Pretty Colours

Keith went for a walk with the camera, thought I would share some of his photos with you.

Have a Happy Weekend.

It's got to be good; there's baseball this weekend!

The week so far...

Saturday night the water tank that regulates when our pump to the well turns on sprung a leak. Water was all over the floor of the basement.

Have no fear Farmer Keith is here...at least that's what I say when something like this happens. And he did save the day...it took him all day Sunday to do it - he pulled the tank out of the garage, weld the hole, which took a while because in the process he made the hole a little bigger, then back in place the tank went with Farmer Keith saying,

"I bet as soon as I turn the water on another hole will appear"

and he was right! But it was a small hole so we still have water and after visiting four businesses and two phone calls it looks like we have a lead on a new tank. Hopefully we will get it before the small hole gets bigger!

After working all day on the tank, Keith went with me out to the field to bring the hay bales into the barn. This is a photo of the field just after it was cut.

Our last field for the season.

The helicopters are still coming around, but this isn't a black helicopter, just a fire look-out type helicopter.
It rained most of the day and night Monday which made snow in the mountains.

Care to make a guess as to when the first snow fall will be at WC Fields?

It's a Good Morning For A Shooting...

Yesterday morning, the air was crisp with a slight chill, the sky was blue, and Keith was in the vineyard. All was quiet except for a few bird and squirrel calls. All of a sudden he feels the ground shudder, and hears tree branches breaking. Keith turns around to face the hillside and sees six does rushing down running towards Frannie's Place. He looks up to the ridge line and sees hunter orange.

A little wake- me- up for Keith.

He makes sure the hunter sees him, one so he doesn't get shot (though it is not doe season) and two, so the hunter doesn't get any ideas about coming down on our property.

The Valley changes when it's Hunting Season.

In other news from the Farm,

Cinder has taken over Bandida & Spaetzle's spot on the couch...
and I bought a new winter hat, hand made by a friend in the Valley,
it's my "go to town" or "go to visit the barn kittens" hat.
Let me introduce you to our new Barn Cats, Lizzy (on the left) and Franny.
Lizzy is very graceful and proper,
while Franny is playful and very lovie.
They are named after two strong, fun-loving, wise women:
Elizabeth Leigh, who passed away last month, was a family friend in Panama, she took me under her wing when I was just a wee thing; Franny Springer, my sister-in-law's mom. loved life to it's fullest, and whom we dedicate a beautiful spot, with big trees and rocks, on the Farm.


Girly-girl came over to see what the commotion was about.

Franny & Spaetzle were getting acquainted ...



Their friends now.

Franny loves Lizzy.

Chim Chiminey

It was a beautiful Fall day yesterday.

Perfect for cleaning the chimney, Keith put in place Mr. Whitehall's special homemade roof ladder,
threw a rope over the roof and secured it to the clothesline frame,
and did his best Dick Van Dyke impersonation.

Election 2008

I just read a great post by my friend April about Obama. Please click on her name to read it, she wrote about how lucky we are to have Barack Obama as a presidential candidate. She also quoted from a New Yorker article that is incredible.
I admit that with the long campaign and the McCain rhetoric has had me feeling depressed, sad, and a little worried that some how or other McCain might actual win. At times I lost the hope and happiness I felt in the beginning of the year. April's post and the article from the New Yorker has restored my hope and excitement that we will win this election.
As April said we are very Lucky!
Barack Obama is the best candidate this country has had in a very long time.
The following is a quote from that New Yorker article. It sums up my strong belief in Barack Obama and why I will vote for him and Joe Biden as our next President and Vice President. I have no shreds of doubt that he will be our leader in January 2009!
Thank you April for your great post and restoring my confidence in this election.

"The election of Obama—a man of mixed ethnicity, at once comfortable in the world and utterly representative of twenty-first-century America—would, at a stroke, reverse our country’s image abroad and refresh its spirit at home. His ascendance to the Presidency would be a symbolic culmination of the civil- and voting-rights acts of the nineteen-sixties and the century-long struggles for equality that preceded them. It could not help but say something encouraging, even exhilarating, about the country, about its dedication to tolerance and inclusiveness, about its fidelity, after all, to the values it proclaims in its textbooks. At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama."

Been Tagged

Amy tagged me and Alyssa to list 6 Quirks.

Click on their names to see their quirks.

1. After they read my list they will be glad they just visit and don't live with me!
2. hmmm, maybe everyone will be glad.

1. I leave a trail in the house of where I've been - droplets of dirty socks sprinkled about, perhaps a sweater dangling from a chair, a T shirt stuffed between the sheets at the end of the bed - it all makes me feel comfy. Imagine me a Jay bird and the house my nest, with bright colors of scrap tucked here and there.

2. A big indulgence for me is a bag of Cheetos. Crunchy or Puffed, I love it all. The way I like them best is to open the bag, place it on the top of the fridge and leave it for a few days to "ripen". They reach that perfect state of staleness. Unfortunately on the East side of the Mountains the air is too dry that I have never been able to get them stale. I can only go for so many days before I succumb to eating them. I miss stale Cheetos since moving to the Farm.

3. One of my favorite gifts is a box of chocolates.(hint) One box can last me a month easily, because I only eat one bite from one piece at a time. In two weeks every piece will have one bite out of them, then I start on the second bite. I usually get 3 bites out of one piece. Not many people want any of the chocolate from my box, even though I'm willing to share, after I've had my first bite that is!

4.When Fall comes I feel the need to exercise. If I don't I can easily become a moldy mound on the couch. That in itself is not quirky. The problem for me is when I do start exercising I get an overwhelming desire to smoke cigarettes. I'm out running around the Farm trying to keep myself from crossing the bridge to go down to Coopers for a pack of Camels. And I don't even smoke! When ever I have tried I end up hacking because I can't inhale. It's pathetic. By the way, I've started my Fall Exercise Program....bring cigarettes if you visit, PLEASE!!!! I'll be your best friend!

5. Even though I don't care if my socks don't match, or that I can go for days without brushing my hair, and that I love an unmade bed, I can be a little anal when it comes to setting the table. I will only use cloth napkins, tablecloth or place mats. The silver has to be placed "correctly" (fork on the left, knife with the blade turned towards the plate on the right, spoon to the right of the knife, glass above the plate to the right) To sum up I love a beautifully set table. The rest of the house can look like a bomb has gone off.

6. I have trouble telling my right from my left, corn or rice can go into my mouth, then up my nose and sneezed out, after eating I can sneeze 4 to 5 times, these aren't quirks, just defects. But I can't come up with any more quirks so they are my last entry.

Now I tag Missy and Didi. Didi I've never commented on your blog but I do look at it and I think you do a great job with your photos!

Doggie Friends

Buster & Snickers came to the Farm to visit their pals Hank, Spaetzle, Cinder & Bandida.

They brought their parents Mark & Kathy because they whined too much about wanting to come along!

Snickers
Buster
It was amazing how having six dogs in the house didn't seem any different from having four.
That got us thinking that maybe we should get a couple more dogs....
Ha Ha, just joking! (kinda)
Mark & Snickers took a nap while Kathy & I watched the movie "Definitely, Maybe"

It was cute, just like those two in the photo.

Mark brought us a surprise!

An official brass plaque for the bridge.

Very cool!

Fall Colours

Choke Cherries

Elderberries
Fresh raisin (they are amazing, nothing like you get from the box)
Asparagus

Time for the Leaded Glass look on the Windows.

On a side note - I cannot figure out how to make the Heading Photo narrower and how to Center the Blog Title - can anyone give me a tip or two?