Uncategorized – Page 61 – This Old House 2

Things that make me go… Hmmm….

Long time blog buddy Deborah got me to thinking the other day… in a polite way she sorta called me out on perhaps my own judgemental behavior in my recent Litchfield County Pizza post. It was intended as a kind of tongue in cheek post, but I may have made an unfair observation regarding the plethora of high end cars and clothing a certain Connecticut Townsfolk arrived in at their local pizza joint while we sat out on the porch of the place, enjoying dinner. I also noted that even though the interior of the place was stifling hot , they all chose to sit inside to eat their dinner, rather than the much more comfortable porch where we were. I implied it finally occurred to me that it might be a snub, because we are of a darker ethnicity in flip flops and t-shirts.

Well, in hindsight, wasn’t I judging them just as unfairly as they might or might not have been judging me? Yes, absolutely. And lets throw hypocrisy in there as well- we drive nice cars/trucks at This Old House, and I do have a linen dress or two hanging in the closet. And hey, maybe the “inside” people know the waitress personally and didn’t want her to have to step outside the door to take orders, so they were being polite by keeping it all inside. They are an affluent community, and with affluence usually comes the high end autos and clothes, even at the grocery store and local pizza place. That’s not a crime against anyone.

There are several ways to look at any situation, and I like to think I’m one of those who recognizes this. Sometimes I get it wrong. My example here is just a small one… but the idea can be applied to so many much more important arenas in life. Now if only everyone would be open to it.

– Just Sayin

Gods Country with Cows

You folks made me laugh yesterday, I think we’d all sit out on that pizza porch and enjoy each others company very much. Thank you friends.

So I promised you cows.. let’s go back to that day in the fine rolling hills of the very upper crust Litchfield County. Although we live in Connecticut and there is beauty all over the state if I am permitted to brag, here… those hills are truly Gods Country. We were slack jawed in amazement over the awesome views. And the cows….. oh, those big beautiful soulful eyed cows. They are clearly being raised for beef, but I feel comfort in the knowledge that they live so well while they are alive. All animals raised for food should be treated with the same respect. If only it were reality. Kudos to Laurel Ridge Farm Grass Fed Beef for their exceptional treatment of their cattle.

I’d name this fella Rusty.

Gods Country, only way to describe it.

Can you see the house on the ridge below? I could be very happy there.

Now about those cows… Mike would like a few out in the fields behind

This Old House. My dilemna is… I couldn’t kill them once they had lived here for a while.

Heaving a slab of Rusty on the grill for dinner?

Not do-able.

… something funny happened on the way home from the Falls….

If you stop here often you may have seen my recent post on a trip to Kent Falls on the other side of the state. Beautiful place, it is. Kent Falls lies in the upscale Litchfield County – which is a mix of beautiful rural landscape , upscale dairy farms, some modest and some ultra lux homes. I’ll share some of those photos with you tomorrow….my husband now wants some cows.

On the way back through the county, heading home, we decided to stop at a quaint looking Pizza place in a charming New England town. It was a hot day, and we noticed they have a lovely porch where you can sit and enjoy your food. We went inside to place our order and right away the heat inside was stifling. I felt bad for the waitress and the cooks. So naturally we opted to sit just outside the door on the porch where there was a pleasant breeze. Because it was now late afternoon into the evening, the dinner crowd began to roll in. First thing I noticed were the caliber of cars… Mercedes, Porsche, Cadillacs, range rovers. Also, in our shorts, t-shirts and flip flops we were apparently under dressed. The women wore linen or Cotton dresses in Lilly Pulitzer prints and the men were in khakis and Izod’s.

In the stifling heat we encountered inside, one would think SOME of those people would come out and join us on the porch. There were several tables available. Not a one. They all chose to sit inside in the sweltering dining area. Across the street there is a grocery store, it’s own brand, not a Stop & Shop or IGA. The same dress code was evident in the people who came and went from the store.

Finally, as we were about to leave, it occurred to me that perhaps we were a little more ethnically diverse than this particular crowd was comfortable with, hence our lone status on the porch. Personally,I’d rather keep company with the cows 🙂

…When all is said and done…

Even now I hesitate to write about it… death and dying. We all do it, totally unavoidable…yet it’s one of the most difficult things to contemplate. Birth and death are the two experiences we all have in common. How those things unfold and the ways in which we process them are a different story all together.

