I just had to post about Picasso and Agricola's new job.  They've waited a long time for the right job and for the right person.  Well, I thought this would work out for them or I wouldn't have gone to to much trouble to set up the meeting and drive up so much gas to meet to hand them over.  Imagine my shock and awe when not only did my happy lil' Picasso make good friends with both halves of the couple but my stand offish, very very reserved Gric behaved with even more foolishly friendly abandon upon meeting them!  Um...guess I should take that back.  I was the one looking foolish as he turned his back, and backed his rump back in between her feet and plopped it down underneath her as if he had been her dog all his life, just visiting with me for a spell!  I had to pull my mouth shut, as I had been talking about how he may need time to warm up to them,..blah!  In fact, Picasso behaved with a tad more reservation, being hesitant to get out of the truck at the strange location. 
I left them in capable hands, and this time for sure I left with almost all joy in my heart, knowing that they have found their place in life. 

Awoke to raindrops on my roof, and glad the window had not been opened or they would have been on my head!  After a very enjoyable 'layoff' at the end of our lgd meet, I returned home in glorious sunshine Thursday evening.  The does greatly enjoyed the new selenium block that got unloaded onto their block feeder as soon as I arrived.  I will have to remember to hound the feed mill and the feed store to be sure to stock this item in future.  I was glad to see that the fresh herbs I had managed to snag for the does that were in distress during late gestation turned things around for them in time.  We will see when kidding progresses if it saved the kids or not. 

Yesterday I realized a dream that I had thought I would never see come into being here.  Some neighbors up the mountain emailed me that they were ready to let go of their sebastopol geese so we now enjoy the sight of sebastapol geese around our homestead.  The landscape pond is going in as soon as the rain lets up a tad.  So I hope you enjoy the new pics as much as we're enjoying the geese.  I can't wait to find some of those curly feathers shed out for our fiber arts dreams next!  We will have our sebastopol yard right next to our patio room where we can enjoy watching them every morning and during our fibery spinning sessions, and where they can become accustomed to our lgd's.  Our lgd's will also be able to become acquainted with the Sebastopols through the garden fence without stressing the geese out.  Anyone know where to get an incubator thermostat?

Yesterday my son began shearing the Angora doe (she followed me home on Thursday, really!) and found a lot of lice on her.  It was expected, I guess.  A shearer once told me that all angoras have lice, and that shearing is the best control.  So maybe we should plan to shear her twice a year.  She sure had long fleece so I expect we will be able to get four inch fleece twice a year no probs!  We are trying topical sulphur and DE, and sulphur and DE in her feed for both internal and external parasites.  Then we will do a recheck about the first of April, giving her about two weeks to acclimate and shed her buggies.

Finally, joy of joys, I planted onions yesterday.  We removed the plastic cover from the collapsed greenhouse to find a bucket of onions I had meant to try to plant last fall for spring onions, and some almost rotted potato eyes.  The onions got a good planting and the tatie eyes got a decent burial...or indecent I guess, considering how the overly excited hens dug them over and over before I even covered them!  I can't go anywhere in my garden without a full-blown escort of hens.  They see me pick up my hoe and they come rushing in from all directions.

My oldest daughter is working at the commercial greenhouse over on the next road, and she slept in this morning, nearly missing the very unusual breakfast I had prepared.  It consisted of bacon, onions, garlic and kale greens sizzled together in the pan.  She had maybe a half teaspoon of the greens spread over a potato.  Well, there are two kinds of people here on the homestead.  The early risers and the hungry.

Well, maybe there's another kind right now, too.  There is at least one person here that lies awake the past night or two listening to 'others' hard at work, protecting our homestead from predation from any and all directions!  The DH made the observation that he's a really hard worker.  DH gets up to fire up the wood stove, and watches as this youngster patrols the perimeter at a run, then dashes up to the fence near the house...and sleeps the sleep of the dead!
The kids informed me that he keeps well clear of the alpacas as White Tiger stomped him on one of his first days out in the pasture.  His pasture includes chickens, geese, turkeys, guineas, ducks, a llama and two alpaca, a ram lamb, and some yearling kid goats. 

Closing today's blog entry with the observation that kid watch continues here on the homestead.

I will just share the copy and pasted message with you for your information.  That is what I posted that day but after reading the amendment myself, I have decided to edit the below to better reflect my own position.  This is my blog, after all.  Thanks to the downsizer dispatch for their work, from which I have removed those items on which I disagree with them.

On Wed, 11/17/10, Downsizer Dispatch <downsizer-dispatch@...> wrote:

From: Downsizer Dispatch <downsizer-dispatch@...>
Subject: URGENT: Stop the FDA Takeover of Your Food Supply
To: sevenxtrin@...
Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 10:47 AM

You must support Sen. Coburn's "hold" on S.510 and oppose the cloture vote scheduled for today.

Do not allow cloture to pass.

S.510 gives the FDA authority to shut down family farms and small businesses, but "Tester-Hagan would strip the FDA of that arbitrary power. " (Not necessarily.)

"Tester-Hagan also relieves family farms of unnecessary regulations and burdensome costs." (Not necessarily.)

One example of the harm S.510 will do if Tester-Hagan does NOT pass: the FDA estimates it will take 100 hours by a trained team of personnel to develop a HACCP (hazard control) plan for businesses making products such as leafy green salad mixes or broccoli florets. http://farmandranchfreedom.org/sff/TesterAmdFacts11-12-10.pdf

Small businesses cannot afford this kind of expense, and they will be crushed. The FDA will seize control of the food supply, and Big Ag will seize the profits. Consumers will be denied access to healthy, fresh, locally-marketed food.

