Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
>
What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
message 3351:
by
Joy H., Group Founder
(new)
Oct 13, 2012 07:23AM
Jim, please keep us posted about Brandon. Sending positive thoughts your way. x
reply
|
flag
Ashley is Catholic or maybe Episcopalian. Brandon goes with her to church most of the time, so I'll pass along the prayers, Werner. Thanks. We even got him baptized, so I probably should tell his godfather, too. Dave & I went to high school together. He doesn't live far from Brandon & was at his wedding.Thanks, Joy. Will do.
I haven't heard anything from Brandon today, which is probably good. Nothing major wrong. Marg went to a horse show & had a good time.
I turned a few spalted maple bowls & then accidentally knocked another one down. It was the biggest cherry bowl I made out of the last batch I got. It was just about dry & all sanded. It broke. I glued it back together, but it will not be the same. Ugh. It's not been a great week.
Keep your chin up, Jim.At least Marg had a good time. :)
Smart lady. :)
Sorry Jim. Seems bad things come in bunches. Better times will come and they will seem all the sweeter.
Oh, nothing is too bad. The bit with the bowl is very frustrating because it's my fault. One careless moment & I ruined hours worth of work. I got up at 4am this morning. The neighbors' dogs, a couple of very nice, 1/2 grown Rottweilers, came to visit again. They dropped by at 1am, but went away quickly. At 4, they came up on the front porch & gamboled about outside my bedroom window wanting to play with our dogs. Since 3 of them were standing on me barking, sleeping was out of the question. I will be having some words with the neighbors later today. I generally sleep in until at least 5 or even 6 on the weekends, but can't go back to sleep now. Grrr...
Dogs can be a problem like that. One time our neighbor complained when his own dogs woke him up barking inside his own house when they saw our dog being walked outside. I guess their dogs enjoyed looking out their window. :) Since it was his private country road, he had a right to complain.It's cute the way dogs "call on each other" at their houses. They are really like playmates.
Our Romeo and our son's Alice love to go outside to our dog compound together. They run to the door all excited because they're going out together. One gets the other going. They even look back to see if the other is following. It's cute to watch.
I feel sorry for the neighbor's dogs. They're penned up outside all the time & rarely get much attention. All the neighbors but one treat their dogs that way. I don't know why they even have them. They don't do anything with them.
Maybe they consider them watch-dogs who will bark if a stranger approaches the house.I too feel sorry for dogs who aren't given the attention and affection they deserve.
I get such love from our dog. He brings forth in me such a wonderful feeling of love and affection. It's healthy to have those feelings, I think.
If I'm not mistaken, I posted the following saying already but it deserves repeating. It's on a plaque I recently bought:
====================================
"All you need is love... and a dog."
====================================
Maybe they do, but they're all penned well behind the house, so I don't see them as doing much good there. Most are big dogs. I think they're sort of a status symbol that I just don't get.
A dog as a status symbol? I know that fancy poodles can be a status symbol but I've never thought of the average dog, big or small, as a status symbol.However, I remember walking 0n a resort beach which allowed dogs off season. There were some beautiful thoroughbred dogs there, many of them larger dogs. But I never thought of those people as using the dogs as status symbols. I guess it's possible, people being people. It's not impossible to think of dog-lovers as also being status-conscious.
When you get older, you realize that status isn't as important as happiness... unless status makes you happy. LOL (Is that what they call "circular reasoning"?) :)
PS-Talk about coincidences. After I posted the above, I took a look at The Writer's Almanac online. Below is an excerpt:==============================================
It's the birthday of poet E.E. Cummings ... In the first edition of his Collected Poems, he wrote in the preface, "The poems to come are for you and for me and are not for mostpeople — it's no use trying to pretend that mostpeople and ourselves are alike. [...] You and I are human beings; most people are snobs."
FROM: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
==============================================
I love coincidences. :)
Here's some fun browsing, the Mad Science Museum site's top weird experiments. http://www.madsciencemuseum.com/msm/g...
Another fun site is the Museum of Hoaxes:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
Thanks, Jim. I'll check those links out.Another coincidence... I mentioned the Impressionists in art to you elsewhere in this group a few minutes ago and now on VPR-Radio, I hear about DeBussy who was an Impressionist in the area of musical composing. The program mentioned that DeBussy was able to take the words and translate their meaning and emotion into music. The poem, An Afternoon of a Faun was given as an example.
