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?

Got Milk?

A little flashback from the end of Summer....

Jasper does. Straight from Porkchops teat!

That is Farm Fresh!

Up Town Milking

Moving the goats marked the change from milking outdoors to milking in the Milking Parlour.

The complete separation of babes & moms was a bonus for me, because Girly-girl allows me to milk her....sort-of. She is a very stubborn goat when she thinks she is done, she lets me know by kicking and sometimes she kicks the milking pale over. I now know how the saying "Never cry over spilt milk" came from. Girly-girl can really "get my goat"!

The milking time begins with a walk to the parlour as these videos taken by our good friend Anne-Renee depicts.

First Try

Second Try.


Going back.

The night walk
The Milking Parlour

At first I had to use a battery-operated lantern, but now there is electricity in the room, which means not only is there light but there will also be heat in the winter.

Full Udder!

Pork Chop is a dream to milk!

Fences!

I'm sure most have given up on me with this blog, but hang in there please, I know I will be able to keep posting regularly. The Fall season gives me a new schedule with time for blogging!

This first post is dedicated to Rob.

We want him to see that all his hard work on the fences have paid off.

Keith was able to finish both the goat & vineyard fences.

He really appreciated the work from Rob, it helped him out tremendously!

I set up chairs to watch the goats for the first few days to see how they enjoy their new play pen.

We think Girly-girl, Porkchop & Tuffy like their new home.

We thought you might enjoy a couple of videos of them having fun.

They love the trees to death!

Tuffy the mountain goat!

The vineyard fence is finished also.

After Rob & Keith stretched the electric wire from the barn to the vineyard....

Keith added a line of barbed wire,

now the vineyard fence is a fortress!

It appears to be working, no deer signs inside..

I planted irises between the vines - an extra determent - the old timers say deer do not like irises- also it will be pretty in the Spring.