I hadn't run this weekend, so I woke up this morning and decided to be unkind to myself. Did eight miles. Felt pretty good, too. I just kind of zoned out and relaxed, something I really do need to do a bit more. It started out cold, but by the time I finished (no global warming jokes, please), it was mild. Headed into Brattleboro and got some chicken feed and corn, milk, and a new shovel to replace the sorry, busted-ass implement that couldn't lever a 15-pound rock out of the garden.
Plugged away at work all day, taking a break at noon to get Stink out of the pond and pull taps out of the maples. It's been cold at night, so I believe we'll go for one ... more ... half-gallon. We can stop any time we want. Really. We've already got 5 1/2 gallons (and would have had six, if we hadn't let one batch boil over and burn). But we can stop. Honest.
You don't have to agree with him, but give Kunstler props for another hilarious rant:
A President Hillary will also go a long way to defeating the popular delusion that a world ruled by female humans would be heaven-on-earth. (It would be more like one of those chaotic single-parent households in Section-8 housing, ruled by a harried and distracted mom, with a shadowy man in the background molesting the little ones while she was off working at the WalMart.)
Better get to sleep at a reasonable hour. I'll have an insanely busy next few days. Off to The Big Apple and Our Nation's Capital. Sigh. Haven't even packed, and I'm already quite certain that I'd rather be sitting out on the front porch with Gray Kitten on my lap, watching the ducks torment collies and the chickens scratch in the dirt.
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Tired
Been a long week. Long Sunday, and it'll be a long Monday.
Up this morning and finished the chicken run fence. Lots of digging, chicken wire stapling. Still have to put netting over the top to keep out the hawks and owls. Think the chickens were excited, though. They laid 19 eggs today, a new record.
We finally put tarps over the gardens. Lisa piled a ton of really nasty compost on it, and Stink saw fit to wallow in it, which earned him a shower this morning. He's a much older Stink, a much wiser Stink ... a much sadder Stink. Gave Pepper a shower, too. They were some pretty miserable border collies after all was said and done. And Gray Kitten sat and watched. Ever seen a cat smirk?
Anyway. Did what I could with the chicken run while Lisa hung plastic in the rabbit coop. Very exciting -- one of the local yarn stores saw her Angora gloves and wants her to spin Angora for them.
Sawed a three-by-six foot pile of wood. It's getting colder in a hurry, into the teens. So we're burning a fair amount of wood.
Tomorrow's going to be rough. Will has to be at school before 6a. Then I'll take John to the bus stop at 630a. Then off to the doctor's appointment when they open for some nagging issues. The shoulder/arm issue is near the top of the list, but I've got to have a few other things looked into, ASAP. I know, the shoulder is the least of my problems right now, but I'm still hoping to get something done for it. At this point, even surgery would be an improvement.
Hope to run down to the CSA during lunch and pick up most of my half-pig. It's either that or cut wood. Then work through the afternoon and pick up Will from his field trip around 8p. They're going to Burlington for a youth group conference; he's very excited. If I get a few, I may take John to the mountain to fill out paperwork for his job.
Maybe I'll catch my breath Tuesday.
Up this morning and finished the chicken run fence. Lots of digging, chicken wire stapling. Still have to put netting over the top to keep out the hawks and owls. Think the chickens were excited, though. They laid 19 eggs today, a new record.
We finally put tarps over the gardens. Lisa piled a ton of really nasty compost on it, and Stink saw fit to wallow in it, which earned him a shower this morning. He's a much older Stink, a much wiser Stink ... a much sadder Stink. Gave Pepper a shower, too. They were some pretty miserable border collies after all was said and done. And Gray Kitten sat and watched. Ever seen a cat smirk?
Anyway. Did what I could with the chicken run while Lisa hung plastic in the rabbit coop. Very exciting -- one of the local yarn stores saw her Angora gloves and wants her to spin Angora for them.
Sawed a three-by-six foot pile of wood. It's getting colder in a hurry, into the teens. So we're burning a fair amount of wood.
Tomorrow's going to be rough. Will has to be at school before 6a. Then I'll take John to the bus stop at 630a. Then off to the doctor's appointment when they open for some nagging issues. The shoulder/arm issue is near the top of the list, but I've got to have a few other things looked into, ASAP. I know, the shoulder is the least of my problems right now, but I'm still hoping to get something done for it. At this point, even surgery would be an improvement.