I’ve often envied those who are strong in their Faith, who believe in the heavens above, the reward after a hard lived life – of existing in peace with their creator and loved ones who have gone before them. I’m not saying I don’t believe there is any such thing. What has always been very clear to me, though, is that I just don’t know the answer to what absolutely is and what might not be. Science makes a heck of a lot of sense. I can’t ignore the proven truths of evolution. Having been raised a Catholic, I often found some of what many religions preach as fear based, hypocritical and outdated. I also have a hard time justifying the reasons for so much of the horrible, senseless suffering we all see all over the world if there is a Creator who was so powerful he could have avoided that altogether.

So it’s honest to admit I turned away from organized religion long ago. I’ve given my children the education to make that decision for themselves, as I feel it’s their right to do so. I live my life on good terms with kindness and good will. If I meet a maker someday for judgement, my hope is that I will have lived up to the creators expectations, although I’m no Saint.

The science of birth and death make sense to me…. but there are those miracles that make you wonder, not to mention the essence of our being… the Soul, which I have no doubt we all possess. (ok, some people make me wonder.) If not for the Soul, we would all just be a unit of working parts, a robot. What makes a -Soul-… surely not those working parts. It’s something greater than our current understanding and right there is the wrinkle that scientific explanations cannot iron out.

I recently came across the words of a very wise man, Michael ldvorsky Pupin- a Serbian-American inventor, a great educator, professor
of Columbia University, an applied physicist, an important social figure in
America at his time. He was one of the
great shining stars in the history of American science.

Mr. Pupin had this, and much more, to say on the subject in a New York Times interview…
“Science gives us plenty of ground for intelligent hope that our physical life is only a stage in the existence of the soul. The law of continuity and the general scientific view of the universe tend to strengthen our belief that the soul goes on existing and developing after death.”

Have you ever been asked who you would choose to meet, past or present person in history, if you could choose anyone at all? Top of my list would be Mr. Pupin.

Hammonasset River

We took advantage of some absolutely beautiful weather yesterday

and trucked Ruby and Torch down to a river entrance under the highway.

The water was murky…. bleh.. but once we got out closer to the sound

and the brackish water, the sights and lack of sounds were soul soothing.

It’s the only time I get my guy to unplug.

I picked up a zombie hitch hiker along the way…

The tide was going out and wind blew in, so the paddle home

was more strenuous than the cruising out…

Two things you must always factor into your paddling..

1. will the tide be for or against you,

2. same with the wind.

Sunday Sauce was waiting on the stove…

I’m pretty sure no woman ever shot a man while he was making a Sunday Sauce.

– just sayin.

Horse’n around

Florida cousin V is staying here with family for a few days.

She’s always loved the area and is considering a move to CT to attend college

and see what she can see.

It’s a BIG DECISION… choosing to uproot yourself from friends and the family

you’ve always lived with to change up what you feel needs changing.

I did this very thing 30 years ago,only I was moving just two and a half hours up the pike,

with an old horse in tow, trading city-suburban life for horse country.

The place and the people I called ‘home’ back then were not so very far away.

When V visits, we get the cousins together for some horse’n around…

Max and K have concluded their show year…

next weeks show is a no-go due to an equine respitory cold that’s been going around.

Thankfully our guy is healthy but we’re not taking chances.

At 17 after a long career of hauling and showing and teaching,

he deserves good care and easy living.

The one about the Chickens

Chickens tend to be thought of as not very bright. Now that I’m three years into chicken tending, I can tell you I’ve found that not to be true. No dumb clucks in this flock. If they’re let out to free range during the day, they don’t stray too far from the coop, always returning to lay their eggs and roost as the light changes to early evening. If they hear my flip flops on the gravel they come running… knowing this person always has treats for them. When they hear a hawk screech in the sky, they instinctively duck for cover.

There is a reason for all the cliches associated with chickens… it comes straight from chicken behaviors…

Pecking Order…. there is one in every flock. The boss hen (if there is no rooster) lets everyone know their place.

