We are back from a mini vacation.

Christmas Eve we went to Mass as usual. Each year there is a pageant put on by second graders as part of the Mass. For as long as we can recall, this program has been put together by one family. We can recall when the daughters of that family had a role in the pageant and now their children have parts.

The pageant tells the story of Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem to find that there is no room in the inn. My wife, Mary, especially likes the ancient wooden donkey on wheels who follows Joseph down our church aisle. Our son, Jim, had the great honor of playing Jesus when he was a few months old and he reappeared several years later as the Emperor. Eileen was an angel one year.

We have a new priest this year. He is from Kenya and he clearly enjoyed the pageant. Just another wonderful reason to live in small town America.

Christmas morning we drove to Vermont. We had rented a house near a ski area for a few days with my sister and her family from Arkansas. My oldest daughter and her family came over from New Hampshire.

A young lady who is a family friend has been taking care of our cattle while we were away. She does a great job with them.

I used to ski but don't anymore. So I went to see some cattle. There is a farm with excellent Lowlines about an hour from the ski area. I visited with the owner and really enjoyed looking over his operation.

Then there is a world famous Belted Galloway farm near the ski area. Jim and I had met some of their people last year. So we went over to visit. It is a world class operation.

My daughter and her husband and two boys and I went to tour a farm that has become a National Park. It goes back to 1869 and the most recent owners were the Rockefellers. As part of their arrangement in giving the farm to the government, they must continue to maintain a herd of Jersey milkers. The cows are immaculate and they ship milk just like everyone else. It is really hardly different than the farm a friend has about ten miles from here. He and his ancestors have been milking cows in the same spot for over a hundred years. He also has Jerseys.

Jim and I had to come back early for a meeting about the Naval Academy. He has received what is called a competitive appointment from our Congressman. This doesn't mean he is in but certainly moves him closer.

Today we went to the Adirondacks to pick up our larch wood. There was one area of Lake effect snow along the way that was troublesome but we made it safely.

There was a huge thaw and high winds over the last few days but it looks like we came through unscathed. It is supposed to snow again overnight with lake effect later tomorrow. It would be better for the cattle and us if we could just get a steady temperature range instead of these wild swings. I am believer in the theory that you need a period of good cold days to knock down the various germs etc.

We have gone away until Monday 12/29 and have very limited access to computer. I will resume blog then.

It snowed some more over night so I started the day out by plowing. Things are pretty quiet at the diner. Must be all the problems of the world are on hold for the Christmas season. The wind died down and it was a pretty nice day.

We've been having trouble keeping a water trough open for the heifer calves so we installed a new heater. When I just checked it, it seems to be working. It's 24 which is a lot better than 4. They're talking some light snow followed by ice then plain rain for the morning. I've been wanting to go up to the Tug Hill to pick up my larch wood but the weather hasn't cooperated. Tug Hill is not a place to go during inclement weather.

I went off to my consulting job in the afternoon. We've drilled some more wells and it looks like we've got the water problem pretty much under control.

We went in the evening to a Court of Honor for Jim's Scout Troop. It came as a bit of a surprise when the Scoutmaster mentioned that two of Jim's contemporaries will be eighteen in a few weeks. Eighteen marks the end of your career as a scout. Jim is good until next fall.

ThenI had to go to a Town Planning Board to see about adding a parcel I bought to my commercial parcel. It is amazing how you can live and work in small town America but have to deal with a rather elaborate bureaucracy worth of a big city.

We live in the part of New York where the Erie Canal is located. You can envision our leaders of the time saying " get your shovels and mules, we're going to build a canal." The President Elect is talking about a massive Public Works program. I can envision him saying " get your permits and remember that you are not allowed to build anything until all paperwork is place." This, I suppose is today's definition of progress.

The weatherman was correct. We had snow Friday. A lot of snow and the beginning of lots of days of plowing. Jim had a snow day so he was around to help. Eileen was due home from college but had to stay overnight in Detroit when they closed the airport.

Saturday, the weather was clear and cold. We worked on our new cattle lean to shed. Eileen made it home in the afternoon but her luggage didn't.

It snowed again Saturday night and we plowed again Sunday morning. Eileen was able to pick up her luggage at the airport.The last two snow events have been wide area snow storms.

The wind picked up Sunday evening and blew quite hard. They had to call out the fire department overnight to block off the state highway while they towed several cars out of drifts. Monday morning we had another foot of lake effect snow. Jim had another snow day. They usually allow for five in the school schedule and he has had three already and it's not Christmas yet.

Monday afternoon, I plowed again. We reconfigured the pens in our coverall barn to move the cow and calf over against an inner wall. We put down more bedding. The cattle all seem healthy and well adjusted to the weather, Some of the Minnesota Lowlines are starting to look a little chubby. They are all assumed pregnant for March delivery. The baleage seems to agree with them.

The weatherman is now predicting rain and mild for Christmas.

Snow arrived on schedule Wednesday morning. By our local standards, it didn't amount to much. The school felt they better delay things for two hours to get a handle on it. It has been quite unusual to have several regional snow storms as compared to our usual highly localized lake effect snow.

The cattle didn't mind much. I went with a friend to the green dealership. The battery in my four year old tractor has become weak. The dealer didn't have one but promised to deliver one tomorrow. We then went to the lumber yard so I could order materials for my new cattle shed. My friend's son works there. I'd much rather deal with someone local than the big box stores.
We got everything ordered and headed back home.

Thursday morning my friend was at my house by 7AM. We were going to take his blue tractor back to his dealer on my fifth wheel trailer. We got everything loaded without any difficulty and went off to the dealer. We had a lot of fun bantering with the salesman on the relative merits of various tractor colors.

I got home in time to unload the lumber I ordered yesterday. One benefit of dealing locally is the lumber tends to be straight rather than twisted up like a snake at the big name stores. The battery arrived and the tractor started right up.

I need siding for the shed. Cattle are not respectfulul of metal siding. We have some nearby goats that live in a hut that had plastic siding when new. They've eaten it off as high as they can reach.

