Friday, July 11th… What to do….What to do??

We need those rabbit hutches built and we need this barn completed so 70 chickens have a place to lay eggs in the fall, but then there's all that living to do too. Yesterday, we went to Schoharie so we could see Our friend, Stanley Maltzman’s art exhibit. He is showing his art, along with his daughter Susan’s art at the Wellington’s Herb & Spice Farm. What a place! We wouldn’t have traded our visit there yesterday for anything. What an experience and what kind people run the place. Carolyn Wellington is as friendly as they come and although we didn’t get to meet Frederick, I know he has to be just as nice & friendly as his wife. We plan a trip back soon, just to enjoy a lunch there and meet Frederick, if possible.

With that in mind, I make the statement….What to do…what to do?

Do you just stay home and work on everything that needs done and miss the world around you or do you take off every now and then to enjoy life and the lives around you? We opt for the latter. I’ve yet to see work that needs done, go away or get lost because you didn’t feel well one day or had to go away for a day, so we're not going to pass up an opportunity such as yesterday to stay here and work. We’re gonna go meet new friends and enjoy life!!

Gotta run a few errands this morning…take some extra lumber and nails back to GNH and then we’ll work on the barn a little before going to see the nice folks at Dr. Paster’s office in Guilderland for Vicki’s treatment and then maybe we'll hit Altamont or some place ….Just for fun or whatever... Who knows!!

Thur. Eve…July 10th… What a day near heaven with nice people!

Vicki and I started out this morning with a little problem with one of the E-sisters… (we thought we had 3 female Indian Runner ducks, which we named Elizabeth, Eleanor & Emily.) It turned out that Emily was the only female, but it took about three months to see the boys acting like boys, so we continued to call these boys Elizabeth & Eleanor. Well, anyway, turns out Elizabeth has a “prolapsed “winkie”” (which we found out is not at all uncommon among male domestic ducks) His little “winkie” is outside the vent hole and swollen and will not retract back up inside him……so, nurse Vicki and EMT Skip are treating him with bacitration ointment… Skip holds the duck while Vick rubs his "winkie" with ointment hoping the swelling goes down so it will retract like normal. For now, she had to push his "winkie" back into the vent opening because it is to swollen to go in itself. After this strange duck treatment, we headed to Schoharie, where Stanley Maltzman, our good friend and his daughter, Susan Story, are exhibiting their art work at Wellington’s Herb & Spice Farm on Prospect Road. We’re so glad we went to see their exhibit, because it was like a small piece of heaven……… Such Beautiful Pictures……..Then, SUCH BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS!! The Wellington’s raise all their own herbs and spices right there on the farm.

It is owned by a very nice retired couple by the names of Carolyn and Frederick Wellington. We spent at least an hour past closing time talking to Carolyn about anything and everything, smelling the essential oils and taking in the natural beauty of the 100%, all natural, “Certified Organic Farm” and all the plants. Following are a ton of pictures starting with sights we saw along the way to Middleburg and then on to Schoharie and then to The Wellington's gallery, store, ponds full of fish and the grounds rich with organic flowers and herbs.

Can you imagine having such a large camper when you live in this mansion? This is on the way to Middleburg, which we must go through to get to Schoharie.

And on such a beautiful piece of land! Why would you need a camper? Why would you ever leave home?

The town of Middleburg is so quaint. We love it there. Folks are really friendly.

Isn't Middleburg pretty?

This is the gallery at Wellington's Herb & Spice Farm

This is the Herb & Spice Store and Restaurant.

This is the interior of the Gallery with Stanley & Susan's art on the walls.

Art by Stanley Maltzman & his daughter Susan Story. Simply Lovely!!!

Herbs & Spices

More spices & Herbs!!!!!!!

Look at the colors

The restaurant..sandwiches and outrageous tea! Try Carolyn's Special Island Tea!

An outside dining area....Breathtaking View!

One of the two beautiful ponds.

This I believe is a changing house for swiming or fishing. How quaint!

When you see this sign, you're in for a real treat!!!

For a relaxing visit where you will positively get to know a couple of fine new friends, just stop by and see the Wellington’s. They are open Wednesday through Saturday 10:00Am to 4:00 PM and Sundays 11:30 to 4:00 PM From April - December. Take route 30 to Schoharie and turn on to Prospect Street / Rickard Hill Road for 3.1 miles. Watch for their sign on the left.

Thursday, July 10th… Sunny, cool, could be a perfect day for some work!

Just caught hell for being lazy yesterday and today, so here's a blog!! (not really... he was just wondering what happened to us and the blog yesterday and so far today) I admit being lazy... but nothing interesting happened....really.... but here it is. Pictures coming now....I'm a loadin' em!!

Finally… we might have a day when we can work on the barn or build rabbit hutches. I don’t think we have to go anywhere today. Dr. Mike doesn’t have hours today, so we don’t have to go for Vicki’s spinal decompression appointment until tomorrow at 3:30 in the afternoon, so today is the day to catch up on everything we didn’t do because of the killing heat & humidity the last week.

