All Purls. No Swine.
Thursday, December 21 is the first day of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Astronomy notwithstanding, the day of the Winter Solstice is historically recognized in the UK as "Midwinter's Day," just as the Summer Solstice occurs at the time of "Midsummer," never mind that the United States thinks that Summer's just begun. This… Continue reading Ave Atque Vale, Bleak Midwinter 2023!
So. I’ve about wrapped up, absent a bit of trim and the installation of an outdoor-accessible nest box–not an immediate priority because the elderly ladies involved rarely lay eggs anymore–the construction of my assisted-living chicken coop for the geezers. It’s going to have to stay in the driveway for the winter, but it is on… Continue reading And Now For Something Completely Different: Chicken Clucker Edition
October 3, 2023 is the 107th anniversary of the birth of James Alfred Wight, better known to the world as James Herriot, the author of upwards of a dozen beloved books about his Yorkshire veterinary practice from the 1930s onwards, and one of the three most influential authors of my book-filled youth. (The others were… Continue reading Changing My Life, One Book at a Time–Happy Birthday, James Herriot!
My last post on the wonderful Merlin Bird ID app, and how much fun I had with it the first time I really gave it a go, reminded me of circumstances a few years ago, here on the farm. I wrote about them on Ricochet for the first time in 2017, and reprised the post here… Continue reading The Gift–2023 Edition
Cross-posted from Ricochet.com, yesterday, August 19, 2023: Lo, these many years ago, those of us in the early days of the personal computer industry, we who depended on the success of the technology-in-its-infancy for our livelihoods, lusted after something we dubbed “the killer app.” It had nothing to do with actual violence; we longed only for… Continue reading Adventures in Birding
It's been almost exactly eight years since I published a version of the post below on Ricochet. (Time really does fly when you're having fun.) I was reminded of it this week, when I had a rare encounter with health care of the human sort myself. On Monday night (it's now Saturday), I did my… Continue reading Ruminations on the High Cost of Healthcare, and How to Bring it Down–2023
I've known for many years now that there may come a time in my life when it's time to let go. And at this point--when it comes to the edge of my 79th year on this planet--I might be ready: Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower;… Continue reading Moving On. You May Kiss the Bride!
Chinggis is my (by this time) rather elderly rooster, he who once was lost (as have been a startling number of others in my life) and was one of two whom I tripped over on a walk down the road, on a day towards the end of January 2021. His lucky day. After a frantic call… Continue reading Chinggis Makes His Move
After sorting out the gates a few days ago, I moved on to the arch and the climbing rose. Got that done yesterday and this morning. Next--tree planting! (I live in a lovely, shady, rural environment. But over the almost 40 years I've been here, many of the existing--not necessarily all that great--trees have died… Continue reading The Next Project–Because, Out Here, There Always is One
A goat rodeo is a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and there’s nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the trainwreck. In other words, a goat rodeo is a chaotic situation, fiasco, or, more vulgarly, a shitshow--dictionary.com I've been there. After thirty years as a goat owner, I finally gave… Continue reading Gate Rodeo: Not My First, Nor (Likely) My Last