My friend's son told me about a sawmill in the foothill of the Adirondacks that saws larch. It is also called tamarack. I fell out of a tamarack tree when I was a kid so I figured I'd finally get even by ordering some larch wood. It is supposedly highly resistant to cattle waste which will be abundant in and around their shed. I hope to go get it next week which should be another adventure.

They are talking a big snow for tomorrow. We put out extra bedding and got everything ready just in case the weatherman happens to be right. We'll see what the morning brings.

I've fallen a bit behind in my writing. Sunday was a pretty calm day. We did chores and went to church. In the afternoon, we went over to Verne's to help him work the cattle.

Monday was another unusually warm day. It was in the low 50's at lunch time. Our electrician came and I am happy to say that the work is done. In the afternoon, I went back to the sewer pumping station to resume being a consultant. We installed another deep well and it seemed like that would take care of the problem. Being a consultant is a little different than being a contractor which I was for many years. Contractors sign checks on the front and consultants sign checks on the back.

It was still mild in the evening. It turned colder overnight and it was about 27 Tuesday morning. The weather man is getting everyone warmed up for another snow beginning late Tuesday night

One of the diner regulars surprised everyone this morning when he announced that our group was "unevenly yoked." When we got over the initial surprise of the rather unique remark, we asked him what he meant. He alluded to the Bible. A little research showed the source to be "2 Corinthians 6:14: "Do not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers."

This remark is almost as memorable as the time my college soccer coach announced while standing at the front of the chartered team bus that he sensed a dichotomy. It took quite a while to figure that one out as well.

After we got the yoking figured out, a new arrival with documentable experience behind a horse announced that they invented eveners to deal with uneven yokes. So today's trip to the diner was quite educational.

Not to be outdone, our barber announced that he was one of the few businessmen around who could categorically state that he stood behind his work.

After I got through all that, I went home and did chores. Then I had to go to a meeting about a new radio system for the county emergency services. They've created a committee and hired a consultant. Like all consultants, he seems unwilling to listen to what we think we might need and plowed ahead with a lengthy presentation on what he thinks we need. I was very glad when it was time for lunch.

No snow yet but they're getting pretty worked up on the TV.

Thursday was a pretty calm but busy day. Verne wanted to work the cattle. We went over to his place and ran a whole bunch of calves and cows through the chute. We got their weights and checked them over.

The snow was here on Friday morning. Jim's school closed for the day. We had about six inches of non lake effect snow. I plowed the road and worked around the farm. Jim went over to Verne's in the afternoon to help Verne.

In the afternoon, I went off to help on a construction site problem. A contractor friend is responsible for building a sewer pumping station nearby. They have an excavation that will go about thirty feet deep which is about twenty feet below the water table. They have tried unsuccessfully to lower the water table. I had made some recommendations and my former company had brought in a drill rig to construct a test well. I went to observe. I had forgotten how cold you can get when you are watching but not working. We got the well installed and I'll go back on Monday to see what to do next. I enjoy these assignments.

Saturday was a big day for Jim. He had his second interview for the United States Naval Academy. The interview panel is selected by the local Congressman to advise him on whom to appoint. Jim hopes to hear by Christmas.

It was the coldest day of the winter so far but everything worked. We started to assemble a prefabricated lean to that we will use as a pasture shelter.

Wednesday was a busy day. It had turned very mild over night. It was 53 and raining when I got up. As the morning went on it got colder and the rain changed to snow. It didn't accumulate much, just enough to make the roads slippery.

We had a little excitement on the next road. A ready mix concrete truck got tangled up in an overhead power line. The line dropped on the cab. The driver knew to stay in the truck until help arrived. The fire department came and everyone waited a while for the electric company to arrive and shut off the power.

In the afternoon, I went over to Verne's to help work some cattle. The weather wasn't too bad and the cattle were fairly cooperative. So, it wasn't too bad a job.

In the evening, Jim and I went to get a haircut. The barber is a friend. Being a small town, he built a little barber shop wing off his house. He holds court there a couple of nights a week. It's a family business as his daughter cuts hair also. Now, his son has decided to take up the trade and is learning under his father's watchful eye.

The barber is one of our diner regulars. He is trying to be able to read this blog on his computer but seems to be having technical difficulties. Jim gave him a few tips and I'll see in the morning if he was successful.

They are still calling for a major snow storm to begin tomorrow afternoon. I'll see how it looks in the morning and adjust our schedule as necessary.

Sunday was quite a cold and snowy day. A weather front blew through around 9AM and the temperature dropped sharply and lake effect snow set in. After church, we went to the American Legion monthly pancake breakfast. You can't beat the food with real maple syrup. We always get to see lots of friends and neighbors. The politicians have mostly faded away for another year although a few continue to come because they seem to like the food.

Chores are pretty routine by now and the animals have become accustomed to the weather and they have developed new routines to deal with it. It is always interesting to see how they prefer to remain outside even though they have ready access to shelter.

By Sunday evening, I thought I had better plow the road. We don't notice the wind too much by the lake as we are sheltered by a hill to the west. It must have blown pretty hard up on the roads because there were pretty good sized drifts and patches of windblown bare road.

Monday morning was quite cold but everything worked including the troublesome yard hydrant. A friend stopped by and we went off and ran some errands. I had to go to the bank and he wanted to check out a tractor battery. When we got back, I fluffed up the cattle bedding and everything was fine.

Monday evening, I had my monthly County Fire Board meeting. I enjoy the meeting and going out afterwards with colleagues for typically some chicken wings. It was still cold and windy when I got home.

I was surprised to wake up Tuesday to a few inches of snow and a little ice. The local school was running a two hour delay. That didn't do much for Jim as his school was on time and he had to be here. He said the roads weren't too bad.

Tuesday afternoon, we brought out the bale processor and built up the cattle mounds and cleaned the pens. I had to go to the city again to give a report to the County Legislature on our Fire Boards activities. That was early and I was able to get back in time for the regular monthly meeting of the local fire department.

There was an email from the Weather Bureau when I got home advising that we might have a good storm Thursday. We'll see. I think it is better to wake up in the morning and deal with the weather at hand rather than have a several day build up for a storm that may or may not happen. Every time they give early warnings, the grocery stores get mobbed and everybody goes into a panic shopping mode.

