planting pizza

planted pizza today.  25 kids, got to go from Little Ceasers to Made From Scratch...  fun.  Starting to work on Slow Food Kids as a project. 

At the farm we are mostly topless.  The greenhouse lost its top in April.  Havent replaced it yet.  (Time and Money seem to be scarce here.)  The RV is also topless right now.  Ripped the roof off to fix a water problem... Getting ready for our big Western Adventure...

More stories from the Farm... Yes, we have been AWOL for a year... but we are back.

Happy New Year from the Roberts Roost Gang

Best wishes for the new year from Alan, CC, JJ, and RR (the human part of the gang), and from Sandy, Comet, and Leonardo (the dogs), Jaguar, Runty, and Shadow (the cats), Lucy, Angel, Angelina, Ginger, Patty, Ink, and Elvis (the goats), May, Jane, and Eve (the cows), Penelope (the hedgehog) and all the chickens and other critters here at the Roost.

Eve 20 hours old

Happy Solstice!

A good friend sent me a card today.  She said...

"Solstice
Full Moon
Lunar Eclipse
      &
Birthday !!!

Wow - what a day!

It has been.

Saw the eclipse, ate cake, toasted the solstice (at 6:32 pm EST as one should). 

Kept the fires burning to welcome back the Light.

Cheers,

A and Co.

The Boat

We built a boat this summer.  It's called a Mouse.  It is 8 feet long and made from 1 and 1/2 sheets of 1/4 inch luan plywood.  We got the plans from the book Ultrasimple Boatbuilding by Gavin Atkin.  It was easy and the boat is awsome!  We will be building more.  (one isn't enough for 4 people...)  Here's how it went for us.

This is the book we used. 

All hands on deck!

Magic happened today! Some days all the disparate pieces of life come together for some unfathomable reason and everything works. Magic!

We put up a years supply of green beans today. A bushel and a half got snapped, cleaned, blanched, cooled, bagged , and loaded into the freezer. That , by it's self is a pretty good days work. However, we also picked, cleaned, cored, and froze the last of the strawberries (7 pints), washed, cored, cooked, mashed, milled, bottled, and processed 14 quarts of apple sauce, did all the regular chores, and managed to have some family time. Pretty good day!

Apple sauce. Only 20 more quarts to go! The kids did a taste test and confirmed that it was way better than the store bought stuff!

End of the strawberries, ready to be frozen for a midwinter treat.

Things I learned at Cub Scout Camp

It's been a while since I posted. I have to blame it on Cub Scout Camp. That consumed 8 days of my life, and the remainder has been recovery time.

I'm a Cub Scout leader. (Bear Den leader to be exact.) I went in to sign R up for scouts, and ended up as the leader (guess I'm a sucker when it comes to the kids.) It takes up one evening a week, and has been a good thing.

This is our second year going to camp. Imagine, me, eleven boys under the age of 8, and some "parent volunteers" every day from 7:30 until 4 hiking all over a 300 acre camp to participate in all kinds of activities (6 activities a day plus opening and closing ceremonies and lunch). We'll call it a learning experience. (The boys did have a most excellent time.)

So, here's what I learned.

1. If I get up at 4 I can get the critical chores done and have a cup of coffee before I have to meet the boys needing rides at the school.
2. Animal trumps vegetable at our farm when time is tight. (Animals get fed, watered, and milked, but the garden doesn't get weeded, watered, or planted. I guess plants don't scream as loudly as the animals if I miss a day.)
3. Weeds grow more than crops when you are not looking.
4. Low stress animal handling techniques (See Bud Williams) work as well with little boys as they do with cows. The opposite is also true, as some of my "help" proved. If you yell and scream and get in their flight zone cows (and little boys) will go crazy and run away.
   
5. My kids may drive me crazy some times, but they are WAY better than anyone else's kids.
6. We (ACJ&R) are a heck of a team!

I'm glad that R is doing Cub Scouts, and that he lets me help. I'm also really glad that camp is over for another year!

A very busy weekend!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

We've had quite a busy weekend; field-trip safaris, opening day at the Coshocton Farmers Market, First Communion, and Hopewell preschool visiting the farm. We are exhausted.

The field trip to the Wilds on Friday was brilliant. We got to see free-ranging herds of various endangered antelope, rhinos, wild horses, cheetahs, various birds, and giraffes. It was less than an hour from home, which makes it a great resource for us. If you are ever in east central Ohio I would recommend it.