I do not support the Tester-Hagan amendments to S.510. as they do not in actuality exempt family farms and small processors who were NOT to blame for the foodborne illness outbreaks of recent years .

* Local markets, where producers and consumers know each other, already create strong incentives for accountability
* Small producers are already regulated by local, state, and current federal laws

Vote no on cloture, please  prevent a flawed bill from becoming catastrophic.  True food security begins in the home with education about food processing systems.  Not in a Congress proven to be controlled by corporate monopolies.

With all the persecution and discrimination being practiced against our nation's farmers these days many of us are feeling a bit of a short fuse developing.  Perhaps it's time to put these things into a perspective, starting with a bit of humor.  Country folks are pretty darn good at this kind of thing so I thought I'd share a few that have tickled my funny bone the last few weeks. 

Start with a link to this cartoon (by Mike Adams) about the FDA and the USDA's drive to persecute/prosecute producers of fresh unadulterated milk to their private farm clients, friends, family and neighbors.  (Other cartoons about current events can also be found here.  <http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Cartoons.html>)
  Below is a joke about another 'hardened criminal' and the ingenious way he manages to continue to care for his family, even from his jail cell.

A farmer gets sent to jail, and his wife is trying to hold the farm together until her husband can get out. She's not, however, very good at farm work, so she writes a letter to him in jail: "Dear sweetheart, I want to plant the potatoes. When is the best time to do it?"
 
The farmer writes back: "Honey, don't go near that field. That's where all my guns are buried."
 
But, because he is in jail, all of the farmer's mail is censored. So when the sheriff and his deputies read this, they all run out to the farm and dig up the entire potato field looking for guns. After two full days of digging, they don't find one single weapon.
 
The farmer then writes to his wife: "Honey, now is when you should plant the potatoes." 

What do you think our pioneering ancestors would say if they were asked their opinions of today's political environment which focuses it's efforts...and wastes so much of our tax dollars....on persecuting and prosecuting fresh food farmers producing food for their friends, neighbors, and private farm clients?

I never planned on growing habanero peppers.  They just 
happened.  My kids think they like hot peppers.  They do,...
well two of them really like jalapenos, so this year when I 
happened across some habanero plants somewhere, I included 
two or three in my basket.  I can't remember where they 
were but the kids had three of them. The 'college man' and 
'Little Miss Muffet' are the family hot pepper eaters.  She 
always has to outdo her biggest brother.  Little Miss Muffet
has been tenderly caring for her little habanero plant all 
summer.  For it's own protection from marauding, shape-shifting
goats she kept it inside.  In our garden window.  Finally, 
yesterday morning just after breakfast she picked her first
pepper.  She was so proud.  

She had a right to be very proud of that pepper.  It was a 
lovely thing to look at, I have to admit.  Bright yellow-
orange little ball ...she was so excited to finally have 
her first pepper off her very own plant,...her first hot 
pepper plant.

She prepared to fry it in the skillet.  In slicing and 
removing the seeds, some of the pepper juice got into a 
teensy, tiny, little scratch on her finger.  That burned, 
so she just naturally popped that burning finger into her

mouth. Then naturally, that burned.  She was in agonies.  
Her face was mottled, her lips cherry red. 

I warned her to keep her fingers far away from her eyes.  I
then gave her a spoon full of raw sugar.  That didn't help.
 So then I gave her a tablespoon full of yellow plum sauce 
(we were having waffles for breakfast).  That didn't help.  
Finally I told her to quick take a sip off my jamocha shake,
(made with our own goat's milk and hazelnut coffee well 
blended with ice) and even that didn't really help much. 
Then I advised her to have a glass of milk.  (goats' milk, 
what else is there??) That and perhaps all of the above be-
gan to help a tiny bit, but not much.  Poor kid. She has 
sworn off habaneros.  She has stated emphatically that she
is never growing those hot things again. 

I sighed and took a sip of my jamocha.
And set my own lips afire.

Lesson #1 from the Homestead:  Never grow habaneros.  Just 
write that at the top of your list of things not to grow on
your homestead.  Do it right now.  Trust me.  

I lived through the experience but my lips burned most of 
the day.  Just now, more than 24 hours later, I absentmindedly
ran my tongue over my back gums, thinking I'd brush my teeth
after just having had lunch.  Pulling my tongue back in it's 
normal place, then again absentmindedly licking my lips,...

my whole mouth burns yet again.  I had brushed my teeth at 
least three times since taking that sip from that silly
habanero-contaminated straw!

Habaneros.  The tiny little hot pepper that just keeps on 
giving with a long-lasting, ever-burning flame. Little Miss
Muffet's pepper plants are loaded with ripe habaneros...
bright yellow ping pong balls of unending, never-dying fire.
She has sworn off habaneros.  Me, too.  She thinks they may 
make a good compress to burn infection out of a small cut or 
scratch.  I don't want to know about it.  I have created a 
CSA page and I can tell you they are the first things going
into our 'CSA shopping baskets' if someone with a death-wish
subscribes to our brand-new CSA these little wonders will 
surely fill the bill.

Habaneros, anyone?  We have a very lovely plant potted up all
ready to go home with you!  

