Old Otter Holler Farm

Too Much Stuff

Because the weather was unseasonably cold and the wind was whipping upwards of 30 MPH today, I decided to do a bit of spring cleaning in the basement.  I've had my eye on the growing mess down there for quite some time, but could never motivate myself to tackle the issue in any meaningful way.  Besides, where do you put things when you have too much "stuff" for your living space?  As I surveyed the clutter, I began to reminisce about the days when all I owned would fit into a military duffel bag, and most of that was government issued.  Oh, those were the days.  Things pretty much remained like that well into my 20s until I got married.  Then, quite suddenly, the amount of "stuff" I had increased tenfold and continued to grow for the next 10  years.  Just when I began to feel for the first time that I had too much "stuff" my wife and I decided to part ways and suddenly most of my "stuff" was gone, at least the good "stuff".  Some of this loss could also be attributed to a thief who broke into our locked storage area and emptied it.  It was a shock at first, but gradually I replaced most of the furniture and necessities; however, this time I shopped mostly at thrift stores instead of big box stores.  In place of the knickknacks and whatnots my ex-wife would buy,  I bought useful things like tools and "how to" books.  Despite starting over, it did not take long to fill up my living space again, and just when I had filled it, I moved to a farm in West Virginia that had three outside storage buildings.   Well, to make a long story short, I cleaned out the previous owner's "stuff", replaced it with my own, and began building more outbuildings to hold new "stuff" such as tractors, implements, mowers, garden and mechanic tools, chains, ropes, etc.  Now, it seems I have so much "stuff" that if I ever sell this place, I'm just going to give the new owner a key and leave on my motorcycle with all my "stuff" in two saddle bags and a bag on the luggage rack.  How did I accumulate so much "stuff"?  Well, part of the problem is that I live on a farm and am always fixing or building something and more often than not you need something to complete the project...something you can't buy or don't want to buy.  Consequently, when something breaks around the farm and becomes unserviceable, I keep it, or at least parts off of it, just in case I can use them for another project.  This also applies to scraps of wood, wire, pipe, fasteners, auto and tractor parts, and even tinfoil, twist ties, onion and potato sacks, and plastic/paper bags (I picked that up from my Granny).  Therein lies the problem.  This sounds good and oftentimes you can use those things again, but after awhile things begin to pile up and appear junky and cluttered.  This is why some farms around these parts look like junkyards, at least a section of the back forty.  Trouble is, I can't stand having a place that is junky or cluttered.  So, every so often I get the urge to purge and will gather up clothing that doesn't fit and things I haven't used in years and donate them to the local thrift store, gather up all the junk laying around and take it to the scrap yard to sell, or gather things up that are not useful to anyone or recyclable and burn them in a large fire that in the past has probably been visible from the moon.   Today is one of those days.  I'll be making a trip to the thrift store next week and plan to have a large fire in the firepit when the weather permits.  Nothing like restoring some order to your life, and best of all, I'm sure my "stuff" will brighten someone's day at the thrift store!

No Facebook, Twitter, or Texting

I'm probably the only person where I work that does not have a Facebook account, Twitter account, or texting capability, which is an anomaly when you work in the IT industry.  I have several reasons for not having accounts in these social networking sites, the main one being that I think they are a waste of time, particularly Twitter.  First, there is absolutely no way that I need to know or want to know/follow someone's every move or thought.  Second, I can't imagine taking the time to tweet what I am doing or thinking at any given moment.  Besides, who in the hell cares that much?  It is unbelievable though just how much time people spend social networking.  Now I hear that psychologists say that social networking and the Internet can be as addictive as nicotine, caffeine, or any other drug for that matter.  Whenever I walk around the office at work nearly everyone has their (or someone else's) Facebook or Twitter site either open on their monitor, or reduced on their task bar waiting for the next update.   In addition, their smart phones are attached to their hips or within easy reach and are constantly ringing, playing a song, buzzing, or vibrating alerting the user of a new text, tweet, post, etc.  In my opinion, this phenomenon is way past the point of ridiculous.  OK, so do I think this technology has any redeeming qualities?  Yes I do.  For example, I think these tools are invaluable for quickly organizing and communicating with large numbers of people, which has been used successfully by activists around the world.  I also think they could be a good professional networking tool as well.  That's about it, but I'm sure others would disagree, particularly those who share videos, pictures, and music with friends and family.  As for Facebook, I think that too many people are posting too much personal information about themselves and others that could be used against them.  If the truth be known, Facebook and the other social networking sites (including Google, other search engines, and online stores like Amazon) make much of their money by collecting, storing, and selling your personal information to the highest bidder.  Match this information up with other digital information (banking, credit card purchases, investing, employment, travel, bill payment, etc.) and you have rich data set or profile of an individual.  Consequently, I have told my family and friends NOT to post anything about me or what we're doing here at the farm on their sites.  That's what this blog is for...to keep family, friends, customers, and other readers updated on some of the things we're doing here at the farm as well as allow me to express my opinion and even rant and rave about the crazy things I see going on around me.   Sometimes I even wonder if this blog reveals too much information about me and the farm.