The Wilds

Saturday was the opening of the Coshocton Farmers Market. It started raining at 8am and rained until 1pm. The Market was open from 8:30 until noon. It was miserable. Still, it was good to be there and begin the process. After that we came home and watched the Kentucky Derby. Always a good time. The kids made hats and we all picked horses. None of us won, but it was fun.

A Rainy opening day at the market

Derby hats

First Communion went very well. Lots of family and fun. Nutmeg went to Columbus with us and was a big hit. When we got home the chickens feasted on scraps from as far away as Cincinnati. Saving kitchen scraps for the chickens is getting to be a family competition.

First Communion

Hopewell School Special Needs Preschool Class came for a visit today. They got to milk a goat, feed the babies, pet the cow, gather eggs, chase the chickens, and cook marshmallows on the fire. Everyone had a great time. The children skipped school to help. Somehow it seemed more worthwhile than another math or phonics worksheet.

Milking Orphea

Petting May

Spring!

Finally had a "Spring" day. Of course we woke up with snow covering the lawn, but that's March for you. We got all the way up to 48 deg today. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue. When the light was right the hills looked like a watercolor painting in pinks, reds, and yellows as the buds started to pop on the trees. It is almost as brilliant as fall, just a bit more subtle. If I was a decent photographer I would show you a picture, but my attempts have ended up pretty far on the gray scale.



Julia and Rowan took the baby goats out to play this afternoon. They seemed to have fun.

All the kids seemed to have a really good time playing in the sun.

Names have been chosen for our goats. (I told the children that I had the final say on the names because they were to be registered. In the end, Connie and the kids made the decision and I agreed. What else could I do? I think they call it Democracy, what a terrible system!) Anyway, because it was almost St. Patrick's Day when they were born they ended up with Irish names. We probably have the only Irish French Alpines in the state. The brown one is named Patty (after the blessed Saint) and the white one is named Molly Malone (I think she figures in a drinking song about shell fish). I objected, but the names stuck. I'll file the paperwork on Monday.

Over all, the sisters are doing very well. They have taken to the bottle, and seem healthy and happy. They have been to school (Rowan wanted to take them for show-and-tell) and will be making a surprise appearance at the pre-Easter celebration with the Coyles in Columbus on Saturday. Don't know if they will grow up to be show goats, but they are little troopers.

We aren't the only ones with new members in the family. Check out these cute chicks that our friend Bruce has added to his family. http://selfsufficientsteward.com/

As far as what else is happening at the farm, Rowan did well at the Pine-wood Derby. Placed second in the Wolf Group and qualified for District. Julia is doing very well in 4H archery, that has replaced gymnastics for the summer. WATCH OUT! Connie is enjoying Spring Break. It will be too short, but... Me, I'm wishing the weather would cooperate and that I had about 50 more hours in the day.

Happy Easter to you all.

I'm not as young as I once was

We survived the "blizzard of 08" (since the year has just started it seems a bit premature to name it that, but that's the weather guessers for you.) We only ended up with about 12 inches in most places. We did have some drifts that were over 4 feet. Averaged out we probably got around 15 inches. The kids had a great time. They sledded at least 4 times on Saturday and some more on Sunday. They built snow forts, made snow angles, and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

FUN IN THE SNOW

Connie and I enjoyed the snow too. It is kind of fun to know you have plenty of wood to keep warm and plenty of food to keep fed, and just enjoy being snowed in. We got a lot of little projects done around the house. The new pantry in the kitchen is finally finished and filled.

FILLING THE PANTRY

It is great to have the storage space and a place to hang all the coats (with a door on it so you don't have to see the clutter all the time.)

I saw a study that said only 3% of births happen on the due date. Fortunately, our goat Daisy didn't fall in that 3%. Still no kids. I hope they hold off a few more days until it's warmer.

The down side of all this snow became apparent on Sunday afternoon when we started digging out the 200 feet of driveway so everyone could get to work and school on Monday. (I think a blade for the lawn tractor is on the list for next year. OR, maybe something a bit bigger). After 3 hours of digging I realized that "I'm NOT as young as I once was." I can feel every shovel full this morning.

DIGGING OUT

Alberta Clipper

The Clipper has moved through leaving bright clear skies and cold. It was 4 deg. F this morning at 5 when I went out to do the chores. The stars were so bright, the air was cold enough that my breath froze in my beard, and the snow squeaked and popped as I walked. Reminded me of Wyoming.



All the animals made it through the night without a problem. I have three really cold chickens who didn't go into the coop. I'm not sure how they survived. I guess they huddled together in a little snow nest. I hope they learn soon.