JUST LEAVE US ALONE
We don’t need your license, permission to be,
In the home of the brave and the land of the free.
No permits are needed, it’s easy to see
All we ask of you, is just leave us be.
Our forefathers left Europe  many years ago,
And came to America, to plant and to grow.
In Europe persecution is what drove us out,
They hammered us bad with government clout.
They beat us and hung us, some were skinned alive,
And boiled up in oil, like a bunch of French fries.
We were drownded and pounded, to make us submit
To the official religion, how they interpreted it.
But we fled to America, to the land of the free
To put down new roots, and it worked, you can see.
We’re peace-loving people, small farmers most,
But now again seems, like we’re government toast.
It looks like we’re fallin’ on hard times again.
This time seems the leaders, are trying us to skin
By economic pressure, make us change our ways,
Make us comply, to the regulation daze.
For years we’ve sold food to all who would buy,
Do our best to keep it whole, we always would try
So now all we’re asking, in our place in the sun,
Is just for some peace, and just leave us alone.
Just leave us alone, is all that we ask,
Let each of us get on, with what is our task.
We get up each morning, and do our own thing
As we’re working along, sometimes we sing.
We’re producing the food that many folks like,
Most of the stuff does a body real good.
Maybe some of our bakin’ is just a tad sweet,
But the bread that we bake, is a pleasure to eat.
And all that we ask, is just leave us be
Is that just too hard?  Something you can’t see?
We’re the small time farmers, in love with our land
And the animals we raise, with a skilled, gentle hand.
We pasture our stock, cows, chickens and pigs,
Sheep, horses and goats, green grass they all dig.
People come to our farms, they line up to buy
The stuff we produce, we can look in the eye
Of each of our customers, friends, neighbors too,
And be sure it’s the best, I’m just tellin’ you.
We’re like the King’s food taster, in those days of yore,
who checked out each thing, makin’ absolutely sure,
There was nothing that threatened, the life of the king.
And all that we ask, is to leave us alone
As we grow food to eat, boil the broth from the bone.
We pay our school taxes, then have our own schools
And most of the time, stick close to the rules.
We take stuff to market, vegetables, cheese and meat,
And meet with our customers, a firm handshake to greet.
We take care of each other, no public welfare we need,
Just leave us alone, is now what we plead.
We don’t want your handouts, no bailouts we need
Just leave us alone, we now again plead.
Written in response to the FDA visit at the
Dan Allgyer farm at 5AM one morning several weeks ago,
by Jonas K.Stoltzfus, with input from Judith H. Stoltzfus
and Liz Reitzig  May 13, 2010
Now, please, please, do share!  Pass this around, and let's get people thinking! 

This form is what you need to have on hand in case you have any visit from code enforcement officers or any other public 'official'.  

Sometimes I think that there is a hatcher out there on the homestead.  Today we're dressing chickens...again.  Everyday I do a few.  Each day I count the chickens out in the front pasture.  Every day the count remains the same.  There must be a hidden hatcher hatching out chickens, and growing them up then slipping them out into the pasture every night so that every day I see the same number on pasture.

The daughter is enjoying a run of success with seasoning chicken before baking it.  Maybe I should now teach her to can it since she already knows how to freeze it. 

I'm working on a project but for now I'll leave it at that.  I'll share it with you when I have things all together.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and an equally wonderful week.  As I posted quickly in an earlier post, we had a successful show and even got some work done while dh was 'on vacation'.  ("vacation"---a few days back to back during which spouse does not go to the job site where he is paid a real paycheck.  Instead, for those few days he alternates between 'resting' /'relaxationing'.... with tearing something apart to 'remodel' it.)  If I have the wrong idea about what this 'vacation' thing is, please be sure to let me know.  I suspect I might... since it seems to me that most people appear to greatly anticipate 'vacation' time,...rather than dread it.  I'm tempted to take pics of his latest project...but not sure if it would help spur him to hurry up and complete it so I can post the 'after' photos...or if it would just embarrass me!  

We are taking deposits on our Maremma puppies.  Though they are mostly spoken for, (they are going fast this year!) there are a couple of males and a couple of females yet available.  I am planning our first puppy run for the first week of December in the direction of Richmond Virginia so if anyone in that direction would like us to deliver a puppy within 50 miles of Richmond now is the time to get on the phone and make those arrangements with me. 

Our raw feeding and pastured poultry program is taking off this year with no left over fryers, but a few roasters and stewers available between now and December 1st----or as long as they last.  I can tell you this, the feathers are flying!

Here is a short list of what we have available for pre-ordering:

Pastured Poultry
"Cornish Game Hens - cornish rock broiler pullets taken to approximately
2 lbs. live weight are used as cornish game hens. This provides you with a tender, compact bird that is excellent for roasting."

BROILERS that are in the 4.5-6 pound DRESSED weight range.

Eggs:  Our layers are taking a short 'staycation'.  We hope they will be laying again soon and will post it on our farm products blog when they return to lay.

We can also order in any type of poultry you want: Currently available from our regular hatchery are Chicks and ducklings but let us know what and when you need it and we will see if other hatcheries can supply it when you need it.


We currently have these items in stock or available within a week.

Ducks

Muskovy Ducks

Roasters/stewers

Meat rabbits (limited 'earlibird' supply for now) 

Celery

And last but not least I want to urge everyone to call up their state legislators and demand that they pass legislation that recognizes the historical, cultural, healthful, food security and economical importance of local private farming to our nation and our states' local economies.  Since our president apologized to the world for our economical problems earlier this year, then apparently our small family and local farms are the backbone of the economy of the world as well!  PA has a draft bill ready for introduction which does just that.  Ask for it.  We affectionately call it "The No Chippin' Chickens Act".