BELOW IS FROM WIKI:
The composition was inspired by the poem L'après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé, and later formed the basis for the ballet Afternoon of a Faun, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. It is one of Debussy's most famous works and is considered a turning point in the history of music; composer-conductor Pierre Boulez even dates the awakening of modern music from this score, observing that "the flute of the faun brought new breath to the art of music."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C3%A9...
===========================================
The poem is at:
http://faculty.txwes.edu/csmeller/hum...
Scroll down at the page for a summary.
LINK to the music at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7loz...
LINK to the music played on piano using a player-piano version from 1918: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbLl2...
On the drive in to work this morning, I almost got steaked. Came over a rise & the black road had a big Black Angus bull in the middle of it. I put on my flashers & asked the guy behind me if he knew who owned it & he pointed them out. By the time I got back to my car, the bull was investigating it. Luckily he was a nice boy & let me get back in. So then I got to wake up some little old lady. She didn't seem surprised. I wasn't either. I've seen him out before.
Jim wrote: "On the drive in to work this morning, I almost got steaked. Came over a rise & the black road had a big Black Angus bull in the middle of it. I put on my flashers & asked the guy behind me if he kn..."LOL - That's so funny, Jim. I wonder whose supper he'll turn out to be eventually. :)
Around here we fear seeing a DEER in the middle of the road! They're all around in the woods here. I suspect that they are the ones who ate my geranium flowers which weren't accessible to shorter critters!
In the New England states they fear seeing a MOOSE in the middle of the road. They can REALLY do damage if you hit one. There was a movement to bring more of them into the Adirondacks! I don't want them here!
JOKE:
==========================================
A Scotsman was visiting relatives in Canada and one of them took him on a fishing trip in the northwoods.
"Wow, what's that over yonder?" the Scotsman asked his cousin.
"That's a moose," said the Canadian.
"Aye!" exclaimed the Scotsman, raising an eyebrow. "If that be a moose, I'd sure hate to see your rats!"
==============================================
ANOTHER JOKE:
==============================================
My wife told me at breakfast the other morning, "There a moose loose in the hoose."
She's English, but her heritage is Scot.
The field mice come in every fall.
==============================================
We have moose in the hoose! We've caught quite a few this fall. We've been putting traps all over.
Our son's wife-to-be comes from Cape Breton, Canada. Instead of "house", she says "hose" (rhymes close & dose"). It's the only sign of an accent she has, compared to us. Of course, I get teased when I say "cawfee" instead of "coffee".
I'm always dodging deer. I've seen moose & they are big. My cousin & I followed a twin pair of yearlings around for several hours once.Funny jokes!
No, this is a bull. He won't grace anyone's table. That's what steers are for. Keeping a bull around is for breeding purposes. They're too much of a hassle for most because, no matter how good natured they are, when they decide they want to go someplace, they do.
I used to work in a sale barn. Cows in season weren't allowed because bulls were also around. One time a mistake was made. I watched a big Brahma bull (almost twice the size of an Angus) walk out of his pen. It had railroad ties sunk into a concrete floor for posts & 2x6's every foot for rails. He just walked out, though. He shook his head a few times, but I think that was to clear the dust from his eyes, not because minor obstacles were in his way.
I started opening gates for him & one person yelled at me for it. I pointed to his pen. They just said, "Oh, my." & helped clear the way. He walked into the pen where the cow was & did his thing. Then we moved him back out to another pen. In the meantime, no one messed with him, so we lived through the experience.
Another time, I saw 2 Angus bulls go at it. They put their heads together, not as hard as rams do, but still plenty hard, & pushed each other around. They didn't even look like they were moving too fast, but were so inexorable in their motion that it was astonishing. One swung his butt into a board fence & it exploded as if it had been blown up by dynamite. Neither of them noticed.
We were there for a cookout, so the farmer jumped on his tractor & hit them over the heads with the front end loader before running his tractor between them. Then the rest of us used the broken boards to herd them in opposite directions & pen them elsewhere. They both had rings in their noses, but you can't lead them with those when their blood is up. They just don't notice.
Jim wrote: "... No, this is a bull. He won't grace anyone's table. That's what steers are for. ..."Jim, I enjoyed your post so much that I copied it and sent it to my husband. Your message demonstrates the meaning of "bull-headed". :)
BTW, I thought they raised angus bulls for meat. Maybe that was angus steer. We saw some in a field when we were in Maine. They raised them for meat.
PS: It was a place like this:
http://www.savenorsmarket.com/web/our...
"ANGUS CATTLE" (They must all be females, right?)