Still not much good to be said by the diner crew about all the government bailouts.

It's Saturday evening and it has been a quiet week. On Thursday, it looked like the weather was going to turn cold. I scraped the mud more or less level in the barn yard and our gravel roads and pads. Sure enough it did turn cold and everything froze solid but fairly level. So at the moment we have no mud or snow to deal with. Rough ground is tough on the snow plow blade.

Thursday evening we took the governor from our old AC over to the mechanic. He was puzzled as to the cause and said he'd look into it and get back to us. It will be interesting to see what caused the problem.

Friday, a friend came by and we moved two trailer loads of soybean waste round bales over to Verne's to use as bedding.

Saturday, Jim and I got a lot done. We have a yard hydrant that intermittently freezes which causes a problem. The way it works is that when you shut it off, the water drains back below ground through a little hole in the valve. The valve is three feet deep and surrounded by gravel to let the water weep away. Last week, we blew compressed air back trough the stand pipe and we thought we had the problem solved. It was frozen again yesterday and we had to thaw it with a torch. Today we bought electric heat tape and insulated it and plugged it in. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning. We also blew a bunch of waste hay and bean waste onto the cattle mounds. They really like to burrow into it.

The new calf is doing well and the cow is an excellent mother. Calves really grow quickly and this one is quite lively. We plan on putting an ear tag on her tomorrow. We'll have to think of a name pretty soon.

It's 28 tonight but supposedly quite a bit colder with lots of lake snow tomorrow. We hope we have the hydrant problem under control.

The boys in the diner are discussing the automakers problems. Not much sympathy there. We also got in a conversation about some of the figures of speech that the old farmers used. We agreed that they were all based upon not taking chances and being careful. Apparently the bankers and automakers were not familiar with many of them.

My all time favorite which was directed at an errant plow horse is " Hold her, Knute, she's headed for the buckwheat."

Tuesday and Wednesday were quite nice by early winter standards. No sun but no wind and highs around 40. As I have mentioned before, we are now into our winter chores. They are quite simple and repetitive: feed baleage, take care of the bedding, remove manure and make sure the water works. All our bales are now over at the barn from the fields down the road.

Tuesday, the technicians came by from an Ag Consulting firm we've hired. They will be taking soil samples, map the farm and provide a Nutrient Management Plan. Hopefully, this will give us a good baseline of where we are and some idea of what we need to do to get the most out of our land and animals.

I was surprised to received my soybean check within four days of calling the grain elevator and asking them to sell the beans. It is amazing how interconnected agriculture is. The beans were at an elevator in western NY which is owned by a Pennsylvania COOP and the check came from Perdue Chickens.

I mentioned that we had gotten our turkey, as usual, from a rather famous farm across the lake. It looks like it will be our last. They were bought out last year by a big conglomerate. They announced yesterday that they were moving the operation to Pennsylvania. All the usual talk about how difficult it is to do business in NY. They are laying off 90 people here. They claim they are going to start up again here in the Spring doing Kosher turkeys. We'll see what happens. We liked buying a non frozen local turkey. If we want a mass produced frozen turkey, there are lots in the grocery store.

The warmer weather was a bit of a bonus for the new calf. She has had a few days to get accustomed to her surroundings without having to worry about staying warm. She is doing well and the cow seems to be a good mother.

Wednesday night, Jim and I went over to a neighboring Counties Beef Producer Meeting. This is a monthly potluck supper at a farmer's house. We each bring a dish to pass and then talk about beef. Our County is sorely lacking in this regard. They just don't do much for the beef farmer.

Last night, they had a local vet present to pass out a checklist and lead a discussion on things to work on and think about through the winter. She recommended giving animals tetanus and rabies shots as a preventative measure. I am going to speak with Verne about this and get his opinion.

Interestingly, the farmer that hosted the meeting does small scale turkey raising. We spoke with him a bit and we might try raising our own turkey next year along with a few for friends and neighbors.

When we got home, I had an email from a good friend's wife that he had a hopefully successful surgery in Florida. They are from here but winter down there. He has gone through a lot with his ailment and we all hope that he will soon be his old self and pain free.

Sunday started out with a surprise. When we came back from the diner after church, we had visitors. One of the buyers of our Angus had stopped by with his wife. It turns out they are third generation on their farm. But the farm was originally purchased from someone named Galloway. The wife thinks they ought to have a Galloway. While we were talking cattle, we walked over to our Coverall barn.

Surprisingly, there was a newborn calf with the cow we brought over yesterday. We didn't expect her to freshen for a few weeks. Our guest is a Holstein man and was amazed to see a 37 pound calf. It seems like Verne's young bull Natemin had been feeling his oats last February. We were glad it was fairly mild in the mid thirties. We mounded up some straw and stretched a tarp to provide a windbreak. They seem fine.

In the late afternoon, we took Eileen to the airport. She texted at 1AM to say she was safe at home in her dorm.

Monday had a nice start. I walked into the diner to be greeted by a chorus of Happy Birthday by all the regulars. A nice surprise. They suggested that this might be a nice year for to explore Route 66.

A friend stopped after chores. He is a great mechanic and he came by to see if we could find the source of a noise in our restored Allis Chalmers B. It looks like the weights in the governor are traveling too far and hitting the inside of the housing.. There is a real motor doctor in a neighboring town. I'll take the parts over to him for his examination.

I've been pretty worked up over an email from Coop. It seems that the EPA thinks cow flatulence needs regulation. Their idea is to charge $175 per dairy cow and $87.50 per beefer per year. This is real. Like they say you can't make this stuff up. I intend to tell everyone I know or run into to call or write or whatever to protest this asinine tax. You can relate to the folks in Boston.

The heifer calf is doing well. Fortunately it was 40 again today and should be for a few more days.

Mary made a nice dinner of Beltie beef and made my favorite grape pie. She topped it off with a fruit cake. A real treat.

Friday was a busy day. Jim and I got an early start and went up to the village. The usual crowd was in the diner. The topic of discussion was whether the school board really feels that their proposed modernization will be accomplished without cost to the taxpayer as they indicate on the expensive brochure they've mailed to every resident. Consensus was that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

We went back to the farm and hooked up the cattle trailer. Rochester walked right in and, after a few safety checks, we were off to Pennsylvania. Fortunately we had enough diesel to reach Pennsylvania since fuel is always cheaper there. It was $3.35 here and $2.66 in PA.