On a national level, The twelve day Congress is being broadcast live via streaming webcast at:
www.cc2009us.com, www.givemeliberty.org/cc2009, www.freedom.tv/live
from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CDT through Saturday Nov 21st.

This time it was someone else's 'show'.  I had committed several weeks ago to demonstrating spinning and weaving at Big Rock Alpaca Farm.  We went last weekend and had a good time, then went again today.  Again a good time in the fiber even though I was tired and still feeling draggy and grouchy from the cold and from dealing with silly teenage boys.  Finally I just left for the 'show' to give myself some quality fiber fooling around time. 

While there the conversation gave me a few 'chances'.  I got to show off my new socks.  These are mine because I have too much blood, sweat and tears invested in them to ever let them leave my warm little feet. 

The little one went along once again with her Hitchhiker but had forgotten to put her bobbins back in the truck so we had to wind off onto a Nosty that I had in my spindle basket.  After we finished with their open house we went to the other sock lady's house to watch a movie.  As we left, I came out the front door just in time to 'catch' a 'chicken chaser' in action, ...and make sure that box of chickens 'landed' in the back of the 'right Silverado'.  0  ;^_)

Here,...have a peep!

A good meal was provided by the other sock lady, and boy was it delicious.  She had found those really big shrimp that are nearly the size of small lobsters on sale at Nell's.  I honestly have never had shrimp that big.  It assuaged my angst.  Along with some Crumini mushroom sliced into a pan of crushed garlic and olive oil over a medium flame, some left over rice stirred in, a sliced avocado and a squeeze of lemon on top.... Comfort food?  Well, yeah!

The day dawned ...at least I'm pretty sure it dawned but it was tough to be sure for several hours.  Those hours were hours of frustration for me as I tried to get kids to get up and get dressed early, and tried to get loaded to go to the show.  We had a little over an hour's drive to get there and a friend had asked me to bring my tat set so she could touch up tats before the show began.  That just didn't happen.  In fact I was running late enough that I was beginning to actually make myself later though silly mishaps!  Things like finding a daughter back in bed--- still in pajamas---reading---sure didn't help.  Other things just as ridiculously annoying began piling up on my 'good mood'.  I thought the fleck of coconut on the cherry on top of the frosting on my cupcake was the moment I thought I'd lost my keys.  You know the ones.  That keyring with the truck key on it.  The new truck with the ignition that the key doesn't turn well, if at all?  The ONLY key I have?  After searching my (new) purse, my pockets, my truck, my house from bottom to top to bottom and the pathway back out to the truck and finally my purse again.  Oh.  <sigh>  There they were, ...zipped safely in the dee-ee-eep side pocket so I wouldn't lose them.  That little 'enjoyment' burned a good portion of an hour. 

Ok so we're on the road and nearly there when it starts raining.  Ooops.  The tarp?  Forgot it in the excitement. This new to me truck has a wider bed than my F250 so the topper that fits it doesn't fit my Chevy.  Still looking for a topper. 

Well,...for now it's only a mist, so the bunnies should be fine if it doesn't get any heavier.  It did get a bit heavier but we were nearly there, and it wasn't THAT much heavier, I hoped that the cab was blocking them from most of it, my daughter checked and her angora bunn was not getting wet.  Well-ll,...I could stop ...but I'm so late now...maybe the rain won't get any heavier. 

Well,...it did get a little heavier but we were there on the fairgrounds, looking for the parking space.  Finally found which 'barn' the show was in and moved the truck over there to find the building full,...we just managed to get our carriers inside the door.  Had not unloaded the chairs and other stuff and already 'someone' was nagging at me to move my truck when I got it unloaded.  Duh.  Someone is actively unloading a truck at the door, and they are over an hour late and I find it just wrong that anyone would feel it necessary to ragg on them like that. 

Finally the truck was unloaded and I moved it looking for a space.  What a relief,  even if it was on the opposite end of the building, it was fairly close.  I walked in and found my quartet of American Chinchilla does right inside.  As far away from our other entries and paraphernalia as possible.  Most of our breeds were to be shown on different show tables except the Giant Chins and the American Chins.  THEY were scheduled after the guinea pig show.  Two tables for the pigs, and both my Chin breeds were on the same table one after the other.  The other breeds were also well down the list of breeds to show on those tables, and by this time they were still on the first breed.  I got all in a tizzy about being late only to be there in time to hurry up and wait!  Ok.  Breathe.  Have coffee.  Eat breakfast.  Relax and see who I know who came there, and meet new faces.

Our entries were fortuitous, there were enough entries in each breed to garner a leg for those deserving winners.  One more good thing to balance all the frustrations of the morning.  There was Chrissy, she had brought my Chins along, and had found someone to touch up the tats.  Two more good things working to balance my frustrations.  However, even try as I might to relax I was just sure that I would miss hearing the announcements if I relaxed too much!  I snagged a pan to go under the carriers, (of course we ran off without the pans!) and relaxed again.  Then I realized ....DUH! ...there are three of us showing, one extra not showing anything, total of four with two breeds on the same table so just need one person to watch/llisten for that table to get to our breeds, and one person to watch for the NZ breed to come up, and my oldest daughter being of age may watch for her own breed.  I don't need to go crazy running in four directions trying to do it all myself.  What else did I have kids for?  Ok, so E you watch the NZ and MV and I will watch the Chin table while I look for the additional genetics we may need to add to our herd.

