasture with dignity as if any of us, meaning Babe and I would even care, considering all this fine young lady has put me through. Instead of grabbing a bale of hay today for her to eat, I could have been loading her up to go to the sale barn. She doesn’t care but in some funny way I  really think she symbolizes my bad karma. It is a culmination of all my wrongs bundled up in a hunk of heifer.

       Well bad karma or not Babe would do a slink belly crawl and all the time watching the heifer and me. As if Babe had even the slightest intention to listen to me in the first place. I yelled to Babe “Get her” from over by my trailer, and Babe would advance. Finally Babe up and shooed the heifer  towards the hole in the fence she was used to going through, and tried to bite or nip the heifer in the rear just like she was supposed to for once as the heifer jumped through the hole flinging a leg back in defiance at Babe trying to kick at her. . I knew it was going to be a good day, if I could just once get Babe to pretend to do as she was supposed to. It all just started off a little bit bad, much the same as loading day.

     Anyhow I made arrangements to buy two bee hives and picked them up this afternoon. This I am kinda excited about as I feel it will be a great addition to the gardens, and also for pollination and honey. I use no chemicals except basic household cleaners and I am looking to clean all areas of farm. My hives will be a good distance away from any fields for possible contamination by spraying , so maybe we will be able to produce a good quality natural honey.

    After picking up the hives I returned home and Mudder had decided to stay in the field and not attempt to get out as I had blocked off her hole. It was actually a man pass but since she was a calf she would sneak out that way and through various obstructions like a pitchfork or whatever she would or wouldn’t try it depending on her mood. Lately she has been in a rebel mood. I finally had to close it up. Now I have to go through more wore work to enter the pin. One or hundred cattle, it makes no difference they still take work. On the positive side, one good thing Mudder is good for and that is making crap and giving it. That may be her saving grace. Judging what one heifer can eat and crap in a days’ time is astounding. What I have to go through is no easy feat either. Kinda hard to make money with one, but oh well for now I will try.