We used the GPS to route us to our destination. There were no problems and the farmer was waiting. Rochester walked off the trailer into his new home like he was at home.

It is a very nice farm on top of a hill. They have excellent cattle and I'm sure Rochester will do his best to increase the size of the herd.

We came back by a different route suggested by the GPS. We were glad that we didn't bring the bull that way as he would likely have become trailer sick.

There was some very slippery snow first thing Saturday. We had a rescue call for a car overturned up on the main road. Hopefully, the drivers injuries weren't very serious. After the call, I came back to the farm. Jim and I took our weekly load of baleage wrap to the town dumpster. It is amazing how a roll of plastic wrap 12 inches in diameter by three feet long turns into a full truck load of trash each week.

We blew bedding materials into the pens and took care of our usual chores. The weather cleared up and it was a fairly decent 36 degrees and cloudy,

Verne came over and we loaded his bull Natemin for the trip from our place back to Verne's. Nate will now do clean up duty on his home farm. This is not exactly the same as in baseball where they have a cleanup hitter.

After dropping Nate, we loaded one of our cows. It took quite a while as she really didn't want to go into the trailer. We wanted to get her back here as she is due within a few weeks. We also loaded another of Verne's yearling bulls for the trip to our farm.

They were very cooperative on this end which was good because we were on a tight schedule. Jim is an Eagle Scout and knows two young men from the southern part of the County who are being inducted as Eagles tonight. Another of Jim's friends is also an Eagle and he drove Jim to the ceremony. A very nice part of the Eagle ceremony is when any Eagle Scouts in the audience are asked to stand and join in. At Jim's ceremony, several of his guests were Eagles from years past.

Mary and I expect to have a quiet evening. Eileen is out doing last minute visiting with friends before she flies back to Nashville tomorrow evening.

This is Thanksgiving Day. Since Tuesday we've been stuck in a damp, raw weather pattern. Day and night, it has stayed about 35 and murky. Hopefully, tomorrow, we might get a little sun.

Chores are now routine. The cattle are just hanging out passing the time. Eileen had three wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. She is feeling better now. Not much of a way to spend a school vacation.

As usual, we have a turkey from a farm just across the lake from us. Over the years they have become a mammoth operation. Last year, they sold out to a conglomerate. We hope the turkey tastes as good as usual.

There's a lot of shooting. A neighbor got an eight pointer just up the road.

Today is a good day to reflect on how truly fortunate we are. All of us have good health. Eileen and Jim are doing well in school. We hope this finds you well also. Happy Thanksgiving.

Sunday was off to a cold start. We had another four inches of snow and we wanted to plow the road so the neighbors wouldn't have any trouble. Being it was Sunday, a lot of summer camp owners come out to check their camps. A few of them sometimes don't realize that our dirt road drives a little differently in winter. I plowed and Jim did chores. We don't have a sander to deal with ice and slippery conditions. So, we have to think ahead before we plow. Sometimes it's better to leave the snow to get rutted for a little traction if we expect icing.

The sun came out after lunch and the snow on the road pretty much melted away. I was able to get the long promised picture of Peter our tame steer. We weighed him the other day and he is finally starting to do something other than get taller. He's up to 1015 pounds. We think he is about 15 months old.

We went off to the airport get Eileen later in the afternoon, had her hoped for Chinese meal and were home by 7:30. She seems happy to be back but college certainly seems to agree with her.

I had to take Jim to school this morning since Eileen needed the car for errands and catching up with friends. It was a lot warmer this morning when I got back which makes chores a lot easier. After a lot of vacillating, I sold our soybeans today. The price was up a bit and you really wonder where the economy is headed. So I went on the bird in the hand theory.

I had an unexpected email from a friend this morning. He said he was watching TV and there I was. The show was about a murder that took place in our County in the early 90's. One of my positions back then was as a County Fire Investigator. The victim was found near the ruins of her burnt out home. It didn't bring back fond memories. I remember how sad we were at the terrible end that befell the victim.

A light, wet snow started at supper time. This is a storm as compared to Lake Effect. It looks like we're on the periphery so it shouldn't be too much bother. Eileen still has the car so Jim took my truck to his Order of the Arrow meeting. It's an organization within the Boy Scouts.

The over night snow wasn't as bad as forecast. We only had about 4 inches. Nonetheless, I thought it would be a good idea to do a trial plow run. Everything worked well.

We are not quite ready for the man from the Weather Channel to stand in front of the hardware to do his broadcast as happened a few years back. That one really got the folks in Florida buzzing.

Jim and I continued to work on bedding. The cattle really seem to appreciate the bedding mounds. It seems a little early to be dealing with winter. Spring seems a long way off. We also worked on neatening up the shop.

I came home from the diner with an excellent pie. A friend came in and said he had to wait until the bank opened at 9. He said his wife had asked him to bring down some blueberry pies for the Historical Society fundraiser. I told him that it would be a lot easier for him if he had one less pie to carry. We always enjoying supporting the Historical Society.

We went to Mass this evening as Mary has to work early tomorrow. They were having a bake sale as well and Mary got us a banana nut loaf. Just another facet of small town America.

We have to pick up Eileen at 4 tomorrow afternoon. She has asked us to take her to her favorite Chinese restaurant after she arrives. The weather looks like we'll still have a little snow. When you live in upstate New York you expect to have snow so it shouldn't be a problem.

It has been snowing off and on all day. As I write this evening, it's coming down about two inches per hour. The weather forecast is for it to continue through Sunday. Typical lake effect storm. We are south of Lake Ontario and the cold wind is blowing over the relatively warm water. The lake is 48 degrees and the air 21 degrees tonight. This causes moisture to be wicked up and then dumped as snow over the land. If you are scientifically oriented, it is called orthographic lifting.

We used our bale processor to blow mulch hay and straw into a big mound for the Minnesota Lowlines. They are all snuggled into it just like a feather bed. They must be tired out from frolicking in the snow all day. They must think they're back in Minnesota. The pens in the Coverall are open for the others to come and go but they are outside eating. The bulls are all in their shelter.