I'm glad we have the 5 inches of snow cover. My least cold tolerant garlic is up 3 inches and I haven't mulched it yet. The snow should have protected it from the worst of the cold. When it melts this weekend I will have to get some mulch on the bed.



The fireplace is installed in the living room. I should get the chimney through the roof today. It will be nice to have some non-electric supplemental heat. It will also be nice to have the additional living space. Our three bedroom house should be big enough for us but right now we really only use about half of it. After the holidays I hope to get the third bedroom finished. That will make a big difference for all of us.



The kids had fun sledding yesterday. If it warms up a bit this afternoon I'm sure they will do some more sledding and maybe attempt the first snowman of the season.

Snow Day

We awoke to the first real snow of the season. Four inches and still falling. School has been canceled so the kids are running wild. Yesterday I couldn't get them to go outside to play. It was "too cold". Now I can't get them to come in. It is amazing how much fun 4 inches of powder can add to a cold windy day. I don't think they will get much sledding in or a snowman made until it warms up a bit. The snow won't pack.

The goats refused to go out today. They aren't really good at picking through the snow looking for food anyway. May and MayZ went out. They were standing at the gate waiting to go when I got to the barn this morning. Dexter cows are great about grazing.

I have about five chickens who will not sleep in the coop. I found them with a couple inches of snow on their backs this morning. They seem fine. I'm not sure they will survive if it gets really cold.

The Fair!

WOW!!! What an all consuming activity. The whole county closes down. Last year we thought that was crazy, but this year with one of our children showing an animal we understand why. Lots of kids show multiple animals. I don't know how they do it. The animals have to stay at the fair all week. That means you have to be at the fair all week to take care of them. That puts a bit of strain on the schedule and the pocketbook (the kids who are showing get a pass to get in, but the parents don't.)

Julia and Orphea did really well at the goat show. Orphea placed second in the dry yearling class, and Julia placed first in First Year Dairy Goat Showmanship and second in overall Dairy Goat Showmanship. We were all very excited. It was a long day. The dairy goats were after the pygmy goats (there were 140 pygmy goats entered). We had no idea how long it would take to get through the pygmy goats (almost three hours). The Dairy group was pretty small so it went fast, but it was still after 7pm before we got home. We started at 9am at the fair. That's a pretty long day watching goats and eating fair food. We did get to ride some rides and see some of the other fair entries. We had to return on Sunday to take care of Orphea and for Connie to work the Hopewell booth. Two full days at the fair should be enough for anyone. The rest of the week we will just tend to the goat and go home. We have enough projects to do here to fill all the time. School starts back on Wednesday. I guess I will be tending the 4H goat after that.

Thousands of Pygmy Goats

"Listen to the judge, Orphea!!"

Overall Showmanship

"We are the Champions!"

One Week Till the Fair

We have been having fun the past week or so getting our goat Orphea ready for the fair. I didn't realize how much work went into getting a 4H animal ready to show. Her hair has to be trimmed a certain way, her hooves clipped and polished, everything shampooed, and continual practice on leading and posing. It has been fun, but challenging to fit into an already busy schedule.

We started harvesting our sweet potatoes. They did exceptionally well. I was afraid they would be a failure this year because I had a really hard time getting water to them. It was a pleasant surprise to start digging them and find lots of giant tubers.

Garlic will be going in next month, so we are doing bed preparation in the garlic plot. We will be planting about three times as much garlic this fall. Everyone is excited to see how it turns out. People have really liked what we had this year. Lots of repeat customers. We will be adding in some softneck garlic for braiding and some elephant garlic. The elephant garlic is a bit more work, but when it does well it is a great crop.

We have big plans for trees and berries this fall. It would be nice to get them started, but finding time to do the prep work and get them planted will be a big challenge.

The house painting is coming along slowly. I think the color shocks people a bit. It isn't really a traditional farm house color. We really like it, and can't wait until it is all done.