Angoras were called and MG managed to get her entries to the table on time just fine.  No sweat off my brow, as I watched for the NZ whites to come up.  The chins were way down the list as it turned out.   The guinea pig show took absolutely forever.  There were rabbit folks packing up and hauling out.  They were done showing and were heading home.  Eventually our breed made it to the table.  Our Giant Chins, (little MV's breed) did well even though they were merely babies, just barely old enough to show, her favorite doe took 2nd, her buck took 3rd, and my favorite doe in her trio took a mere fifth.  Miss MV was tickled pink with her favorite doe's win, even so.  As we stood there waiting for our breed to get on the table, a man was standing there showing off his scar.  Yes, a scar about a dime size where his buck, (pointed to him in the carrier) had latched onto his arm, and was hanging there by his teeth!  (Allrighty then!   Marking that name off our list for adding new lines to our herd!)  Our doe was lying in my arms, her eyes mere slits as she dozed despite all the chatting going on around her, and laughing at jokes, etc.

So here is the tote:

New Zealand Whites:  Senior buck ---2nd place
                                  Junior doe  ---2nd place

French Angora Colored:  Didn't place
English Angora Colored:  First Place

Giant Chinchilla:             Junior BuckSB13---3rd
                                     Junior Doe SB14 ---5th
                                     Junior Doe SB12---2nd
Saving the best for last:
American Chinchilla:       Junior Doe#MCR---1st
                                     Junior Doe#MCO---4th
                                     Senior Doe#52------2nd
                                     Senior Doe #53-----1st and BOB!

What makes the Am. Chin wins so special is that I bought them from Chrissy several weeks ago---sight unseen!  Her junior buck went Best of Opposite Sex under the doe she sold me---his dam!  (Check back later for pics)

At the end of the day, I headed for my carriers to bring one back to transfer my Am Chins into so I can go home with them.  Imagine my surprise to find all the holes were full.  There were piggies, and bunnies and more piggies and more little bunnies.  The daughters had been very busy!Off to the awards table to see if I could snag a box.  There was a very nice piggie box that started out life as a shipping box for trophy glasses.  It already had a divider.  I now had room for my American Chins to come home with me. 

It turned out to be a very good day after all.

Never a dull moment down on the farm!  Just got some pics snapped and posted of the Maremma ....









and the next thing I know the kids are bringing in .....













...so out we dashed to try to find the rest of the clutch,...
Someone forgot to tell this Musckovy hen that ducks,...even Musckovy 'ducks',...do not lay and set in October and November.  She's a tough, mean momma!Soo, looks like our new puppies will be exposed to some very new 'peeps' after all, rounding out their lgd experience while they're still on their birthplace.

I usually manage to handle these things on my own but this time I need
to ask for some help from the rest of you.
I had the following rescue request, had found him a working home with a
foster farm who has done wonderful things for us in the past working
with abused rescue maremma here in PA, but the transportation will cost
$500 and neither party can handle this at this time. We need another,
closer, foster to step up, or we need some donations to pay Dusty's
ticket to PA. I also have pics of him, he is black and white. Can
anyone offer any help?
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~`
I am looking for a home for a 5 year old neutered male Maremma-cross.
"Dusty" was an LGD on my Oregon sheep farm, but I lost the farm in a
divorce a couple of years ago. I found him a home and my other LGD
homes, but Dusty's current adoptive owner is relocating from California
to Ohio and can't take Dusty along. He is a very sweet, gentle dog, has
been house-trained, walks on a leash. Was treated very badly before I
got him and he is extremely shy, but never aggressive. He gets along
fine with other dogs but chases cats.

I have posted Dusty on numerous lists, and had some calls, etc but
none serious and suitable. he's a great dog, and I wish i could keep
him, but am renting a house in town and just can't.
Can you help me find him a home?
Sincerely,
Kathleen

Well, I will just have to start this post with a sigh.  I have surely been neglecting this blog.  Where to start?  In early July we went fishing, catching several very nice bluegill.  We were cleaning them in the upper garden when a storm rolled in, beginning with gentle breezes and light rain.  The light rain intensified to moderate rain, the breeze curled around our damp bodies making us a bit uncomfortably chilly, and a llama and an alpaca dashed up and kushed just the other side of the fence, with a tree between them.  As we cleaned fish I began to feel very uncomfortable, and the least of it was the chill of being wet, in a breeze, and having to clean fish in that condition.  I couldn't really attribute the nervousness to any of the above, other than the concern of cutting something important off, like a finger, while cleaning the slick wet and getting wetter fish.  Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I told my son we were done, we were going in the house.  "But MOM!  What about the fish?  Weren't we going to clean them out here?"  "Well, they're just going to have to be fertilizer.  We are going in the house."  Now any of you who know me know that if you kill it, you ARE going to dress it and you ARE going to eat it, or otherwise utilize it as it was meant to be used.  You are NOT going to disresepect nature and yourself by killing something you don't intend to eat, and that is otherwise doing you no harm.  This tells you something about how nervous I was getting.  The boy didn't argue further with me, as I was getting more and more nervous to the point that I felt frantic and we tossed all those lovely fish into the garden bed and hightailed it for the house!  By that point the storm had made it's presence known and in the time it took for us to move quickly toward the house it became a bit noisy.  The crash that hit us as we reached the back step was incredible, so all-incompassing as to be undeterminable as to the direction and location of the strike.  We only knew that it had to be somewhere close.  I rushed into the house to search for the kids, making sure they were all inside.  Oldest daughter was not, she was still out in 'her' garden.  I called her in and made hot drinks all around.  The next day was Sunday and the kids wanted to go to Sunday School so off we went, and then a friend wanted us to come over after, so we took our Springsberry Relish and some jars and went over there to can up some delicious relish.  I also took along some of my homebrewed vinegar.  When we arrived back at home, it was late, and we mostly fell into bed.  The next morning Son #1 who had been home the previous day, was behaving badly, and would not tell me what was bothering him.  I went out and found it...rather them.  Those two camelids which had dashed up and sat down nearby just before the storm rolled in, had been struck by lightning!  When I returned to the house and talked with him about it, he told me he had found them but could not find what had happened to them.  There was no sign of any injuries, and there was no indication of burns or such.  However, they were lying flipped over to opposite directions in the same spot where I had last seen them.  About 20 feet from where we'd been cleaning fish.  He said, "Does that mean that if we had not gone to the house when we did that we might have been lying up there next to them?" 

