| January 01 - Christmas Puppy |
It has been an interesting week with my niece and nephew home to the farm
for their Christmas break. Dad & Mom got the family a new puppy for Christmas and she certainly has
kept everyone hopping. "Princess" is a purebred pug and is extremely lively to
say the least. I have always loved boxers and Princess seems to have every single boxer
trait and expression except on a more manageable scale. It is much nicer to have a pup
that only jumps up to reach your knee as opposed to paws going over your shoulders. I am a
soft touch for that boxer/bulldog type face and wrinkled brow as well. |
| January 07 - Foggy |
It was another very foggy today, 7º F ( -14º C)
with most of the area schools canceling and delaying several days already.  This has
been the snowiest and coldest December/January since the early 1980s with at least a half
dozen days in which our low temperatures adding wind chill factor have fell to at least
-30 below zero F ( -34º C). I seem to break off the frozen edges
of my mustache every time I go out to feed in the mornings this Winter. The calves are
taking it well and we have been able to keep the cow herd weathering the storms by
breaking into our top quality hay hard and heavy. We are keeping an eye on them as the
nursing girls are expending alot to keep warm and in heavy milk. |
| January 19 - BT Farms |
| Brian Alt stopped by to walk through the calves this morning as he picked
up PSA Emulation EXT 529J for use in he and his wife Tammy's BT Farms herd
near Celina. 529 stems from our well known "No Ears" Independence cow and is a
gentle and meaty calving ease herd sire for use in their young herd. We are in the heart of calving for January and we seem to be blessed with a run of bulls for the time being. with seven straight so far I really like the B/R New Design 323's that we had in the Fall but the Circle A 2000 Plus bulls born the first of the month are starting to shine more every day. |
| February 09 - The Swings |
| It was a very warm day today, 66º F ( 18.8º C) but the bottom is to fall out tomorrow with a high of only 24º F ( -4.4º C) expected. Nothing like a swing of 40 degrees in 12 hours to wake you up. These extremes come with living in this part of Ohio and require us to be able to open and close the windows and vents in the calf and maternity pens to regulate the air flows, moisture and temperatures constantly to keep the animals healthy. With the snow melting, the mud is also back with a vengeance. I guess I always have to complain about something and today it is the mud. I am sure tomorrow it will be the frozen ruts. |
| February 24 - BTC & recovering |
| It was a busy day as I presented the reports and information on the
merger of Bright PCS into Horizon PCS as a Sprint PCS operating partner covering territory
from Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, through Ohio and Northern Indiana to
Chicago at the Annual Shareholders meeting of the Buckland Telephone Company today. This
project was one of two of the main projects that I served as representative from the BTC
board this past year with the other being my position as VP of the executive board of
Bright.net Ohio Internet. We invested heavily in these two projects but returns are
already being seen and will make us a much stronger company. Presenting the stockholders
with all the pertinent information made for a longer than usual Annual meeting but was
well received. It is also nice to have the latest in digital Internet phones out here in
the rural areas as well. I spent the later afternoon visiting mom at the hospital where she is still recuperating from hip surgery last Thursday. She had a bad bout with the anesthesia and will have to spend several more days at least. before we can get her home. |