The vet called to say that Rochester passed his Brucellosis test and that he was mailing the health papers. We'll probably take him to Pennsylvania the day after Thanksgiving.

Our daughter Eileen is on her way home from college for Thanksgiving. She has stopped in Baltimore to see some friends and we pick her up at the airport Sunday afternoon. It will be good to see her.

Today would have been my father's birthday. He was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1907 making him 101 today.

Winter like conditions continued with no respite in sight. Tomorrow's forecast is for considerable snow. I mounted the snow plow on the 6415 so we're ready for heavy weather if we get it.

I usually check the animals first thing in the morning and then head up to the Village Diner. There is a group that has been meeting over breakfast for years. We manage to discuss all matters of importance ranging from local to global. I'm sure that there are similar groups in every small town in America. It's strange when you consider that we feel that our solutions to a problem are practical and almost always different from those posed by the politicians.

During winter things slow down. The main project is to get the animals fed and check that the water hasn't frozen. We're just about finished moving the baleage over from Fire Lane 11. This is deer season and there are lots of hunters around.

The vet came after lunch to check Rochester's TB test. He passed. We expect to get the Brucellosis test results tomorrow. So, hopefully, we'll have the health papers by the first of the week. It looks like we are about 4 plus hours from his new home. While he was here he preg checked a few cows. We have had one cow that has failed to settle for some time. She was in heat yesterday and Remote Control worked diligently to insure that she gets pregnant. The vet checked her and couldn't find any apparent internal problems. We'll watch her carefully to see if she cycles again in three weeks. If she does, she might be facing a future in the food industry.

Our neighbor continues to work with the pet steer. She has him wearing a halter again. He is literally head and shoulders over the others. They eat through the spaces in the sides of the feeder and he eats over the top. I'll try to get a picture of him posted.

Well, I think you can say winter is here. It was snowing right along when Mary and Jim came home last night. This morning, there was the better part of eight inches on the ground.

You might have read recently that some scientist has determined that cattle like to face north. When I went to check them this morning, they were,in fact, all facing north except for those eating. There is always an exception to every rule.

It takes longer to do chores when it gets cold. But everything started and worked.

Our summer neighbors stopped by unexpectedly and we enjoyed morning tea with them. He is a retired farmer and his wife a retired school teacher. They are looking forward to going to Florida for the winter. They are not looking forward to it being cold in Florida as it apparently was today.

The vet is coming back tomorrow to read Rochester's TB test. I have two cows that I'd like to preg check. They were not interested in coming down to the main barn. I'll have to try again in the morning. Our bull was very interested in one of them so I think it is safe to say she is open at the moment

After lunch, the sun came out and I was able to clean up a bunch of manure and hay from a feeding area. I like to keep these areas clean since I don't like it to look like I have short legged cattle.

We had an excellent dinner tonight of our own grass fed beef. It's nice knowing where your meal comes from. We also had a nice bottle of wine that our friends brought from Minnesota when they brought our most recent group of Lowlines. Living in the Finger Lakes wine region, it's a little different to be drinking wine from Minnesota. We don't usually think of it as a wine state. It was excellent and we thank them for it. We do have a friend down the road whose daughter is married to a wine maker from Minnesota. There might be something to this Minnesota wine.

The forecast for later in the week is lots more lake effect snow. I think I'll take the loader bucket off the 6415 and put on the plow tomorrow. Winter can get old real fast. We are just under a mile from the main road and there are five other families on our road. Between my tractor and an neighbor's old town plow truck, we are able to keep the road open all winter.

Our trip to New jersey went very well. We spent Friday night in Scranton. The hotel used to be the DL & W railroad station. The lobby was quite ornate. We were quite impressedwith Scranton. We had done a piling job across the street some years ago when Jim was younger. I bought him a train for Christmas one year at a store next to the hotel that billed itself as " the world's sixth largest Lionel train Store." It was sad to see that they had gone out of business with just the Lionel sign remaining.

Mary's sister lives in a home she rents on a farm. It's quite unique to find a several hundred acre farm surrounded on all sides by suburbia. They run grass fed Herefords and always have a Jersey dairy herd. They sell beef and make and sell cheese. They are completely surrounded by localvores so they were doing a brisk business while we were there.

It was 70 degrees with severe storms forecast.We went on further to visit my sister and her family. She had recently had unexpected major surgery. She seems to be doing quite well. We had dinner with them and headed home. We didn't run into any storms and were glad to be home.

Sunday morning, the weather had changed back to nasty grey clouds, cold and raw. Jim and I did chores and rearranged the bulls. We now have five yearlings all in their winter quarters.We got Rochester all set in a pen for Monday's vet visit.

Monday, the vet came and Rochester very amiably walked right into the chute so the vet could draw blood and give him the TB reactant. We had enough snow to cover the grass but not the road. Monday night, I had a County Fire Board meeting. It was snowing full bore on the way home.

Tuesday, I did chores and went through my first winter freeze drill. It had gotten down into the low 20's last night. I was glad to see that all the water works was working well except for one waterer. A piece of dirt must have gotten into the float valve and the waterer was overflowing. I took off the cover and flushed it out. The cattle all seem comfortable with the weather. All the weaning noise seems to have ended. It's snowing again as I write this with 4 to 6 inches likely by morning. By winter standards, that amount is negligible but at this time of year it's a good reminder of what's to come.

Friday was another amazing day, 67 degrees and blue skies at lunch time. We had a flurry of phone calls and emails with a gentleman in Pennsylvania who has agreed to purchase , Rochester, a full blood yearling bull. He comes by the name in an odd way. The day he was born, I had some surgery in Rochester, NY, thus the name.

I was looking over his weight records. He sure has gained on baleage and looks great. his picture is on the sale page of the web site.

Since the bull will be going out of state, the vet is coming Monday to do a TB and Brucellosis test. He'll have to return Thursday to read the TB test site. If everything is fine, as we certainly expect, he'll give us health papers to bring with us when we deliver.