Hope to run down to the CSA during lunch and pick up most of my half-pig. It's either that or cut wood. Then work through the afternoon and pick up Will from his field trip around 8p. They're going to Burlington for a youth group conference; he's very excited. If I get a few, I may take John to the mountain to fill out paperwork for his job.
Maybe I'll catch my breath Tuesday.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Screwing Like Bunnies
Went to sleep Wednesday with nine rabbits in the shed -- four adults, five babies. Woke up with another half-dozen. What's worse, they're German Angoras. First they reproduce, then they take over Poland. Or the rest of the shed, more likely.
A fairly nightmarish work week. Not a lot to show other than some random photos. Here's the barn-in-progress:
And here's Gray Kitten, monitoring my progress. Or lack thereof.
I really need to get back into the woods. Soon.
A fairly nightmarish work week. Not a lot to show other than some random photos. Here's the barn-in-progress:
And here's Gray Kitten, monitoring my progress. Or lack thereof.
I really need to get back into the woods. Soon.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Back in Town
Got back into town around 1 am. Yawn. Needless to say, didn't quite make it up in time for the 10-K or anything else. Slept most of today.
New York wasn't awful. Didn't sleep well, and about the best exercise I got was a 10-K around Central Park with a 7:45/mile average. None too shabby. Then again, it was getting dark, and I was on the north end of the park, and didn't want to look like the weak gazelle in the bunch.
Got to spend some time with some interesting folks uptown at Columbia. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a riot, and Gene Roberts is still a legend.
Family possibly glad to see me return. The hot water heater (a Rinnai tankless) went down again and needs a new part. The chickens exploded like quail when I opened the brooder to feed and water them last night. And the dogs have been following me around. Only the cat is pissed. But I think that's normal.
The gym will be open tomorrow, so I may do a sprint tri. I'll do some repair work on the computer (my laptop motherboard blew while I was in New York) and work on some other things. Hoping to finish the chicken coop and start the garden beds by late this week.
And get back on my diet. Oh, yeah. Had a few hamburgers in New York. If you ever want to beat yourself up dietarily (is that even a word?), go here:
http://bignicksnyc.com/
The menu is about the size of a mail-order catalog. It's all good and all grease, as they say. So I'll be beating myself up over that for a while.
It is good to be home. We went to the grocery this afternoon and were loading up on food. Some woman started helping us, explaining that she likes to bag groceries and that's what she does at the co-op, which is where we were heading next. So we got into a brief discussion of spelt flour, seven-grain flour and grinding wheat for your own bread.
Happens to y'all in New York all the time, right?
New York wasn't awful. Didn't sleep well, and about the best exercise I got was a 10-K around Central Park with a 7:45/mile average. None too shabby. Then again, it was getting dark, and I was on the north end of the park, and didn't want to look like the weak gazelle in the bunch.
Got to spend some time with some interesting folks uptown at Columbia. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a riot, and Gene Roberts is still a legend.
Family possibly glad to see me return. The hot water heater (a Rinnai tankless) went down again and needs a new part. The chickens exploded like quail when I opened the brooder to feed and water them last night. And the dogs have been following me around. Only the cat is pissed. But I think that's normal.
The gym will be open tomorrow, so I may do a sprint tri. I'll do some repair work on the computer (my laptop motherboard blew while I was in New York) and work on some other things. Hoping to finish the chicken coop and start the garden beds by late this week.
And get back on my diet. Oh, yeah. Had a few hamburgers in New York. If you ever want to beat yourself up dietarily (is that even a word?), go here:
http://bignicksnyc.com/
The menu is about the size of a mail-order catalog. It's all good and all grease, as they say. So I'll be beating myself up over that for a while.
It is good to be home. We went to the grocery this afternoon and were loading up on food. Some woman started helping us, explaining that she likes to bag groceries and that's what she does at the co-op, which is where we were heading next. So we got into a brief discussion of spelt flour, seven-grain flour and grinding wheat for your own bread.
Happens to y'all in New York all the time, right?
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Feeling Vaguely Lifelike
Ran a 5K this morning to prove it. Didn't go fast, not at all. Just ran, and didn't even hack up more than half of one lung. It helps that it was a nice morning, in the high 30s. It's supposed to get up to 60 today, which'll be really nice.
(Of course, there's a 20 percent chance of snow on Thursday. Looks like I won't get my garden planted until mid-May, at the earliest.)
