It's A Boy

The Saanen goat originated in the Saanen valley in Switzerland. They are one of the largest goats and are known to be so gentle, they earned the nickname of, "giant marshmallow".

We picked up Willie The Kid from a family who raise a few Saanen goats for their excellent milk. Willie is approximately 2 weeks old and the kids named him after Uncle Willie.

Jordan has taken on the roll of Momma, and Willie needs to be bottle fed 3 times a day.

When baby cries at 5:30am, Momma was quick to feed her new baby.

Below Tommy negotiates for parental rights. He tells Jordan he can be Willie's Dad, and she can be the Mom.

So if Jordan is the Mom, and Tommy is the Dad to this goat, would this make Jeanne the Grandmother to a goat, and Jeanne's parents Great Grand Parents to a goat?

We will need to ask that question to Great Grandpa George!

Another Chapter Closed

Tuesday we passed our final inspection and we now have our Certificate of Occupancy. This does not mean we are finished with the project, it means we now can legally occupy the addition. We still have a lot of finish work to accomplish, and a couple of weeks worth of clean up thanks to the flood we experienced earlier this month.

This does mean we do not have any deadlines for the first time in seven months. Nothing needs to be finished today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. No contractors will be coming and going, no contractors will be waiting for me to finish something so they can finish something.

I explained to Jeanne the feeling of relief I was feeling, like I had run a marathon or climbed a mountain and finally reached the top of the mountain or crossed the finish line. I explained how giddy I felt inside knowing that I have no deadlines to meet.

She reminded me to get the trash out to the curb by 6am, Jordan to violin by 8am, the kids to school by 9am, register the boy for T-ball before the deadline, take the dog to the vet, pickup crickets for the lizards, pickup the kids by 3:30, and what was I making for supper?

So much for my nap!!!

For You And Me

In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote "God Blessed America For Me". This was his reply to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which filled the air waves at the time, and was sung by Kate Smith.

Woody Guthrie felt God Bless America was somewhat unrealistic, and after writing "God Blessed America For Me", he changed the words to, "This Land Was Made For You And Me".

The other night the boy started singing this song and when I asked him, he said he was learning the song in school. We had a great sing along, until Momma and Jordan pulled the plug so they could sleep. ( no need to cover your ears, I was not recorded)




THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Interspecies Cooperation

For the second year in a row, I find myself captivated by Swamp the Swan and his desire to be part of a family. Swamp and our pair of White Emblem geese have selected a spot to build their nest within some flood debris in our back yard.
Swamp joins in building the nest and if he repeats his actions from last year, he will take turns setting on the eggs.

Flood 2011

Hours after the river peaked on Tuesday morning, I found myself mesmerized by the magnificent volume of water still riping by the house.

The Connecticut flood of March 2011 will go down in my book as the second worst flood I have experienced. If we had not elevated the house when we did, we would be homeless at this time, The water would have filled our basement to the top, only inches away from the floor boards, and this would have wiped out our furnace, water, and electrical. We also would have lost the kids play room.

I do not, and can not think about the situation we would have found ourselves in if we found ourselves flooded out of our home and had to rebuild it again. I get a queasy feeling thinking about it.

If you take into consideration the magnitude of this flood, and what could have been, it is surprising that the stress level was lower then any other flooding event we have experienced. Was this luck? Absolutely not! This was do to a lot of hard work from a lot of people, and I am so grateful to John Jackmen, Fran Raiola, and Jennifer Thompson up at the Town of Mansfield's Fire Marshalls office, the Folks at Fema, and The State Of Connecticut Dept of Emergency Management.
My family is sheltered by the home they love because of the Town of Mansfield was willing to take on this project.



What a difference a year makes. The kids love it when we need to use the little red school bus to get to school, and when I compare shots from last year to this year, I realize how fast they are growing, and I want it to slow down.

March 2011

March 2010

WaterFront Camp For Rent

Do you enjoy fishing? Do you love to swim? If you enjoy being a part of nature, this waterfront camp is for you.

We are taking reservations for the 2011 season. Don't wait, book your dream vacation now while we still have a few openings.

A Little Inconvenience

I really thought, just because we put all the brutal hard work into our renovation, it would never flood down here again.

Wrong Again!!

Mother Nature decided the snow and extreme cold this winter was not enough. She has decided to test us with a substantial March flood.

The good news is, we are sitting high and dry with no worries that we will loose everything again to flood waters.

The bad news is, because the road is under 2 feet of water none of the contractors were able to get here today. I guess they never heard of a boat.

The worst part of this was I still had a considerable amount of property stored in the back yard and we were unable to move the camper, but the way I figure it, if I can renovate a home, I should be able to fix the camper.

Below are some shots of todays flood waters.


Above is a shot of the river taken about a week ago.
Below is the same view early today.



Above a week ago.
Below today.


No this is not a calm river lined with pines. This is Steve my new neighbor paddling down his driveway. This is his first flood since he bought the property.



Something tells me we won't be receiving mail today.


Standing in our driveway looking down the street.


This is where I park my car. Approximately 30 minutes after I took this picture I looked out and the canoe was gone.
The water came up high enough to float it away in a short period of time.

I did recover it.


We are hoping that the river peaks soon and starts receding or we will start to experience a new level of inconvenience.

Almost

Today was "Almost done day".

How you doing on the rafters? Almost Done!
How you doing on the sheetrock? Almost Done!
How you doing on the railings? Almost Done!
How you doing, How you doing, How you doing???

ALMOST DONE!!

We had many pieces of the puzzle almost done, so Ron, Willie and myself spent today getting many of those pieces to a point were we can drop the almost and say, "Done".

This upcoming week is a big one. If all goes as planed, we will pass our final inspection with the town building officials, and close out the grant. The work will continue, and most likely will continue for some time to come, but all the contractors will be finished and their final invoices will be submitted this week and everything required to close out the grant will be complete.

The finish work will be left for me to complete and there is not a single cell in my body that even remotely enjoys painting. Unfortunately, I have seen what Jeanne can do with a paint brush, and no offense sweetheart, but I think the goats could do better.

I could not be more pleased with the siding installed by Earl Logdson. The above picture is Earl and Willie putting the final touches on the front. We also made a major decision. Instead of the barn red color Jeanne and Jordan wanted me to paint the house, they decided they really liked the color of the grey primer on the cedar siding, so we will paint the house grey.

We have come a long way. Below is a picture of the side of the house now and a picture of the 90 degree hot humid day Ron and I started the demolition work.

Keep Your Coat On

It takes approximately 50 Mink, give or take, to make a Mink coat.

I personally believe the fur looks much better on the Mink, like the Mink I spotted this morning running along the river bank.

The view from our new loft gets better everyday.