Being Hen Pecked… that’s the chickens who are lower on the flock seniority list.

Coming home to roost … well that’s what they do.

I have the answer to Why did the chicken cross the road, by the way….. to get away from the hawk on this side of the road who just decapitated one of it’s flock mates. good reason!

Chicken Out – Chickens are definitely cautious.

Run around like a chicken without a head. – I have no personal experience with this, thankfully!…

She’s no spring chicken. – Older chickens don’t lay eggs. They stop being egg-productive at about three to four years of age.

Chickens do have their own personalities, this is something that amazed me when I began my chicken raising journey. My own flock of eleven are a very diverse group. I have three of my original seven, who are now aging and not laying as frequently as they once did. There are the four that I had shipped from out west… poor things, won’t do that again. And then there are the four that I adopted when I brought my nasty hen – the one who thought she was a rooster and routinely plucked the feathers off my other chickens – to the lovely young woman at the Cluttered Coop. She provides a home for wayward chickens and roosters. Ever since that nasty hen left, my hens have flourished.

Henrietta is a small Cochin, sweet disposition

Snow is a large Cochin, a little more reserved but definitely curious.

Cochins have feathered feet!

Dorothy is a Black Australorp..

Regal in stature and one of my originals.

The flock tends to follow her around the yard, although she is not bossy.

I’m not sure exactly what Sophias breed of chicken is,

although I think she is a bantam by her small size. She came from the Cluttered Coop.

Notice the feathered feet, perhaps she is also a Cochin.

Below are Autumn, an Auracana (blue eggs!)

And Andie.. my Blue Andalusian..

and Red, my New Hampshire Red.

There are two barred rocks… Salt and Pepper

Rose is at the bottom left, another of my originals, an Auracana as well.

Raven is the black auracana in the background.

I’ve placed new sand in the coop yard.. this needs to be done periodically,

as well as a good raking out every day to keep the environment clean for the girls.

AND… some of you may remember the project my guys put together for me

this summer…

The Chicken Shack!

It’s done and in place.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

if you’ve ever considered having chickens in your own back yard,

I recommend it highly.

They are a delight to care for and the eggs are divine.

And there’s a reason why people refer to inexpensive things as Chicken feed.

It’s cheap!

Thursday thoughts

My computer hard drive is still missing in action – Computer guru Wayne ended up in the hospital with complications from Diabetes. Say a little prayer for him and Lord give him the strength to stop eating the donuts and sweets. We just had a discussion about that very thing last week… when you don’t smoke and you don’t drink, eating is your source of emotional comfort and joy. I get that! But when you risk losing a foot, it’s time to get control of it and I’m wishing him the best in healing and strength to overcome.

My thoughts on Mr. Castro, torturer of three women for many years – Coward. For those of you who feel sorry for the asshat because he was clearly mentally ill, he deserved a fate worse than his own suicide and a part of me is glad he’s gone and tax payers won’t cover his sorry ass expenses for the remainder of his pathetic life. The other part is disappointed that he won’t feel the full wrath of his horrible actions for a very long long time. While I sympathize with the mentally ill, for they do not ask for the mental anguish they suffer, that kind of illness is raw evil.

Syr*a – what to do, what to do. I’m glad it’s not my decision. What they are doing to their people over there is so inhumane, it deserves the wrath of the entire world. I don’t believe it’s Americas responsibility to come to the aid of every suffering group of people because of the corruption and inhumanity of their leaders and rebels without the entire world stepping in as well. I’m tired of handing American money and American military lives over to other countries who are not our allies to begin with… and doing so as the rest of the world watches and threatens and scolds. We have problems right here, we owe money BIG TIME. OUR people are suffering in many ways all over the country.

For all the Obama haters out there, it is never the actions of just one man or even one party that we can blame for the mess we are in. When you start pointing a finger and your rage and hate at just one source, you lose credibility with me… because we should all know by now…it takes a village… the idiot village we have in Washington – term after term it seems as of late.

Regarding the paleo diet… well, I can tell you we are not strictly paleo and probably will never be, because it’s just too dang hard to do so. But, we are already feeling better and losing a little weight by avoiding the breads and pastas and overload of dairy we consumed before.

Rant over 🙂