Two weeks later, lightning struck us once again.  (This was the day after we had spoken with Mike Follmer's legal counsel about a new agriculture bill, we're thinking it will be called the "No Chippin' Chickens Bill" until it gets introduced.)  This time I was driving down the road, having picked up some bamboo poles for my market garden, with fresh leaves on for fodder for my goats, when a cloudburst struck, forcing me to stop and put on my hazards, due to lack of vision.  I continued on my way as soon as the rain tailed off enough I could see again.  While I sat there I was passed by several vehicles at pretty high rates of speed, (no passing zone) but they apparently felt no qualms about driving when they could not see more than a few feet in front of their vehicles.  Again I began feeling antsy, so continued on my way as soon as I could make out anything several feet in front of me, and as soon as there was no sign of any other vehicles approaching from behind.  As I was shifting into 3rd, a vehicle approached at a high rate of speed and rammed me from behind, shoving my F250 SuperDuty forward suddenly.  I was grateful that I had just put my foot on the clutch at the moment of impact or we would have been hurt even worse than we had 23 months previously.  I stopped the truck and got out, looking for the vehicle that had struck us.  It was nowhere to be seen.  The rain had tailed almost completely off, and I still couldn't see what had hit us.  Finally standing with my back to the truck, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I saw a faint blur of lightness in the darkness about 50-60 feet back and on the other side of the road.  As I approached, four kids got out and the girl asked me, "Oh my God, what happened??" I said, "Well, I was driving down the road with my four-ways on and you hit me!"  She said, "Oh my God I didn't see you!  Oh My God, I thought you were a tree!"  Flabbergasted, I just turned and looked at my truck.  From back there, her collision with us had rearranged my poles so that the flashers were not even showing in the night.  With all her vehicle's lights off the night was dark and we could make out the red topper but that was all that showed of my truck.  I turned to each of those kids one by one asking them if they were ok, asked her about a dark place by the corner of her mouth, she rudely refused to answer just turned her back on me but the boys laughed saying that was a lip ring.  I then called out to my own son, asking him where he was and if he was ok.  He replied that he was, but I could not see him though I could hear his voice coming from the back end of the truck.  Shortly after, as we were discussing the accident, the lights of another vehicle showed over the rise in the town behind us.  When the car pulled up beside us as we stood there on the wrong side of the road, she rolled down her window and asked, "What happened??"  The boys told her I was in the middle of the road and they hit me.  I told her it didn't happen like that, and that I was actually driving down the road with my four ways on when they rammed me.  At that point another vehicle showed up from the other direction, and I went to meet him and see if he had a cell phone.  He did, and together we called 911 to report the accident.  When he had done that, I thanked him and he went on his way, and I turned to see a man who presented himself as a member of the fire police services on his way home when he came onto the scene.  From that point on things got even nuttier.  After informing him that my battery was going to run down and that I would need a jump when everything was all over here, he yelled at me that he wasn't going to jump start anyone, that everyone was going to stay right here until the cops arrived.  Incredulous, I turned away to pull back some of the branches that the girl had splattered all over the place, to show him that my lights and flashers were all on though my truck was turned off.  He wasn't paying attention.  By the time the cop had arrived, the woman that arrived at least ten minutes after I had found the other vehicle hiding in the dark, and assessed everyone's condition, had suddenly become some mythical creature following right behind them, and corroborating their story.  More on this later.  As you can see, this is going to go to court.  The cop pulled some shenanigans, and the story continued to be very weird. 

At this point in time, I have had one day in court, which I successfully defended myself against several charges the cop cited me for and I am looking for more witnesses to come forward who saw us that night.  I have found three more who saw me stopped, but because the other vehicles were, (the white Dakota) sitting on the other side of the road with their lights off, hiding in the dark, and the other one had not arrived yet, they did not know why I was sitting there, but they could clearly see me, since I had my lights on.  I think one more will just about do it.  I hope the young man who called it in for us will come forward and tell the truth of what he saw that night, and that the driver of at least one of the vehicles that passed me before the Dakota hit us will also come forth.  The girl was talking to the judge about hiring a lawyer to sue me.  He told her to let the insurance companies handle it.

In the interim, the expenses of repairing the truck and getting medical treatment for my own injuries and the time involved in searching for a replacement truck and going to doctor's, having first to take my husband to work so I could have his wheels for the day, have more than drained the coffers and taken time away from my other work as an unpaid lobbyist.  It's a relief to have most of that behind me, now I have only to focus on production...though the growing season has nearly ended, and the garden went mostly to waste as I was unable to be home to work in it and put it up.  The girl and her cohorts have a lot to answer for.