Chickens and spiders

We put our second flock of chickens out on pasture this week. What a mess. I had forgotten how much time it took to train them to accept a new structure as their safe place, and to really venture out into the big wide world of the pasture. Up until a few days ago they had been living in a very small box like structure that we had to move every day to keep them on fresh grass. It was too small for all of them and too much work for me. The other day I put up the poultry fence and opened up one end of their cage. That gave them access to a 50' x 50' paddock. They loved it. Yesterday I moved the fence and introduced there new house. It is a 12' x12' shelter that is easier to move and will be their home from now on. Everything seemed to be going well. I finished the rest of the chores and climbed up my ladder to finish painting above the porch. A couple of hours later I had reached a point where I could easily see the pasture from the ladder. It was getting pretty hot and I was wondering how the chickens liked their new house. I looked out and found that half of them had forced their way through the fence and were piled up in a little strip of shade next to their old cage. The rest were piled up at one corner of the fence trying to get out. So, instead of finishing my painting I spent the next couple of hours catching all the chickens and forcing them into their new house. I kept them locked in there for about an hour with some food and water. Eventually they settled down and I was able to open the door and let them back out. This morning everyone was where they should be, but I am sure that when I move the fence tomorrow we will have a chicken rodeo again.

The house painting is creeping along. Having the kids in school was supposed to give me a lot more time to work on farm and house projects, but thing still move pretty slowly. I have the primer up and have started on the color. It is going to be a deep smoky blue/gray, but it looks pretty purple going on. It hasn't caused any wrecks yet, but I have gotten some interesting looks.

The fair is in three weeks. Tomorrow we will be giving Orphea her hair cut. Should be fun. Our friend Steve came out the other day and showed us what we need to do. I wish he had just done it, but we wouldn't have learned anything that way.

Pen - Sounds like birds are out for you at this time. The worm bin sounds interesting, but the pet value seems a bit thin. Maybe you could combine the worm bin with a rabbit hutch. The rabbit could be taken out for the girls to play with and for some exercise around the yard, but spend most of it's time in its hutch. No problem with yard damage. The hutch is built above the worm bin so all of the rabbit droppings go directly in to feed the worms. You can also add any kitchen scraps to the bin when you have them available. The worms will live quite happily in a bed of leave, and their population will expand depending on the food supply. I can send you some rough plans if you are interested.

Panhandle Poet - You are probably correct about the Heisenberg effect. We don't see the same effects in life that are theorized to exist at a subatomic level. Of course we don't know what really happens when we aren't observing, so it might be hard to prove. Observation is important however. The blackbird chicks made me take a harder look at my pasture. I have been working really hard on my rotational grazing, and things are really starting to shape up. The grass is coming back just the way it is supposed to, even with the rain shortage. When I look out over the pasture (just over an acre divided into 12 paddocks) the grass is deep green and ranges in height from 2" to 14" depending on where the paddock falls in the rotation. I am seeing some new grass species, some more clover, and various forbs spreading out in the pasture. The animals come back to the barn in the evening just waddling because of their full bellies. When I started a big portion of the pasture hadn't been grazed or mowed so the grass was really old and tough. After grazing I mowed it and put the chickens on it for a few days. They really shredded the old dead grass and mixed it all into the top layer of soil. I think this was really effective. The second time around I mowed again. The grass came back beautifully. Now everything is nice and green and even. Everything except one part of one paddock that didn't get included in the first two rotations. In this section there is a lot of older grass and weeds. It isn't the beautiful even green of the rest of the pasture. However, it is the home to over 100 giant garden spiders, various frogs, birds, crickets, mice, snakes, and who knows what else. The spiders are eating hundreds of flies and grasshoppers every day. On the rest of the pasture I couldn't find one spiderweb. I am sure there are some ground spiders, but there aren't any places for the big ones to build their webs. In my efforts to make a perfect pasture I seem to be eliminating a lot of diversity from the system. I need the grass to be young and nutritious, but maybe I should let some of it grow a bit older if the animals don't eat it the first around. It changes the aesthetics of the place a bit. It looks rougher, but I know the increasing diversity will make the system stronger.

My computer crashed the other day. I am trying to rescue some of the data from it like pictures and my address book. (I rarely back things up.) So far I'm not having much luck. If I should have your email address please send me a note at Roberts.ecofarm@gmail.com .

Rainy Day

The weather has finally forced me down off my ladder for the day, so I am going to spend some of my indoor time updating things. I don't think painting the house in the rain is really going to accomplish much.

Penny, I think getting some birds for your backyard is a great idea. Everyone should have a few. I would recommend chickens over ducks. The are very social, and fun to have around. You'll get some eggs, which is nice, and they will happily eat all your kitchen scraps. If you stick with hens they are fairly quiet ( roosters, apparently, are not all that necessary). The main problem with chickens is they can be a bit hard on the lawn and the gardens. They like to scratch in the dirt. If you can contain them in areas you want scratched up, this is a real plus. If you can't contain them, you will have holes in your lawn and quite a mess in the gardens. I would recommend one of the older duel purpose breeds. I don't know what varieties you can get in South Africa, but the bantam or hybrid varieties tend to be more nervous and prone to stress related problems. I don't have much experience with ducks so my information is somewhat bias. I can't wait to hear what you decide and how it goes.