Mary and Jim and I will heading off in the afternoon to visit both of our sisters who live near each other in New Jersey. A friend will come by to feed and check on the cattle. Feeding is pretty basic for grass fed animals. Just make sure that there is hay baleage in the feeders so they can feed free choice.

Today was a typical fall day: heavy , cold rain in the morning and clouds and blue sky in the afternoon.

We moved several pieces of equipment indoors for the winter. The calves and cows have pretty much stopped bawling and decided to get on with their lives.

I went to Syracuse in the afternoon and met Mary and Jim for dinner. My oldest daughter called from New Hampshire to discuss her new job. Then, my youngest daughter called from college to talk about her new found interest in geology. Then, my second oldest son called from Florida.

All in all, an easy but satisfying day.

The weather was somewhat better today, partly cloudy and around 50.

We moved baleage from the next lane. We don't own the land between us and our next fields. So that means we have to go out and down the main road . When the weather is decent, we bring over wrapped bales. There are only about fifteen left there now. We are feeding two bales a day plus some square bales to the bulls. We will probably be feeding until early May unless global warming really kicks in. It looks like we will have enough.

Our neighbor really enjoys Peter the Brown Swiss pet steer. She stops every day to pet him and give him a treat. She has horses and keeps kidding about putting a saddle on him. I see that he now is sporting a red halter. Maybe the first step in getting him saddled up. We have heard of people saddling a cow but never seen one. I'm trying to figure out how to include a picture. When I do, Peter will be one of the first to appear.

The calves and cows are quieting down a bit. They were quite loud all day as they become used to being weaned.

Late in the afternoon, a friend stopped by to look at an Allis-Chalmers Model C that we restored last year. The picture shows Jim getting ready to hook it up to tow to our shop. it's a little hard to see details but the tractor was really ready for a makeover.

It's an excellent tractor now but a little small to play much of a part in modern agriculture. It has a sickle bar mower and we used it a little to mow under the fences. It's kind of fun to operate.

You have to know that this tractor bridged the gap between horses and today. It must have been quite a thrill for a farmer to take off plowing with it after walking behind a horse or mule. Lots of older farmers have told me that this model was the first tractor they ever drove as a child. Imagine that they used to let youngsters drive a tractor. Hard to imagine in the context of today's society where there is always some government agency looking after your welfare.,

The dingy weather continued today. We are located just south of Lake Ontario. This time of year, the lake is relatively warmer than the air. When the wind blows over it, it picks up moisture which drops out over the land. Now it's rain, later it's snow and lots of it.

Jim had a day off from school for Veteran's day. When I was in school, it was called Armistice Day. My father was a World War II veteran so we always celebrated the day. It was also my aunt's birthday 11/11.

We went and looked at some concrete bunk feeders. We found a good bargain and ordered some. We'll get them next week. We stopped at the Walmart of the farm world to see about having some feed through panels made so we can attach them to the bunks.

Soybean prices took a good sized drop today. We're going to continue to store ours and hope the price goes up.

In the afternoon, we finished weaning the calves at the farm today. We are doing something similar to fence line weaning. The calves are in pens and their mothers are free to come and go in the barnyard. The theory is that it is less stressful for both if they can see and smell each other. It doesn't seem to cut down the noise as the calves are bawling for their mothers as usual. It should quiet down in a day or two.

Cattle sales are picking up. We have a man coming next week who has a serious interest in a bull. We also spoke to another man that is interested in a few young cows and heifer calves.

Sunday was a dreary and chilly day. We did our chores in the morning and relaxed a bit. We moved out our old washing machine and hooked up a different one. Mary thinks the old one died from doing our barn clothes. It would probably help if we did a better job of cleaning our pockets. There was an amazing assortment of coins and bolts and nuts and even a small jack knife in the innards of the old washer. We have taken a vow to make certain our pockets are empty. The way the economy is going, they will be empty anyway.

Mary had to work until 2PM. We decided that all three of us would go to Mass in a nearby city at 5PM. This is a special Mass for this region to allow those who have had to work etc. a chance to go late.

Before going to church, we had an important duty. As I mentioned earlier, a neighboring farmer had died late last week as a result of a farm accident. His calling hours were scheduled from 3 until 6 on Sunday.

We got there about three twenty and had to park way down the street. The line ended by the NAPA store. We happened to be in line with a husband and wife that have alpacas. Mary has had a Christmas sweater from their store but had never met them. She was wearing it and was glad to have waiting in line. It is apparenty quite warm. I had also sold them a manure spreader that was a bit too small for our cattle. Apparently, it works quite well for the more dainty alpacas.

We have been going to calling hours at this funeral home for years. This is only the second time that we can recall the viewing line this long. What a wonderful tribute to the deceased and his family. We are glad that we live in small town America where basic values and traditions like these remain intact.The weather was quite chilly and damp but the mist hold off until we were inside. The line wound all around the various rooms of the funeral home in a serpentine fashion. It was odd when we saw people who had been considerably ahead in line now standing along side.

We offerred our condolences. A son-in-law had made up a unique green and yellow handout with details of the deceased's life and lots of pictures of him on his green tractors. It was six thirty by the time we left. The line was almost as long as when we got there. So we missed Mass but hope that God didn't mind since the 5th Beatitude is "Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted."

The weather wasn't much better on Monday. I went with a friend to the equipment dealer to look at our square baler. After lunch, the buyers came and we loaded the six Angus and sent them off to their new home.

I was supposed to go to a County Fire meeting tonight but it was postponed a week. It feels good to have an unexpected night off.

Today was more like a typical late Fall day. It rained heavily all morning and then the sun was in and out of a grey sky. It stayed reasonably warm around 50 degrees.

The electrician was back and we finished our water project. Since we started to build this farm, we have installed over 1200 feet of water line; two wells and two all weather Jug waterers and 6 yard hydrants. We have all season water wherever we might need it.

We got the cattle pregnancy reports and all eight tested pregnant. That is certainly good news. I called our buyer and he will be here Monday afternoon to pick up all six full size Angus.

Today, Friday, looks like the last of the good weather.