Ok, more later, ...fall means getting ready for winter, and spinning, knitting and cranking socks out and keeping kids on task with lessons starts up once again.  That was a short summer.

It was a beautiful beautiful day made even more beautiful by a previously rainy week...and that mountain of wet laundry I ran out on!  Every time I washed a load and hung it on the line, ...or had a hapless kid hang it, ...the clouds would roll in and come pouring down.  We would dash out and save the laundry,..yes it was still damp.  This morning I strung up another line around the porches and hung all those baskets out at once. 

Where do you run out to when you have a mountain of wet laundry piling up around our ears?  To a Rural Festival of course...what else?  There were tractors of vintage days gone by, antique machinery of many kinds, including our own circular sock machine.  Pics when I get them uploaded to the site.  I'm so tired I can't type straight.  I came home totally tired out...and went straight out to the garden where I'm growing a fine crop of taties...and lamb's quarters, of course.  I made the kids pick two gallons of the lovely greens.  Sprinkled with dried onion powder and steamed till tender but still bright green they met my yearning for something very green. 

Tonight I was pleased no relieved to see that it was the day I merely unwrap the cheese cloth from my goat cheddar cheese, rub salt all over it and set it on a shelf at 50 degrees F. for the next 30 days, ...if it makes it that long.

 Hmm, warmer than that in the house...where?  Colder than that in the fridge,...where to set it. I guess I should have thought this through before I made it but the milk was there, and it was needing to be made into cheese!  Ok, the patio room for tonight on a plate in a mixing bowl with a pot lid on top.  It should be comfy there.  It's much chillier there than in the house. 

The end of the day, the sun is gone, and I'm tired but glad to be making cheese again,...even if I can't remember how I used to do it.  I decided I would just figure out how I will be making it instead of trying to make it the way I used to make it. 

Purported Listening Session--First of 14

The first USDA National Animal Identification System purported listening session took place on May 14th, 2009 at the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. It was scheduled during the busiest time of the year, in the middle of a rainy spring planting and birthing season, yet many took time out of their farming schedules, or took off from work to attend.
Attendees came from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, and one woman even flew in from Oregon to make sure their opposition was recorded. There are very few of these purported listening sessions scheduled around the country, as of the beginning of the session only 7 had been scheduled and posted to the USDA site. The torrential rains which hit us slowed down many of us, and prevented many others from being able to get through at all.

The USDA personnel did not wear badges or name tags, yet attendees signing in were given a folder which included a name tag which said, "Hello, my name is..." One person there felt that if the USDA personnel were not 'tagged', then attendees didn't need 'tagging' either. It would very soon become apparent just who was who. One little girl wrote "NONAIS" instead of her name, her older brother wrote "NOUSDA" on his name tag. He handed it to one of the USDA employees sitting at the press table on his way out at the lunch break, and refused to return for the afternoon 'breakout' session.

Those in attendance were selected by lottery for an opportunity to speak during the morning session, many more numbers were called than there were people present, and yet there was a bit of a verbal scuffle that broke out over one attendee's 1st Amendment Rights. Darol Dickinson of Ohio made a 7 hour drive to attend this listening session, he had preregistered and had received his ticket and had waited patiently for his number to be called up. At one point one gentleman crossed the aisle and handed him his ticket, number 87, which had just been called, and asked Mr. Dickinson to speak for his three minute time segment, as he did not wish to speak.

When Mr. Dickinson stood up before the mikes in the lineup of those whose numbers had been called up, he was accosted by a blonde, suited woman who insisted his number had not been called and he was not going to be allowed to speak. He felt that he had been singled out to be prevented from speaking, as his number, 63, was never called. He showed her that the number in his hand had in fact been called, and stated politely that he had made a 7 hour drive to speak to them. When his turn at the mike came, he began reading his prepared presentation. At 2.5 minutes, per the modus operandi of the day, the USDA moderator informed him that his three minutes were nearly up. He asked that she restart the clock to allow him to finish, as he had his tickets, and thus had three minutes plus another gentleman's three minutes for a total of 6 minutes which he needed in order to finish his presentation.

Things looked bad for him as the USDA officials tried to argue him down, but the crowd spoke out insisting that he be allowed to finish his presentation.

The room was lined on both sides with security guards who had been instructed to be on alert if the blonde woman stood up and approached anyone, and if that person refused her instructions they were to surround them and remove them from the room. All these guards were not sufficient to intimidate those proud farmers and ranchers, the backbone of the nation was in clear evidence on that day. The crowd was a peaceful group of people who clearly had deep religious principles, however they were almost unanimously adamantly opposed to NAIS and determined to make sure that everyone there had their chance to speak. They wanted to hear, and they wanted the nation to hear what Darol Dickinson had to say.

Darol Dickinson received an apology from the moderator, saying she had made a mistake, and he finished his comments. After he sat down, a USDA official spoke up sternly to say that there would be no more ceding of time to anyone else for the rest of the session. Apparently they did not like what he had to say and wanted to make sure that they didn't have to 'listen' to anymore of that sort of thing.

There was a contingent of Amishmen in attendance, and during the breaks one of them was heard to say that they had been told that 90% of the farmers of Pennsylvania had already enrolled in NAIS, and was delighted to hear that in fact that was a lie, as in fact 97-99% of all livestock producers and animal owners are opposed to the system.
 
