Random List: Items purchased from CraigsList

Items purchased after viewing them on CraigsList,

the 8th Wonder of the World (in my opinion):

• steel door w/window
• split rail fencing (5 sections)
• saddle 
• hot tub
• parts for hot tub
• (2) small desks 
• horse trailer
• (2) motorcycles (Suzuki and Goldwing)
• Sleeper sofa
• Disc (tractor)
• Stove, fridge, and microwave (all from same seller)
• (2) Saab convertibles (his & hers)

Look Out Below!

Fun Fact:

Every few days I go up in the barn loft to throw down a few bales of hay.

Sometimes the chickens are wandering around below and I don't want to squash them,

so I toss down a handful of hay and shout 

the SKY is falling, the SKY is falling!

 I'll be darned if those chickens don't run for their lives.

5-18-03: Do You Feel a Draft?

Sunday, May 18 2003

10:40 pm - Yesterday's events were fun. David really got a kick out of how big those draft horses are. We were both impressed with the *horse teams, handling, and plowing efficiency in heavy, damp soil. 

"Don't look now, but I think that guy is following us..."

It was so cool to see man and beast work together to turn the earth.

I think I heard them singing "99 bales of hay in the loft,  99 bales of hay,
so take one down and pass it around,
98 bales of hay in the loft..."

Handsome pair of Percheron Drafts

Met *Ellen Geld and also spoke with *[J]. (We've agreed to May 28 as a date to get together - she & [A] will come over for a late lunch). Ellen was pleasant as was her husband, Carson. It was nice to have [J] there to explain my background a little regarding the Pond House.

Ellen Bromfield Geld seen here signing my copy of her book "View From the Fazenda". Look it up!

Me, Ellen, and [J]. David was taking the picture.
Ellen very kindly agreed to pretend-sign my book again for the photo opp!

After the Malabar Farm events, we went to the plant sale as planned and bought 12 mums and 3 geraniums (the geraniums were almost sold out, and very picked over). Also got a fuschia start at a different location, and 6 tomato starts ($1.50) and 6 sweet hot 'banana' peppers (starts).

Spoke to Sharon on the phone this morning - she wanted to go over some of the photos on the CD we sent. After that, I puttered in the barn while David did some mowing. Barn puttering included playing with the chickens, and moving the pre-greenhouse plants into the stall with the window. This of course led to cleaning the window. Fun to play with the mini horses in the barn stall and out in the corral. "Beanie" is affectionate and lets you hug her like a dog--a big dog. She'll follow me and lean against me for attention.

The dog agility field is in full swing! Yesterday & today I ran Vince & Tessa around the "course". Actually today was the best because David assembled the "tire" frame, and I assembled the two tunnels and staked them down with landscape anchor pins. So, the course had 3 jumps, two tunnels, 1 tire jump and a set of weave poles. It's a riot, and the dogs seem to enjoy it. Tessa is so fast!

Tomorrow we're going to *Cedar Point! The weather forecast for the area looks good - 70's and low chance of rain. David says we're only @ an hour away, so it should be an easy day outing. We may get a season pass to make it worth the money. Have to go 3 times to make that sensible, though.

Yesterday David put landscape lights around the north rim of the pond. 100 ft of wire. It looks so nice at dusk, and also later the way they reveal the water instead of it being just a big, dark hole in the yard.

11:12 pm - I'm going to sleep now so I'll be rested for our big day tomorrow.

*horse teams: All from area draft horse clubs and groups, since Malabar is no longer a working farm.

*[J]: The lovely lady who we tried to buy the "Pond House" from; she worked for many years at the Malabar Farm Gift Shop.

*Ellen Bromfield Geld: daughter of Louis Bromfield, of Malabar Farm fame.

*Cedar Point: Roller Coaster Capital!

End of Entry

5-16-03: In Bed with David Letterman

Friday, May 16, 2003

11:30 pm - If time flies when you're having fun, it's on a damn Leer Jet lately! Nothing big, by Hollywood standards, just small pleasures and lots of things to make me smile.

I love the chickens, love touching the mini horses, love playing with our dogs in the yard and now the "playfield" where I have a little agility equipment set up. Love playing in the garden, in the dirt, in the fields, checking on each & every tree and shrub we've planted.

When I was depressed, I remember trying very hard to think of things I loved or had a passion for, and it was difficult if not impossible to come up with a single thing or person.

We're in bed watching David Letterman. Today David bush-hogged the west field and misc other tasks, and I puttered around with plants and animals. Today was the first day the 4 chickens went outside on their own; they actually went in & out a few times. Won't have to put their water outside anymore.