Suellyn, it was great to hear from you. Welcome to the conversation. I am excited to hear what you are working on. If you want to contact me directly you can email me at roberts.ecofarm@gmail.com. Your comments on the environmental costs of travel again point to the difficult balance between local sustainability and global communities. I think it is important to find ways to meet our basic needs using local resources in sustainable ways. But we can't ignore the global community we are part of. Some problems are global in nature and must be approached with that in mind. Some resources are only available from limited sources and must be shared around the world. Some communities and families span the globe. It is critical that those connections be maintained. As long as we address the whole cost of global travel we shouldn't feel guilty about doing it.

Julie (bravely commented on the philosophy part of my blog), it's nice to have someone I don't know at all commenting on this blog. Makes me feel that the conversation is growing. I don't have a back-link setup on this blog, so I can't send you a message directly. I would enjoy reading your blog, if you would post a link next time you read this. I noticed the same thing in New Zealand you are describing Hawaii. Once that local production infrastructure is gone, it is a long hard road getting it back. It has happened around here too. Twenty or thirty years ago there were small orchards, farm stands, creameries, cheese houses, etc. Now it is all gone, and we are in a very agricultural area. Everything has been converted to corn and soy beans, or made into 5 acre lifestyle properties. Good luck with the cow. I really am enjoying ours, but I think dairy goats are a more sensible option for most people. They eat a lot less, are easier to handle, and give a lot of milk. We have one goat that gives almost as much as our cow. When we need to take her to the vet we put her in a travel box in the back of the mini-van. You can't do that with a cow.

We are at that in between point here at the farm. The summer garden is exhausted, but the fall plantings are not producing yet. The chickens are starting to perk back up after the stress of a long hot month. The grass is once again out of control (I guess I need more livestock, or someone to mow for me.) The kids started school last week. They seem to be enjoying it, but it has been a bit of an adjustment for me. I thought I would get a lot more done, but I'm still only one person and that seems to be a limiting factor. Wish I could swing some interns like Penny, but I don't know where I would put them or what I could offer them so they would stay.

This fall I have several projects I must complete. Painting the house, fence and water for the pasture, doors on the animal barn, and the foundation on the red barn. It should be an interesting few months.

A Busy Month

Thanks Pen for reminding me to do this. The whole point of blogging was so I didn't get behind on recording what we are doing. I guess July got a bit ahead of me.

Here's what we have been up to,

The kids and Connie had Vacation Bible School for a week. They had a great time, but it went pretty late in the evening. The last day of VBS was the first day of Camp Roberts. We had two young friends come stay for three days. It was great fun. The kids got to help with all the chores, including milking the cow and goats. They made scrapbooks, went swimming, made tee shirts, cooked out every night, and slept in a tent. We also enjoyed a fun day of fishing with to cub scouts. The cub scouts are coming to our house for a rocket project on Sunday.

Julia was also very busy with 4H. She had an oral report, a demonstration, and the Goat Skillathon test this month. She did very well for her first time.

Things on the farm have been a struggle. Time, heat, and water have all had a big impact on what we could get done. The garden has really struggled due to lack of rain. Some things have done very well in spite of the weather. We have had an abundance of Chard, Zucchini, and Beans. The tomatoes have set well and are starting to ripen.

The garlic had to be dug a bit earlier than I expected, but I am pleased with the overall quality. We have enough to put in four 50ft. beds and still have quite a bit left to sell. People are really interested, so I hope it does well.

August brought rain. The temp has stayed in the 90s, but at least I'm not trying to water the garden every day.

Everything is settling back down after a hectic month. Now we can focus on getting the house painted, getting the fall garden in, keeping up with the grass, and getting the kids ready to start school in two weeks. It should be a bit easier than last month. I have finally worked the kinks out of my grazing system and am ready to put up some more permanent fence (in my spare time). It's fun to see a MIG system start to work. (I knew it would, but it still pleases me when it works in the real world.) We are feeding about 2000 lbs of livestock on less than an acre. Our neighbors run one cow to the acre (about 1000 - 1300 lbs) in a set grazing system and had to start feeding hay in July because they were out of grass. When I talked with them about what we are doing they say that the two system can't be compared because I run goats in with the cow and they eat different things. While it is true that the goats eat some things the cow wont, in my pasture they all eat pretty much the same thing - grass, there isn't anything else.