Having passed the snot along to my youngest, I felt appropriately guilty when he made a pretty brave effort at getting up this morning. Didn't take much to talk him into going back to bed, although he's a bit crabby about missing another school day.
Spent an hour going over algebra with John this afternoon, felt somewhat helpful. Gotta keep him rolling on this course while he's into it. Still can't get over his volunteering to do some school work on a weekend.
My peeps are going to require a little more patience. I almost stir-fried 46 of them last night. They got out of the brooder and did what free chickens generally do -- make a huge mess. I cleaned up, and then put some cardboard over the top of the brooder to keep them penned. They got the message. For once, they shut up and went to sleep. I think all they needed was a little darkness. But really, it was the first damn time in their two-week lives that they've shut up and slept at night.
Still, I desperately need to get off my butt and finish the coop annex. It'll give them an extra 120 square feet or so (in addition to the 24 square foot coop). It'll also give the bathroom back to Gray Kitten, who's starting to get a bit testy about the whole peep-peep-peeping sound coming from her former domain.
On things animal-related, I need to start taking the dogs out on my short runs. They're getting a bit round. Not much, but a bit. Rather like their owner feels after a week and a half of doing nothing.
I'm off to NYC tomorrow night for a three-day conference. If an honorarium weren't involved, I'd likely skip it. Unfortunately, you actually have to show up to get paid. And this conference, of course, is one of those deals that starts at 8 am and goes on ... and on ... and on ... and on ...
If I'm complaining about peep-peep-peeping, I'm thinking I'll be in a really good mood after two nights of nonstop horns and car alarms (urban crickets). I'll be lucky to get one run, much less two or three. And I'll be staying up near Columbia. I guess I might be able to run in the park, but I really, really don't like running in crowds.
Which is kind of a dumb thing to say and think, since I'm trying to remotivate myself here by signing up for some races. I'm doing a 10-K in Bennington on Sunday and a 10-K in Brattleboro one week from Saturday.
I'm guessing the number of people running in those two races -- combined -- will be roughly half the morning running crowd in Central Park. But that's just a guess.
Anyway, I think I'll wear this shirt running and hope people get the message:
(Of course, there's a 20 percent chance of snow on Thursday. Looks like I won't get my garden planted until mid-May, at the earliest.)
Having passed the snot along to my youngest, I felt appropriately guilty when he made a pretty brave effort at getting up this morning. Didn't take much to talk him into going back to bed, although he's a bit crabby about missing another school day.
Spent an hour going over algebra with John this afternoon, felt somewhat helpful. Gotta keep him rolling on this course while he's into it. Still can't get over his volunteering to do some school work on a weekend.
My peeps are going to require a little more patience. I almost stir-fried 46 of them last night. They got out of the brooder and did what free chickens generally do -- make a huge mess. I cleaned up, and then put some cardboard over the top of the brooder to keep them penned. They got the message. For once, they shut up and went to sleep. I think all they needed was a little darkness. But really, it was the first damn time in their two-week lives that they've shut up and slept at night.
Still, I desperately need to get off my butt and finish the coop annex. It'll give them an extra 120 square feet or so (in addition to the 24 square foot coop). It'll also give the bathroom back to Gray Kitten, who's starting to get a bit testy about the whole peep-peep-peeping sound coming from her former domain.
On things animal-related, I need to start taking the dogs out on my short runs. They're getting a bit round. Not much, but a bit. Rather like their owner feels after a week and a half of doing nothing.
I'm off to NYC tomorrow night for a three-day conference. If an honorarium weren't involved, I'd likely skip it. Unfortunately, you actually have to show up to get paid. And this conference, of course, is one of those deals that starts at 8 am and goes on ... and on ... and on ... and on ...
If I'm complaining about peep-peep-peeping, I'm thinking I'll be in a really good mood after two nights of nonstop horns and car alarms (urban crickets). I'll be lucky to get one run, much less two or three. And I'll be staying up near Columbia. I guess I might be able to run in the park, but I really, really don't like running in crowds.
Which is kind of a dumb thing to say and think, since I'm trying to remotivate myself here by signing up for some races. I'm doing a 10-K in Bennington on Sunday and a 10-K in Brattleboro one week from Saturday.
I'm guessing the number of people running in those two races -- combined -- will be roughly half the morning running crowd in Central Park. But that's just a guess.
Anyway, I think I'll wear this shirt running and hope people get the message:
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