The weather's been a little cloudy lately, but we can still get things done. I baked chocolate chip cookies last night, and decided to make the chocolate-chocolate chip by adding cocoa. Turned out good.

On Wednesday I gave 5 leftover poplar trees to [K & D] across the road. Later I boxed up several extra mock orange shrubs (root stock) and bicycled up the street. [P & A] weren't home, so I gave a few to *[G/H] and [R], with two slotted for [J] next door, and one to some of [R]'s visitors.
Then, [H] rode his ATV in front of me on my bike & led the way to the Mennonites next door. They have a large garden set up, 35 chickens, ducklings, rabbits & who knows what else. Super nice people from what I saw. They would be a good source for gardening advice.

Also Wednesday, David took the first load of scrap to the landfill that [P & A] told him about. This morning we took the 2nd and last load. Finally the space on the north side of the barn is clear. Tomorrow morning we're going to Malabar Farm for two reasons: 1) Draft Horse exhibition; 2) book signing the *Ellen Bromfield Geld of her new book "View from the Fazenda". After that we'll be stopping by Kingwood Center to buy mums and geraniums from a Garden Club sale. Hope they have plants left since I have a lot of pots to fill.

About the dog agility: Vince & Tessa took to the jumps and weave poles as if it had only been a few days and not more than six months since they last worked. Vince is still a total genius on the weaves, while Tessa is still the most energetic on the jumps. (see footnote on Entry #33 for background on their agility experience)

Today is the 2nd time I had them in the 'playfield' in the North field, and Tessa is so eager to do the agility stuff that I didn't have to have her on leash. She's actually pretty good about responding to commands in general, and not running off willy-nilly. Part training, part maturity.

*[G/H]: funny story... Turns out that[G], the nice old neighbor guy who was the first one I met before we moved into the house, got a bit flustered during that meeting and gave me his formal first name, not "[H]" which is what EVERYONE in the neighborhood called him. He was too embarassed to tell me any different, so I went for the first couple months calling him [G], and apparently caused quite a bit of background chatter in the 'hood. Finally someone told me he went by "[H]", so that's the initial you'll see when I refer to him herein. Poor guy!

*Ellen Bromfield Geld: daughter of Louis Bromfield, of Malabar Farm fame.

End of Entry

May I Have A Few Words With You?

Recently, I have been playing Words With Friends. In fact, not just Words With Friends with friends, but starting up games using the "Random opponent" option. So audacious!

This game covers a lot of bases for me:

• distraction from thinking about work (and/or doing any!)
• brain exercise (a necessity in my family line)
• vocabulary expander
• intelligent competition
• practicing perseverance after defeat
• enjoying the thrill of victory

Plus, I have fond memories of spending hours with the Scrabble board and a family member shouting "Come on, come on! Just choose something!" (Hmmm, sounds like a good name for a blogger...)

Employing the "Random opponent" option on Words has been interesting: 

When I'm playing a Random, I'm not nearly as shy about going for the big point tiles (Triple Word, Triple Letter, etc) and letting loose my score-seeking missiles.

Had the best game of my online life recently with a Random. In fact, I got so intense about the back and forth point-slam that I passed up an opportunity to hot tub with my husband, and ignored the horses staring at me from beside the empty hay racks. My anonymous opponent and I battled to the death, and we ended up tied with 417 points a piece and no letters left! Awesome!

Not so awesome was starting a game with a Random, and being immediately asked (in the chat bubble) "what is your sex/age/location?" Hoping it was just a curious natured person, I replied back, "Hey, how bout if we just play".  The response came back quickly, and my Random identified himself as male, 22, from a large city in Columbia. I immediately 'resigned' the game and changed my screen name...

There seems to be a team of quitters on this virtual playfield. Someone accepts a Random invitation, then quits playing if they don't move ahead in points right away. Silly, really, because the letters move in and out of your possession, and you can go from all vowels one minute to an 8-word combo the next. Well, I guess it's easier to quit when no one can see your face.

I admit to using a 'word finding' application when I get in a jam, or need to make a quick play because I need to sign off. Also, I will often use the app to create the first word on the board, since a nice long starter word is key to a setting up plenty of opportunities for both players.

If you aren't already playing Words With Friends, and enjoy Scrabble, give it a try. Find someone who plays in the same style you enjoy, but don't be afraid to play outside your comfort zone once in awhile.

P.S. One sign of addiction to this game is if you take your Android phone out to the barn with you, and between chores you climb up into the hay loft and lay down on the uppermost ledge with your arms outstretched to snag the evasive Wi-Fi signal from the house, so you can check if your opponent has played a word yet.  That's what I read somewhere, anyway...