I found this about CATTLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CattleEXCERPTS:
======================================
An intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male is called a bull .
An adult female that has had a calf (or two, depending on regional usage) is a cow .
A young female before she has had a calf of her own and is under three years of age is called a heifer.
A castrated male is called a steer in the United States; older steers are often called bullocks in other parts of the world but in North America this term refers to a young bull.
A castrated male (occasionally a female or in some areas a bull) kept for draft purposes is called an ox (plural oxen).
Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef cattle .
Cattle of certain breeds bred specifically for milk production are called milking or dairy cattle .
The adjective applying to cattle in general is usually bovine .
=============================================
I think I've got it straight now. :)
Joy, thanks for sharing those terms! I learned something; I'd heard the term "bullocks" but didn't know exactly what it meant, and I'd always vaguely assumed that oxen were some sort of distinct species. Okay, okay, I grew up in the city; and even though I was a farmhand on a dairy farm for a while (30 years ago), my boss didn't keep a bull on the premises. :-) (Jim's post is indicative of why!)
You're welcome, Werner. Seems we knew the words but this is the first time I've seen an overview (and how they're all related). I usually have to see the whole picture before I understand the parts.One of the times/places that method doesn't work for me is when acquainting myself with a computer and all that goes with it. With the computer, I have to start with something simple and then gradually learn other facets by branching out. What seems difficult in the beginning becomes easy as one becomes familiar with it.
But I think I've reached a plateau now and have no wish to go further. Unfortunately, the technology is dragging me along... kicking and screaming. :)
Yes, names can be confusing. I was only vaguely aware of the bullock term. No one I know uses it. Horses and ponies have the same sort of designations. A foal is a unisex name for an equine under a year old and I’ll bet you can guess what a yearling is.
The girls are fillies up to four and mares are older than that. A brood mare is one that is used primarily for breeding and a horse’s mother is referred to as its dam. I don’t think there is a name for an infertile or barren mare. No one spays them or anything that I know of. Operating on a horse’s belly wasn’t really an option until recently, although people have been mixing up concoctions to keep a mare out of season for most of history.
The boys are colts until they’re four, then either a stallion, if they keep their testicles, or a gelding, if they’ve been cut. There's also a rig, a male whose testicles stayed up in their belly. They usually don't have a good sperm count (the testes are too warm, I believe), but have all the muscle and hormonal aggression of the stallion. They’re usually a complete PITA without enough redeeming qualities to make it worth the trouble of keeping them.
No animal is subtle about signaling that they want sex, but horses are in a category by themselves. They're more demonstrative than cattle and a lot bigger than most other animals I know. When there is a receptive mare around, a stallion will get an erection and sometimes flex himself so that it slaps against his belly. Their muscles swell and writhe, their neck arches, nostrils flare and they’ll work up a sheen of sweat as they prance around showing off. It’s so ludicrous as to be funny, but at the same time the sheer power of the beast is stunning. It’s absolutely wild to watch.
The other day, a neighbor’s miniature rig got out and came to visit. He's just under 8h and put on a savage display outside our fence offering to fight all comers. Our Thoroughbreds are over twice his height and more than four times his weight. If the fence hadn't been there, they would have squashed him like a bug, but he was thinking with his hormones. Luckily, Marg got out there quickly. She chased our horses off and took the little idiot back home.
The mare is often no better behaved than the stud when she is in season. They will nuzzle, nicker, and show off their butt to anyone. At the slightest sign of male interest, they’ll spread their legs, pee a little bit often, and lift their tail while wiggling their entire hind end in a come-hither motion. They’ll wink the lips of their vagina at everyone to let them know what they want, just in case there is any doubt. That’s what it’s called, winking or blinking, and it's the subject of many jokes.
We don’t have mares any more, thank goodness. They can be a real pain - perfect angels for a couple of weeks and then complete lunatics for another, depending on their cycle and the mare. I’ve heard people say their best and worst horse has been a mare, but knowing which one they’d find on a particular day was a trial. When they're in season (ready to be bred) which they are about one week out of every three for half the year or so, they can be a disaster waiting to happen, especially if there’s a semi-suitable male around.
Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know.;-)
Jim wrote: "Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know. ;-)"Gives new meaning to: "Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod". :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49clc2...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynken,_...
http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/li...
Lovely reminder of an old favorite. Thanks.
