It looks like sprng passed us by and summer suddenly showed up! But I am not complaining after the horrible winter we just had. I’ve been busy planting and hiking and the photo above shows the same trail as in the previous post, but on a much warmer day a few weeks ago. After severla 80 degree days and a 90 degree day we are back at 32 degrees this morning. But this is typical of Upstate NY weather. They say if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes! All kinds of birds have been showing up. Tree swallows, a few warblers whose tunes I recognize (chestnut sided and black throated green warblers) and a few ducks have been hanging out on our pond. I’ve seen a pair of merganzers and a pair of mallards. A few herons have flown by and of course there are the obligatory geese that I am not thrilled to have pooping on our lawn, however they leave after they are finsihed nesting.
And of course what’s spring here on our litle farm without spring lambs. Just look at this cutie who promises to have a gorgeous fleece for spinning! 
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Filed under: Farm, General, Hiking on April 29th, 2009 | 79 Comments »
This is a huge area in Chenango County a few miles away from my place that is home to many species of bird, fish, fowl and mammal. Here are a few pics I snapped today. It was 33 degrees, sunny with a small breeze, brisk and crisp. I heard a few chickadees but other than that it was pretty quiet.
Rabbit tracks above
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Filed under: Hiking on March 13th, 2009 | 16 Comments »
I snapped this picture the other day. I thought the way the sun was only illuminating the hill was pretty neat. Because New York is so very pretty in many areas it’s a delightful place to golf. My husband and I have golf clubs but haven’t been out in ages. I think once the kids go to college we will take it up again.
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Filed under: Places on October 22nd, 2008 | 69 Comments »
Our local fox friends showed up today. They were looking for cheap auto insurance. Well not really but they were very interested in the truck for some reason. I love when the foxes show up especially when they come so close to the house. This little guy was interested in the cat and the cat didn’t give a hoot about him as he was sunbathing in the driveway and happy to look nonchalantly at the fox.
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Filed under: Wildlife on October 18th, 2008 | 45 Comments »
We closed the cabin this past weekend and were very lucky to have unseasonably gorgeous weather! Leaf color was at peak in St. Lawrence County and I managed to shoot a few photos. We drove two vehicles up because we were bringing two recliners to replace an old over stuffed chair so we needed the truck too. A more modern furniture makeover for the cabin was in order and the bonus is that finally we have two comfy chairs!
Check out the lake and the colors:
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Filed under: Lakes on October 15th, 2008 | 26 Comments »
This insect was stuck on the screen. Isn’t it neat? But what is it? Anyone know. I wish there was a web site that listed pictures of insects when you don’t know the name. Otherwise how do you figure out what it is?
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Filed under: Wildlife on October 10th, 2008 | 33 Comments »
Our new kitty, Samantha is the opposite of the other kitty, Vlad. Sam weighs less than 5 pounds while Vlad weighs a lot and could use some weight loss pills he’s that huge. In this photo, Rascal is wondering if he should chase Samantha who obviously is not all that worried!
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Filed under: Misc on October 10th, 2008 | 7 Comments »
I talked about our local library in a previous post. Even though it is quite rural here, there are still several libraries within 20 minutes or less from my house. One of my favorite things to do is to listen free audio books while I drive the country roads to my various destinations. Fortunately they are in plentiful supply in my local libraries!
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Filed under: General on October 7th, 2008 | 9 Comments »
We just got a bunch of furniture from my mom who is moving. It’s great quality stuff and there is even a chair perfect for my work desk so I won’t need to check out any office furniture after all. Apart from rearranging furniture I have been drying my garden herbs. I hung them up on my pots and pans rack. There is basil, rosemary and parsley. In this climate these herbs do well, especially the basil this year. I just brought them in a few days and they survived a few hard frosts too.
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Filed under: Gardening on October 6th, 2008 | 9 Comments »
The leaves are starting to change in central New York. I love the rich green of the pastures in contrast to the browns, yellows and reds of the leaves.
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Filed under: Photos on October 4th, 2008 | 17 Comments »
I don’t like my faucet. It’s not high enough nor long enough to easily fit pots into my kitchen sinks. The double sinks make it hard because of the division in the middle but I like double sinks. So I have a quandary and would appreciate any feedback about places nearby (Syracuse, Oneonta, Binghamton or Norwich) that might have what I am looking for. I need a tall and long faucet that reaches the center of one of the sinks.
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Filed under: Misc on October 4th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
There were seven choppers flying overhead the other day. They were probably from the base at Fort Drum or the air force base in Syracuse. They were flying low and in formation. What a sound all those helicopters make at such low altitude! I snapped a shot by our flagpole as you can see. Sometimes we get a few choppers flying even lower than that looking for marijuana, which appears to be growing in the valley in plentiful amounts. It’s not an insurmountable problem here and it’s not like we need drug rehabilitation facilities here… yet. 
Usually what happens is the dogs come in and sniff the school lockers and find some weed and the kid gets into trouble. I doubt there’s a school in this country that is immune any longer.