We've just been continuing on routine chores. We're waiting to hear about the pregnancy test on the Angus. Verne overnight mailed the samples Wednesday afternoon and was assured by the Post Office that the lab would be sure to have them by 3PM Thursday. Well, they arrived this morning and it takes a day to get the results. So, hopefully, tomorrow, we'll know.

Yesterday was not a good one in our town. An older farmer who was an acquaintance of ours was killed in a farm related accident. We don't know the details but we offer our condolences to his family. Today, several neighbors worked to get the rest of his crop in. It is nice to live in a communiuty where people have old fashioned values of helping a neighbor in need.

The Farm Agent came out this afternoon to look over our operation. We had a nice visit that was cut short when I had to go on a fire call just down the road. Thankfully, it was just a burnt out appliance motor.

I also got copies of our farm maps from Farm Service Agency. I was pleased that my estimate for soybean acreage was within a half acre of the maps. I also spoke to the grain elevator folks and confirmed how many bushels we have stored.

So, lots of little things done. The electrician came last night and tonight to trench in some electric and water lines. He seems to be busy in the day light with other work. We worked late both nights. He promised to be here tomorrow morning to finish up. If he does, it looks like we'll be working in the rain.

The amazing weather continued. It was probably a first to be outside working in a tee shirt on November 5.

Verne came over and we drew the blood for the cattle pregnancy test. We got the samples mailed and should have results Friday. The prospective buyers came as well. They are nice folks and it looks like we can build an ongoing relationship. I've always been relationship rather than transaction oriented so that is good.


I received the weigh slips for our soy beans. We had a good crop. Now I need to decide whether to hold them or sell. The price was up yesterday but dropped a lot today. It's hard to understand how an election can influence the price of soybeans. I called the Farm Service Agency to get my field maps. Then, I'll be able to compute our actual average acre yield. It will be around 43 bushels which is a good yield.

I got 15 bales of soy waste on the neighboring field done and there is probably enough waste for 15 more.

Our daughter called from college in Nashville. She has plane reservations for Christmas. Particularly in light of the weather it is hard to realize that Christmas will soon be here.

Our beautiful weather continued with another almost 70 degree day. I got our Kuhn mower conditioner all pressure washed and ready for storage. There's an amazing amount of gunk that accumulates under the hood.

I also moved a round bale feeder and brought over some gravel to create a better pad. We fed the cattle baleage through the processor and they continue to really eat it up.

The electrician reappeared to finish up some plugs and get power to our new cattle waterer so the heater will work when needed.

Late in the afternoon, one of our friends came to combine his beans. This is land that we surround on all sides that is owned by an absentee owner. He is not interested in selling and our friend has rented the land for several years. It's a new red combine which is quite a break from tradition since our friend has had an all green farm for many years.

While we were looking over the combine, a man and his wife and a colleague came to look over the six full size Angus. We made a deal but he wants them pregnancy tested. We think they are all bred but we will use a test that is new to us. It involves drawing a small amount of blood from the cow's tail vein. The vial is then sent to a lab which guarantees 97 percent accuracy. We will get the samples tomorrow and should have results by Friday.

Verne arranged to have our friend set the combine to windrow the bean waste. I'll bale them tomorrow and we can truck them to Verne's at our convenience.

Yesterday, Sunday, was an unusual day. I unexpectedly had an opportunity to go to Buffalo to see the Bill's football game. Mary and Jim had planned on going but Mary felt a little off Sunday morning and decided not to go. Jim and I rushed around and got chores done and took off for Buffalo. It's about two and one half hours down the Thruway to the stadium.

We stopped in a Thruway rest area. While waiting for Jim, I ran into, almost literally, a college classmate and his wife. They live about two hours east of us but we don't see them often. They were on their way to Florida. We had a nice but brief visit.

The Bills lost. It is quite an experience to see the game in person. Many of the fans are a little rough in their speech and don't appear to be dehydrated. As the game went on, some of them became even more hydrated and vocal.

Today was a dreary but dry and warm day. Verne says that we have someone coming tomorrow afternoon to look at the six Angus. I moved around some equipment to get ready for the electrician who is supposed to be here tomorrow to finish up.

It's supposed to be almost 70 and sunny tomorrow. I'll get the pressure washer going again to finish cleaning up equipment so we can put it away until Spring.

Saturday November 1, 2008 was another beautiful day. Brilliant sun, blue sky and 50 degrees. Being Irish, I have somewhat of an awareness of old Irish customs. In the Druid world, today would be the first day of winter.

Jim and I continued to get ready for winter. We are still experimenting with the most efficient way to feed. The bale processor works well. We chopped up a bunch of straw for bedding and blew it into the pens.

We took our dog, Patches with us up to the barn today. He is a mostly, we think, Jack Russell Terrier. Mary says he is like a pogo stick with ADD. He likes to run around around the outside of fence. On a previous trip, he find out how electric fences feel. The cows mostly ignore him or just look at him as though wondering what does that foolish dog want. He likes to ride in the tractor. We have to be careful because if we take our eye off him he'll look for barnyard substances to roll in. This is not good.

We went to mass in Jordan and got takeout subs for dinner. Later, we went over to our neighbors and watched the Syracuse football game. Amazingly, they won.

Today is a beautiful Indian Summer day. It looks like it might stay this way for the next week.

It's a second chance for getting things prepared for winter. One of our friends was able to get his soy beans combined. He came by and borrowed our dump wagon to help move his beans from the combine to the bin. When we checked this evening, he was still going. Kind of the bean equivalent of make hay when the sun shines.

Soy bean prices are up a little over the last few weeks but still much lower than earlier this year.

We got our grain drill all cleaned up ready to be put away. We also did some fine tuning to our new fences. It's a lot nicer doing it at 65 than 25 degrees. The new cattle have settled in well. They pass time visiting over the fence with the other cattle when they are not eating.

I took advantage of the good weather to backblade manure away from areas where they congregate. I recently found out that this is not my barnyard but a high impact area in government speak. We're also working to develop a more efficient way of feeding. Tomorrow Jim and I are going to look at some precast concrete bunk feeders.

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The weather improved today. There was brilliant sun and bright blue skies. It was only forty five but it felt terrific after the terrible weather earlier this week. The forecast looks good for the next few days. All our soybeans are combined but a lot of farmers still have a lot in the field. The good weather hopefully will last long enough for them to get their beans.