We have a few pictures we snapped yesterday while running all over the Albany landscape, so we will load them on here for today.

One is of a power substation where there are huge banks of capacitors for power factor correction across the lines and what looks like a transformer for metering. This is interesting to me because I used to work with this kind of equipment but in a smaller version…..only 12.4 KV, (12,460 volts) rather than this huge stuff.

This is a huge sub-station for power distribution....

This is a potential transformer (PT) for a meter (I think) My old working friends can appreciate my interest in this stuff after a life of being around it. 

A huge capacitor bank used to balance the voltage across the 3 lines.

We did the appointment for Vicki’s back at 3:30, then went to some stores and a couple of flower places… ate dinner at Delmonico’s and then headed home.

Delmonico's Restaurant on Central Avenue (route 5) in Colonie, near Albany.

We saw a huge snake, which was run over, near our neighbors farm and since there is a pond directly next to where it met it’s deadly demise, I have to assume it was a huge water snake. Anyway, the fish in that pond have been spared any more predation from this guy.

 

A Good snake is a dead snake....(if it's in your yard!)

I guess I’ll clean the swimming pool filter again today…..hopefully, we will be caught up in the moment and end up in there! uuhhhhh... maybe not.... or we'll never get done. The pool is sparkling, clear and cool and constantly beckoning us...... We finally filtered all the crap out of the water trapped in there since last season when we closed it up. No matter how much you clean it up before closing it up for the season…… there always seems to be a multitude of crap you have to get out of the pool the next spring. Anyway… we are now in the maintainer mode and shouldn’t have to clean the filter again until the closing of the pool for the season.

This has been inviting the last few days....like a bath tub!

Well. better get going… times a wastin’!!

July 8th…What a Day! We’ve been to Hebron, N.Y. near Salem and back.

Started out this morning at Gilderland around 9:55. Had to have Vick at Dr. Paster’s office for her treatment at 10:00 Am. These pictures we got at the Barbie garden on the way up there. (remember last week when Barbie and Boobie were in their beach wear…..) Barbie and Boobie were all decked out for the 4th of July this week.

After that, we went to Crossgates Mall where I had my phone replaced by the AT&T people. It wouldn’t take a charge. Once I got the phone replaced, we shot over to Michael’s, the craft store, where we picked up more molding gel for the key chains we want to make of the Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm & our Hospice program with Columbia-Greene Hospice. Then we shot up the Northway to route 29 at Saratoga Springs and headed for the “Garden Works” near West Hebron. It’s a neat little farm market where you can buy plants, gifts and lots of gourmet cheeses and other farm market goodies. You might even see Jon Katz the famous author there if you’re unlucky enough to run into him there. He frequents the place pretty regular, but don’t think you will be meeting anyone special…because he is a user and a nut case. (he can write a good book though…but since he is a self admitted liar…consider his books fiction for the most part.) Anyway…. the people that run the Garden Works AT MacCLAN FARMS are as nice as you can find and I suppose they cater to Katz because he is a neighbor and sells books in there. His farm is just down the road a little further from them. Anyway, we made the rounds up there today and got lots of heliotrope plants, a huge Hollyhock plant and some ground cover plants for around our garden pond. We also stopped at our farm source for Maple syrup and we bought a gallon of good old light Amber syrup. We stopped at the “Greenery” and bought flowers also. Tomorrow is their 50% off sale, after which, they close for the season. That will be a nut house tomorrow starting early in the morning, as they strip the place empty. We swung back unto route 20 west when we got back to the Albany area and stopped at Ichiban Japanese Restaurant for dinner. What an excellent place! Their food is great!!! After leaving there, we went straight home and got into the swimming pool for awhile, then put the critters in for the night and retired to blog and we’re now ready for bed. Good night!!!!!

We saw a Great Blue Heron in our pond again. He's here regularly.

Also, here is the latest picture Vicki painted in watercolor. Too bad I can't get the computer to reproduce the colors and lighting correctly. This  doesn't do her art work justice. Anyway, here it is!

Portrait of Rose, the Border Collie

 

Monday, July 7th… today to be the Hottest day of the year, so they say???