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Filed under: Misc on October 3rd, 2008 | 2 Comments »
We are closing up the cabin Columbus Day weekend and we will be bringing two vehicles. I am tempted to get rid of the bar stools that we have. They look nice and all but the bar that you put your feet on is so thin that it hurts your feet. I always have to put shoes on to sit at the table! The good news is that we are bringing up some recliners that recline forwards so that they take up no room behind the chair. This is important in a small living space!
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Filed under: Misc on October 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »
You don’t need to buy lamb from New Zealand or Australia and pay a premium to boot when you can buy from local farmers here in new York. We sell whole lambs both for breeding and meat. Here are a few lamb chops ready for the grill that came from one of our lambs.
They are seasoned with a marinade that includes fresh rosemary from our garden and lots of garlic. I looked for a few appetizer recipes via one of my recipe sites and came across a very tasty fettucine with basil dish. I also grow fresh basil so that was a delicious dish. I substituted half and half for cream to cut down on the calories.
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Filed under: Farm on September 29th, 2008 | 15 Comments »
We took a big step and stopped using our furnace to heat the hot water. Everyone’s heard of a heat pump, but this one isn’t heating our house, we use wood for that which is free for us. We were one of the first people in our area to install this heat pump to heat our hot water only. First we bought a 50 gallon hot water heater. Believe it or not, nowadays that’s cheaper to use now. The heat pump uses that tank as a holding vessel for the the water from the well. The thermostat in the tank is also used but the heat pump heats the water, not the heating element in the tank. The heat pump which is connected to it, is basically a reverse a/c compressor. In an air conditioner the cold air comes in and cools the room while the heat generated by the compressor goes out the window. Well this works the same way but in the opposite direction. You capture the heat to raise the temperature of the water in the tank.
An added benefit is that the basement is also dehumidified! Most people complain of damp basements, so this unit kills two birds with one stone! A heat pump also uses less electricity than a hot water heater because it is very efficient.
You can contact Peter Cann at 315-687-3812, 427-0516 cell if you are interested in purchasing one of these heat pumps.
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Filed under: Misc on September 24th, 2008 | 11 Comments »
If you’ve been reading this blog awhile you know that we spend a lot of time at our cabin in Black Lake. We found this lake purely by accident when I was looking for a place to go on vacation with our boat.
This resort has ten rustic cabins, but what really attracted me to it was the fact they weren’t on top of each other and the views were gorgeous. Included in your stay is a docking for one boat.
There are one, two and three bedroom cabins and the larger one even has a jacuzzi. There is a small sandy beach for swimming and you can rent fishing boats or use them for free if you use the oars. It’s not like Las Vegas hotels, because after all, this is Upstate New York. Also available for rent is a pontoon boat and they have several kayaks. Kids and adults alike can enjoy the rec room and shoot baskets or play ping pong. Our kids had a blast the two vacations we spent there because they met other kids their age. This is how we discovered the lake and ultimately how we found our cabin. For more info contact Gary and Lee Hill, the gracious owners.
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Filed under: Places on September 19th, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Don’t forget to enter my MP3 player giveaway. I am giving FIVE away. There is no cost to you but less than a minute of your time! They aren’t ipods of course…well what do you want for free? But it’s a 2 GB MP3 player and you can’t beat that. You also get to have a laptop question answered if you are lucky. So check it out over at my other blog, Today’s Gizmos.
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Filed under: Misc on September 18th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
On my drive to the YMCA in Norwich on routes 16 and 23 I snapped a few photos. The cloud formations often looked like smoke.
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Filed under: Photos on September 17th, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Interior design is always in the forefront both here at home and up at the cabin. In fact we are about to come into some furniture, some of which are antiques. I am, however, terrible at interior design. Some people just have an eye for that sort of thing. My problem is visualizing what various pieces and wall hangings will look like together before they are actually in a room. Consequently a lot of furniture gets moved around! But that’s where the folks at Kaja Gam Design come in. Not only do you receive the benefit of their professional expertise, but the resale value of your home may be increased when it is professionally decorated. Interior design in New York City is a hot business because people there recognize the need for professional interiors. Bathroom remodeling in New York City is one of the more popular makeovers. However this service is available also in Westchester and the Tri-State area. Their website shows examples of their work and a white paper that you can receive for free called “Seven Simple Steps To Home Design Success.” They also offer project management services. The site offers several very useful resource links to help with your planning or your actual projects as well as a list of design ideas including green ones.
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Filed under: Misc on September 17th, 2008 | No Comments »
They are popping up all over the place it seems. This is the latest one I came across yesterday. The photo was taken off of route 16 in Chenango County after Plymouth heading north. The rig was a few cornfields back, most likely in Smyrna.
By the way, yesterday was September 15th and it was 90 degrees and very humid! There’s New York weather for ya! I wonder if the New York Chamber of Tourism could use hot summers and gas rigs as promotional items to increase the influx of people desiring a life here in the sticks?
Related Posts: Another Gas Well Drilled
Deer and Gas Pumps
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Filed under: Issues on September 15th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