We finished dinner about 7:30 pm. For dessert, Lily & Molly came in covered in SKUNK!!! It's poor Lily's first experience with one & she apparently bit its hind end because she was foaming at the mouth & blinking a lot. Her head reeked. Luckily, we have hot water in the wash stall & Marg has vinegar, baking soda & Palmolive dish washing soap, so most of the smell is gone. Not the recommended way to wind down in the evening. :-(
Jim wrote: "We finished dinner about 7:30 pm. For dessert, Lily & Molly came in covered in SKUNK!!! It's poor Lily's first experience with one & she apparently bit its hind end because she was foaming at the m..."Poor Lily! Years ago our dog reeked of skunk. We bathed him tomato juice. When we all went to church, we stank too! The odor clings.
Unfortunately, we're getting to be old pros at dealing with skunks. - wet them down good
- wash with dish washing soap
- rinse well & rub in baking soda
- wash with vinegar which foams & let stand a couple of minutes
- rinse the worst off
- wash with dish washing soap
- rinse very well & dry.
- wash all your clothes & the towels immediately.
Except for a spot between her eyes, Lily doesn't smell much any more. Nice short hair. Molly has a very thick, double coat. She still smells.
Jim wrote: "Unfortunately, we're getting to be old pros at dealing with skunks. - wet them down good
- wash with dish washing soap
- rinse well & rub in baking soda
- wash with vinegar which foams & let stan..."
Thanks, Jim. I'm saving that!
Despite our years of living in the country, Barb and I never had any direct run-ins with skunks, which probably helps allow us to think of them as cute. (We regard them as one of the prettiest species of wildlife there is, with those white and black markings; when our oldest daughter was an infant, we used to call her our "little skunk" as an endearment, though we had to stop that usage because of public opinion. :-) ) But that view probably isn't shared by Lily and Molly (or their owners!), and I honestly DO sympathize, most sincerely! The skunk probably thought it was acting in self-defense, but I know that's small consolation. :-(Interestingly, a close friend of ours once found a skunk in his empty garbage can, where it had evidently fallen in and couldn't get out. He gently picked it up and set it on the ground, and it ran off without spraying him; he said it appeared to sense that he was trying to help, not hurt. (I would not personally have wanted to handle it that directly, however!)
I've heard skunks make good pets & are quite friendly. Of course, pets are descented, an easy operation. One of my fondest memories is of driving down the lane with my mother when I was a teen with a mother skunk & 6 or 8 kits following her trotting ahead of us.Joy, it costs less than $10 to keep a gallon of vinegar (store brand), big box of baking soda & orange scented Palmolive (no store brands) available. The ability to get most of the smell off the dog is priceless, though.
You might remember that a few years ago Erin had to make a 6am run to the store because the dogs found a skunk in our back yard. They got sprayed & ran into the house at 5:15am to wake Marg & Erin up by rolling on their beds to get it off. Marg had wanted to sleep in that morning, too.
;-)
Interesting discussion of skunks! :) I had an distant in-law who collected miniature figurines of skunks. She died and I acquired them. Now I'm sorry I gave them away. They were really cute. So tiny.Personally I prefer racoons. :)
Jim, I'll stock up on the vinegar, etc. One never knows... :)
Remember the famous Boy Scout motto: "Be Prepared! LOL
Joy, Barb and I think that raccoons are really cute, too! :-)
I'd rather have a skunk around than a smart coon. They're too tough, smart, & dexterous for their own good. We had one that drove us nuts for a couple of days until I trapped it. Even broke into the house. Marg found him sitting up on the counter with a dog biscuit in each paw. He got to go swimming shortly after that.
Oh, yes, I realize how smart raccoons are! They raided our campsite once and ate all the plums. They left the pits piled up neatly on the table. I was amazed. I can't imagine finding one in the house!!!One time I saw one staring back at me through our window! LOL
Yes, Werner, they're cute... with those black-patched eyes! https://www.google.com/search?num=10&...+
One time we ran over a family of raccoons crossing the road. The mother with her babies. It was so sad but there was nothing we could do. We had no time to slow down. I'll never forget that. I don't know how many survived.
Thanks for the link to the raccoon pictures, Joy; they're precious!
You're welcome, Werner!
The babies are cute. I've known quite a few people to raise them as pets, but once they get to be about a year old, their personalities usually change. I knew one guy who went into the pen & the coon, who had always been friendly, got mean with him. The guy kicked at him a bit & the coon tore into his heavy leather work boot & messed up his foot pretty bad.In MD, the coons, like the skunks, took a real hit from rabies. I was driving down a back road & one came out into the road. I missed him, but stopped anyway. He was in the middle of the road hopping up & down in the weirdest way. His back was arched & he'd do a few stiff steps, then whirl & bounce. The end stages of rabies are not pretty to see.