The weather report is calling for today to be the hottest day so far this year . Well, if so….that’s the end for me!! Since I’ve had two heart attacks earlier in my life (at about 45 years of age), Vicki rides reign on me pretty regular, so when I get to doing more than she thinks I should or I do things that are more strenuous than I should be doing or if the weather is extremely cold or hot, she calls an instant halt to the activity. She is my sweetheart and my own personal Physician’s Assistant. I trust her with my life, in every way imaginable and try to listen to her suggestions, demands (about my medical condition) and ideas to make my life a long and happy one with her. With that in mind, I’d guess anything outside beyond swimming or walking around the critter house areas will be a no-no, so there will be no building today.  That's ok though, because we will head for Gilderland around 2:30 or so anyway, for Vicki’s Spinal Aid treatment at 3:30. I would guess we will then hit Crossgates Mall and go to the Michael's craft store for more molding agent for our Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm and Hospice key chains. The powdered gel mold seemed to reproduce the keychain the nicest. We’ll see. Anyway, we always look forward to Vicki's spinal decompression treatments and seeing Carol, (Joan is there some times too), Jim and Dr. Mike at the “Paster Chiropractic” office.  The treatments are returning Vicki to her normal self, reducing the Sciatica from the herniated disc, helping the Stenosis and reversing the 5 years of numbness in her feet and creating a stronger, healthier back. With Dr. Lee and Dr. Mike’s input for regular exercise after the treatments, she should be like a new woman, able to enjoy life and activities thought to be long gone from our daily schedule. I highly encourage anyone with back pain or discomfort to see Dr. Mike Paster of Paster Chiropractic, in Guilderland, New York for an explanation of the benefits of spinal decompression, the available payment programs and an evaluation of your very own Spinal Aid treatment at his office. I am giving this testimonial because I’ve seen for myself through Vicki and heard from other patients there about the miraculous results of spinal decompression and the relief of back pain. Don't wait, Do it today!  Stop the pain and be healed if possible.

See you all this evening. Don’t do anything stupid in the heat today!

Sunday, July 6th… looks like a sunny, nice day brewing…

Today, we will start making rabbit hutches. We will need two such hutches for the females we now have and later, we will make two wire pens for the males. We will probably make these large enough for the male and female to inhabit until the female takes and starts showing signs of nesting. At that point we will transfer her to the hutch where she will construct a nest in the corner of the box and have her litter of bunnies.

Today we are to be blessed with a visit from Vick’s mom and dad. Anita called and said that if it was nice today, they would probably be over to visit. (however, they change their minds frequently), so we will just work on the hutches and see if they show up.

Later I may start the roof on the barn, working on the side nearest the house because the weather and rain usually drive from this direction. We still need about 230 linear feet of 1x4 boards for the perlins on the other side anyway. Mr. Pooters, our sawyer, is working away for awhile at another job and will cut them when he can….. next week or so…. doesn’t matter, I still have plywood to cut and mount, gable ends and the board & batten on the bottom to do too, so there’s plenty of time for him to cut the remainder of the order without hurrying. I do have to get crackin’ with the barn however, so we can get the chickens and turkeys out of the brooding house and return it to it’s intended use of brooding clutches of eggs. So…….I guess we better quit typing and get to hammering!

Saturday, July 5th… It’s over…onward summer, to fall, It's coming soon

With hint of light… when viewed just right…revels her form in dim moonlight,

great sense of smell… one whiff will tell… her fragrance sweet I’ve known so well,

I dream in expectation of… her tender touch… her endless love…her endless love,

for not exists within this heart… a chance another could impart ,

it’s contents sealed… with loving bliss… accessed…except my wife’s sweet kiss…

Have you ever loved someone so much that it gives you an empty feeling inside to be away from them… if you must go somewhere without them, you can’t wait to return… to at least be close enough that you can look easily and see them? Have you told your wife how good she looks and how sexy she is to you? Have you given her a little surprise lately… made her smile…made her laugh… encouraged her to do something she likes and told her how well she is at doing it?

Come On Guys!!!!! She’s your best friend! She knows things about you that no one else knows and will never tell anyone. She goes to bat for you when someone say’s something nasty about you! She dreams of you when you’re out of her sight. No Joke!

Do you want her to be as sexy and loving as she was when you first fell in love with her? The way to get her to be exactly like that again is really simple!!!! Just do it too!

Very Simply… treat her the way you did back then and she will positively treat you as she did then too…..only now….she even loves you more. Just give her a chance to show you dummy!

Vicki and I have been together ever since we met… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… continuously… and I don’t ever want that to change. She is my wife, my lover, my best friend and the smartest, most talented, sweet loving person ever to enter my life and I cherish her. Our love and relationship only gets better and better daily.

I hope you feel this way about your significant other, be it wife or husband.

Yesterday was a pleasure for you and your’s I hope. Today it’s back to the grind for some…… a weekend… a cushion for some before hitting the bricks again on Monday. Either way, it’s over… that is, of course, unless you are one of the many school kids just starting their summer break. You remember don’t you? The extremely long (but short) summer break between school years… the one that you couldn’t wait to start…then after a month…couldn’t wait to end and let you get back to school…friends…chatter in the halls…note passing…(now text messaging) and all the interesting stuff with friends you don’t see in the summer.

Well folks…Give it up! Let the kids do their thing. They are just like us… just a little behind us. They too don’t know what they want. Summer break….then want to go back to school. Us… we want summer…bitch about heat and wish for winter… bitch about cold and snow, then want summer. They’re just like us… only bitching about different things.

I’ve just started “rolling with the flow”… “take it as it comes”… it seems to make life enjoyable… less hectic. Do it today…or maybe tomorrow… or the next day. It won’t run off…or go away.

The One Thing You Must Do EVERY DAY is:

Love your spouse with all your heart and let them know you are very happy to spend you life with them and that you cherish their love in return!!

That’s the easiest job you’ll ever have to do! I Love IT!!!!!!!!!