The previously voluntary disease control programs have been rolled over into NAIS without notifying the participants that they are now under a 'new international contract', instead of the US Constitution, and what the terms of that contract actually entail. One of the attendees actually entered the comment that her husband had enrolled their property based on erroneous information and without her knowledge or consent. He now regrets that action, and they like many others in their situation, would like to be removed from the program.

Other attendees ranged from mothers with babes in arms, children and young adults who see in this NAIS the death of their future dreams of living close to the land, retired farmers speaking out on behalf of their heirs, producers from across the agricultural industry and a wide spectrum of species interests. Market masters and professionals from many industries with interest in small farms, as well as consumers were in attendance to have their complaints (and the complaints of members of their organizations) against the NAIS entered into the federal record. Some were there to ask where their previous letters opposing the NAIS were recorded, which the USDA personnel had no knowledge and could not answer.
 
It is a matter of grave concern when isolated populations are deceived into enrolling in a program with such grave conflicts with certain 'inalienable' rights, recognized and guaranteed under our United States Constitution as well as state sovereignty, and many states' own Constitutions.

There were about four or five people there to beg almost piteously for the USDA to immediately implement the mandatory NAIS, however when they stood up at the mike they introduced themselves and named the organization which they were there to represent,...each of those organizations have received huge sums of bribe money in the form of "Cooperative Agreements" to promote the mandatory NAIS. Ms. Joyce Bupps from IDAIRY, (over $1 million) The Holstein Association, (also a "Cooperative Agreements" beneficiary), Dave McIhenny representing Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and others were there to help try to 'reach a consensus'.

Toward the end of the afternoon breakout session, an 11 year old little girl (from an independent diversified farmstead in south central PA) determinedly held her hand high for a tiring three minutes, before being recognized by one of the facilitators. She stood up to say, after a minute or so of looking for and finding her shy little voice, "I will not participate in NAIS. I have my rights. I have the United States Constitution at my back." The room was silent for a moment, then applause.

During this session, future USDA listening meetings on NAIS were announced, the woman did not have her list before her, stated that 6 more had been scheduled and was able to name off Jefferson City, MO, NM, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Florida.
Monday, May 18: Pasco, Wash.
Wednesday, May 20: Austin, Texas
Thursday, May 21: Birmingham, Ala.
Friday, May 22: Louisville, Ky.
Wednesday, May 27: Storrs, Conn.
Monday, June 1: Loveland, Colo.
June 9, Jefferson City, MO 
Rapid City, SD   (June 11)
Albuquerque, NM (June 16)
Riverside, CA (June 18)
Raleigh, NC (June 25)
Jasper, FL (June 27)

Showing up at these sessions is of the utmost importance in order to make sure that they are conducted with integrity. Farmers, ranchers and consumers have been writing, calling and emailing the USDA, state vets, and legislators since the original planning documents were leaked from a secret meeting in Chicago years ago. At one point the USDA called for letters, thousands wrote, yet the USDA officials who were asking for those letters and were present at this first 'listening session', were unable to even remember that they had asked for those letters, let alone what happened to them.

The citizens of this nation have for far too long left the business of politics to the politicians under the mistaken assumption that they were tending to their own business. It has become clear even to children that tending to business includes supervision and redirection of those hired (via our votes) to be our delegates to represent us in the legislative process,...less the local producers as well as our nation, be legislated out of existence. Call up and schedule a face to face meeting with your legislators at both the state and federal levels, (face to face meetings are the most effective method of communicating with your legislators, according to this reporter's own legislators at both state and federal levels.) ...and show up at one or more of these sessions.

The Delphi Technique was utilized at this purported listening session. A google search turns up the information that it is a technique used successfully in other venues and other countries as well as in the US to deal with groups of uneducated people who may have strong emotions and opposing opinions. A facilitator is utilized to try to lead the discussion in smaller "breakout" groups which will later be examined by 'experts' who will pull the comments collected into a cohesive 'consensus'.

Well, there was the consensus of those who had taken money from the USDA to promote NAIS.

And then there was the consensus from the Amishmen, the other religions, the local farmers' markets, and all the other consumers and producers in attendance, ...that the USDA should scrap the program and allow the free market to dictate traceability. Those that wish to enter into international contracts may be free to do so, those that do not sell to those markets would not have to bear the crushing costs of that participation.

The only question that remains is ...was the USDA listening to the consensus among the expert testimonies provided by the farmers, producers, and consumers present at this, the first of 14 scheduled purported listening sessions, or will USDA 'experts', esconsed in their ivory towers far above those of us who live the real life, provide their own version of 'the consensus'?..."

Go here and read it for yourself. 

<http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0096>

and then scroll over to the yellow balloon, click it, and enter your own comments.  I saw over at change.org that over 6700 users support stopping NAIS, so they should all go over to the above link and post it to the federal register.  So should you.  Last I saw there were only 533 comments.  It seems to take a few days for comments to show up.  When I posted mine I got a confirmation number but I have not yet seen my comments show up.

Then go over to rcalf <http://www.r-calfusa.com/animal_id/animal_id.htm> and get the petition printed out, and take it out with you wherever you go gathering signatures to send to them to take before Congress.  There is a ten reasons to oppose NAIS pdf file there too. Here is the link directly to that one. 
<http://www.r-calfusa.com/animal_id/080207-10Reasons2OpposeNAISPremisesRegistration.pdf>

Everyone I have talked to about this program has been vehemently opposed to it's implementation in any form at any level.  I have been mentioning it to people since sometime in 2003 or 2004.