We are struggling a bit with the cow. We need to get her bred but can't find a bull who wouldn't crush her anywhere close. We will probably have to have her A.I.ed but finding someone who will do it isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I'm going to have to get trained so I can do it myself. It's all a matter of time.

The redwings seem to have dispersed, but the barn swallows are out in full force. Some evenings there will be 50 or more following me around the pasture. It can be a bit unnerving as they swoop in quite close to catch the bugs I stir up as I walk through the grass.

Garlic blossoms, goats, and good times

We have been busy these past few weeks. We had two of Connie's sisters and their kids here for a few days. Everyone had a great time. The kids especially enjoyed playing with the new baby chicks, milking the goats (a big hit with the sisters too), and squirt gun fights.





We had lots of fun cooking out, sleeping in the tent, and getting rained on.







We also made a new sign for the farm to let people know we had eggs for sale. We had several people stop after we put it up.







The cousins left on Saturday, on Monday we started Cub Scout day camp. A whole week of herding six first grade boys through various camp activities. It was fun, but I was exhausted by the end of the week.





It took us most of the next week to recover and get things back in shape here. The various farm projects are moving along. The baby chicks are growing fast, the older chickens are laying up a storm, and the goats and cows are trying hard to keep up with the grass. The gardens are taking shape (I have more bed space than I can deal with this year). We have tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, chard, lettuce, onions, beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and garlic. There are a lot more things I had planned on planting but I ran out of time. I'm trying to concentrate on getting things ready for fall. I can't believe how fast the time is going, this past Friday we were clipping the garlic flowers. Soon it will be harvest time. We had to put up the "Sold Out" sign on Saturday. We ran out of eggs. It's nice when things start to work the way you planned.





clipping garlic blossoms









Julia is planning on taking one of our goats to the fair for 4H this year. Goat beauty and show training are new things for us. She is very dedicated to brushing and walking them daily.

As I was moving fence for the goats today I found a red-winged black bird nest. The parents were fiercely protecting the giant clump of grass where the nest with its four chicks was hidden. The goats and cows had grazed all around the clump, but not one leave inside had been eaten. I had been planning to mow the area now that the animals were finished (the grass had gotten a bit ahead of us) but I think I will wait. I haven't seen many red-wings in the area. I think they don't have much luck reproducing because everyone mows. I know they aren't a key species, but they help a lot with the bugs and I like to see them.

If it's not one thing...

The past few days have been crazy. I have a whole list of things that desperately need to get accomplished, but every day there seems to be something urgent that comes up and must be dealt with.

Last week it was a stray dog. A crazy boxer pup (about a year old) showed up at about 5:00 am and set all the alarms (sandy and the chickens) off. I recognised him as belonging at a little house down the road from us so when it got light I tried to take him back. There wasn't anyone home, the front window was broken out like the dog had jumped through it, and there was no way to contain him there. I couldn't, in good conscience, leave him there so I left a note and he came back home with me. I chained him up in the yard and hoped that the owners would call. He proceeded to interrupt the rest of the day and most of the following night with his incessant yipping and barking. We checked several times to see if the owners had returned, but no one had. The next day we checked again and then took him to the animal shelter. (We have, in the past, adopted strays that showed up on our door, but this one needed more than we could give him.) The folks at the shelter thanked us for bringing him in and told us that the people who lived in that house had abandoned several pets in the past that animal control had had to pick up. We finally saw some signs of life at the house three days after the dog showed up at our place. The people never called. I feel sad for the dog and frustrated that someones irresponsibility cost me almost two days and will probably cost the dog his life (Coshocton county doesn't keep dogs at the shelter very long. They don't have the money or facilities to do that.)

Last night, after getting home from a whole day of Easter celebrating there was a knock at the door. It was our neighbor Eddy. He had been busy harvesting pest deer while the temp was cold and had brought us one. He thought we would enjoy having some venison. While I do like venison, having a deer hanging in the barn that I have to deal with wasn't what I had planned for the day. I guess I should be grateful for the gift, but I don't want to spend the day butchering a deer.

Like I said, the urgent seems to be getting in the way of the important lately. My favorite management guru, Tom Peters, would tell me to focus on the important, but what do you do about the deer hanging in the barn that will start to rot tomorrow, or the yapping dog that will terrorize your animals if you don't find a solution? Sometimes urgent wins. Somehow I will find time to do the important stuff on my list this week too.