My fire department duties continued to take up a lot of time. I had to go to the county seat at Auburn to get a title for our new pumper. The woman at the Motor vehicles was very helpful but it still took a while to get all the forms figured out.

In the afternoon, we moved six big full size Angus cows from Verne's to our woods pasture. Two are mine and four are Verne's. These are fifteen hundred pound three and a half year old cows that are bred back AI to registered full size Angus for next springs calves. We thought we had them sold but the deal fell through. We had originally purchased them as virgin heifers and implanted Lowline embryos. They are nice cattle but too big to be running with the Lowlines. They are prime animals and we don't want to take them to the sale barn. We'll keep working on trying to sell them by private treaty.

I stopped by our local farm store to pick up a few items. It has only recently been opened by a young couple. As it continues to grow, we jokingly call it the Walmart of farm stores. It's nice to be able to buy locally. It's also a welding shop so we see our neighbors there getting things fixed up.

We finished up our chores and continued to feed baleage. The animals all like it and they are doing well on it.

The weatherman was only partially right. Today was a thoroughly miserable day but we didn't get any snow here. It rained hard and the wind blew steadily. We had 1.1 inches of rain.

We live on a lake. A neighbor had purchased a sailboat earlier this fall and left it tied to a mooring. The mooring let loose around lunch time and the boat floated over to the opposite shore and grounded. Unfortunately, there are no boats in the water at this time of year to go rescue it. Late in the afternoon, the owner brought over a motor boat to go get it. We haven't heard any more and we hope it all turned out successfully.

It was a great day to do paperwork. I worked on trying to get some of our calves registered. The Lowline Association was having an Internet cattle auction from the American Royal in Kansas City. I watched it for a while.

When you live in a small town you have many hats. In addition to serving with our local volunteer fire department, I am a deputy Fire Coordinator for the county. This means I am a liaison to eight departments in the northern part of the County. The County Association had their monthly meeting at my department so I went to attend.

Mary serves as Treasurer for the Boy Scouts and sits on their Board of Review. She had to interview candidates for advanced ranks in scouting tonight. Jim, who is an Eagle Scout, went to his regular scout meeting.

The cattle didn't like the weather but they chose to stand out in it rather than going into the barn. They'll be happy when the wind and rain die down. Just east and north of us there is snow on the ground making travel difficult.

The fine weather continued on Monday but it looks like it will be the last good day for a while. Rain and then measurable snow are forecast to start by Tuesday morning.

I had a meeting which took up the whole morning. I am the VP and Trustee of the Volunteer Fire Department. We have a new insurance company this year and I had to go over lots of questions with their representative. The Chief and President also came by to help. We were very pleased that the insurance company found that everything was in excellent shape and our paperwork was in order. There's a lot more to be a volunteer fireman than going to an occasional fire these days. Like everything else, the government has gotten involved and created lots of rules and paperwork.

Earlier this fall, we baled a number of round bales from our soybean residue. They seem to be best when we follow right behind the combine. We made them 42 inches in diameter to make them a little easier to use as bedding. They tend to unroll like a blanket three or four inches thick and are an excellent under layment for straw. Late in the afternoon, we took a number over to Verne.

We stopped in the Village for pizza on our way home from Verne's.

Sunday was another beautiful fall day. We moved the two yearling bulls into their new winter area- the " bull pen." It's a roomy fenced area with their own shed. They'll have some new residents as soon as we wean this years calves this week. The young weanling bulls will move there as well.

We weighed the new Lowlines from Minnesota and moved Verne';s bull Natemin in with them. We think they are all bred but we'll let Nate make sure.

Remote Control moved over to the main herd, taking over for Nate. We likewise think they are all in calf except for one. She has not calved since we got her. We're going to have the vet check her. She might have a cyst.

Right after dark, an impressive round of lightning came through but very little wind or rain. The weatherman is predicting measurable snow by Wednesday.

We have fallen a day behind in our blog. Yesterday, Jim had a school holiday. We finished up our fence to partition the barnyard for winter quarters for the bulls. It was a beautiful day again.

We had to finish early so Jim could get to his interview for the Naval Academy. It was very interesting as the interviewer wanted Mary and I there as well.

We all then went out to celebrate Jim's birthday.

Today it's very rainy. Mary and I are going off with friends for our annual tour of Finger Lakes wineries. Before we go, we've got to get our chores done. One of our 3/4 cows is in heat this morning and we've been discussing which semen to use.

Today was a beautiful sunny fall day and about 50 degrees. The cattle seem to be enjoying the good weather as well. I had a meeting in the morning so I was away until after lunch.

After I got back, I went over to our friend Verne Montana's farm to work on the cattle. We have some of our cows and young stock at Verne's. He also has Lowlines and we have his bulls at our farm. Jim came after school and his help was greatly appreciated. We did a herd health checkup and separated this years calves to be weaned. I 'm sure it will be quite noisy at Verne's tonight.

We also separated six full size Angus cows that we have for sale. We have a prospective buyer that is expected in the next day or two so we wanted the cows where he can look them over. They are excellent animals but a bit too big to live comfortably along with the smaller Lowlines.

We got done late and came home and got our chores done.

Well, we didn't get any snow but it sure was a rainy, raw day. The electrician was here finishing up a few odd details.

We have started feeding haylage that we have stored over on Fire Lane 11. This means a trip down Jordan Road for a half mile then carrying a round bale back. The tractor heater was on for the first time and it sure felt good.

In the evening, Jim and I went over to a beef producer meeting and potluck supper in the next county. They did some hands on work measuring cattle and developing ratios for fitness etc. The cattle were very calm Charolais who didn't mind being measured.

It is also Jim's 17th birthday. He will always remember it.

Today is October 21, 2008 and will likely give us our first taste of snow for this winter. We have had a cold front come through with a cold rain and wind and there will probably be a little snow by morning.

Our cattle are getting accustomed to the change in season. It will soon be time to wean this years calves. All of our new cattle have settled in well. We have been feeding haylage for the last week.

All of our soybeans have been harvested and initial yields look very good.