Yes, both raccoons and skunks have a higher incidence of rabies than most mammals (that's true of foxes and bats as well). Dogs have the highest rabies incidence of any species, if what I've read is true; the (relatively) high rabies rate among the first three of the others may be due to exposure to dogs, since all three have a tendency to hang around human habitations scavenging and raiding for food. (That wouldn't explain the prevalence of the disease among bats, though.)In at least some states, I understand that it's illegal to try to make pets out of wild animals; and it's usually a bad idea, whether it's legal or not. Wild animals may look cute, but there's a reason why they're called "wild." They don't have instincts fitting them for life with humans, and they're much happier when they're able to be free and in their natural habitats.
This discussion reminds me of something I read/saw a while ago (probably a documentary) which was about how they domesticated wild wolves to become our pet dogs. It was a matter of breeding down from the most friendly wolf of each litter. It was fascinating to see how it was done. I wish I could locate that information again.
Did you ever hear about that fox experiment in Siberia? Apparently it started when they bred foxes to be calmer in captivity for their fur. After just a few generations, they were calmer, but they also got lots of different colors & started barking, just like dogs. That led to the Siberian experiment (or possibly was part of it) & they bred some to be mean. It was incredible. I think it's a National Geographic or PBS show. Nova, maybe? It's been a while. I read something about it once, too.
Jim wrote: "I'd rather have a skunk around than a smart coon. They're too tough, smart, & dexterous for their own good. We had one that drove us nuts for a couple of days until I trapped it. Even broke into..."Coons, skunks, gray squirrels are very cute - IN THE WOODS. I don't willingly share my life with any life form that irks me. (BTW I'm not married:)
Jim wrote: "Did you ever hear about that fox experiment in Siberia? Apparently it started when they bred foxes to be calmer in captivity for their fur. After just a few generations, they were calmer, but the..."Jim, that may be the documentary I was thinking of. Perhaps is was foxes instead of wolves. (I'm having a Senior Moment.) :) I might have seen the documentary via Netflix because it was within the last year, more or less.
Earl wrote: "Coons, skunks, gray squirrels are very cute - IN THE WOODS. I don't willingly share my life with any life form that irks me. (BTW I'm not married:) "Are you a curmudgeon? LOL
BTW, our modem in on the fritz. We have no Internet. I had to come to the public library with my laptop to access the Internet. That's where I am now.The repairman is supposed to come tomorrow. They said that line to our house might be corroded. We just got a new modem a few weeks ago!
Meanwhile I miss my comfy setup at home. My back is killing me in this hard chair. At home I sit on the sofa with pillows when using my laptop. :) I guess I'm spoiled. :)
LOL, Earl! I agree about the animals, but not the wife. Mine works well with me - wouldn't know what to do without her.
We went to Niagara Falls for a mini-vacation. On way there and back we stopped at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge area (Seneca Falls and Auburn NY by Route 89 and Route 31 North). There are some hiking trails, observation area and tower; otherwise you stay in your car and a Wildlife drive - you stay in car and drive around by the marshes and fields. We spotted a few birds I have not previously seen. A good day for a birder! www.fws.gov/r5mnwr
Today, doing laundry from the trip. Watching the turkeys out in the backyard. Looking to see if there are any one-timer birds around the yard (migrators). Not doing today - raking. Probably leave that up to my husband. He gets home early in the afternoon on the weekdays!!
Sounds like a great vacation, Linda. Pretty places, although it's been years since I've been to either.
Hi Linda,Sounds like a great trip! We have loads of wild turkeys around here too. :) Nice to hear from you!
Went to the "StewFest" in downtown Glens Falls yesterday. Sampled a gumbo at Tallulah's restaurant (Near Scoville's). It had shrimp and oysters in it. Delish. I'm going back for more. Also did a little wine sampling at "Uncorked". StewFest is a great fund raiser for the busineses downtown and it's fun!
Uncorked will put you on their mailing list. They let me know about all the fun activities in downtown GF. They also list and link the businesses and restaurants. Here's the link to Uncorked, the wine shop in downtown GF next to Wood Theater:
http://uncorkedglensfalls.com/
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Educated (other topics)Pride and Prejudice (other topics)
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (other topics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (other topics)
War and Peace (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tara Westover (other topics)Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
More...