New Puppy Invigorates Old Dogs

Over the years we've had anywhere between two and four farm dogs at any one time who play an important role here at the farm.  Although they are not trained working dogs (e.g. for livestock), they keep all kinds of critters  away from our gardens, orchard, henhouse, and beehives as well as bark when someone approaches the farm.  They even bark when a vehicle pulls up to the main gate to the farm, which is 1/2 mile away from the house.  All of the dogs we've had came from the animal shelter, or were on their way there.  Consequently, we've never had a "pure bred" dog of any kind and we wouldn't have it any other way.  We've been really lucky with the dogs we've had so far and have never had a dog that did not fit in with the harmony of the farm, although we have had a few that had "issues", but nothing that we could not overcome.  In order to have harmony at the farm, the dogs must get along with cats, stay out of the garden and flower beds, provide security, get along with livestock, be obedient and friendly with non-threatening people, and love kids.  So far so good, however, we have not had any of the breeds of dogs that are known for aggression or have bad reputations.  To date, we have had dogs that were mixes of Boxer/Great Pyrenees, Blue Heeler/Australian Sheppard, Black Lab, and some unidentified mixes...possibly Chow and Collie.  Currently, we have three dogs whose ages range from 11 years old to seven.  As these dogs grow older, I have noticed they do not always "patrol" the orchard or accompany me around the farm like they used to as I do farm chores.  So, to breathe some new life into these old dogs we added a puppy recently who is now about five months old.  This dog was part of a large litter of puppies that was discovered near the railroad tracks not far from the farm.  The parents were both strays and to the best of my knowledge all the dogs were placed in homes, including the parents.  The puppy appears to be a Beagle/Australian Sheppard mix and will most likely be the smallest dog on the farm.  At first, the old dogs avoided the puppy for obvious reasons; it was irritating, obnoxious, wanted to play all the time, and basically in the way.  Over time though, I've noticed the older dogs have warmed up to the pup and are now busy training him on the ways of the farm and being a dog.  As time goes on, I see him accompanying the older dogs on patrols farther and farther from the house and even see him exploring on his own in the woods, albeit not far from the house.  The best part about the puppy though is that he seems to have invigorated the older dogs to play, be more active, nurturing, and visibly friskier.  In fact, not only are the older dogs happier, but the puppy has enriched our lives providing hours of entertainment, laughs, smiles, and pleasant warm feelings that only a little puppy can do.  Dogs rule!

The Status Quo Does Not Represent My Interests

It should be no secret to the majority of American citizens that their government, regardless of the political party in power, does not represent their interests, nor has it for a very long time. In fact, the corruption, crony capitalism, swindles, and fraud practiced with impunity by those with wealth and power in both government and big business is now routine...and it is all legal. How can it be legal? The answer is because there are essentially two justice systems, one for the financial and ruling elite crafted by them to perpetuate their wealth and power and one for everyone else. In other words, there are two sets of rules for the supposed level playing field. If you don't believe me, then open your eyes and critically think about the recent bank and mortgage fraud perpetrated by the taxpayer-supported TBTF banks, associated industries, and our complicit government. Billions of dollars were stolen from taxpayers, millions of families illegally thrown out of their homes, and trillions of dollars in home equity destroyed by greedy and power-hungry people whose only desire is to maintain and expand their wealth and power at the expense of everyone else. They can do this legally because they, along with their cronies, have captured, manipulated, and exploited our tax system, justice system, economic system, and political system to their advantage successfully directing the majority of this nation's wealth to themselves while maintaining and expanding their power. To clearly illustrate my point, check out the recent sham mortgage fraud settlement of 25B dollars that effectively eliminated all legal liability for all responsible parties while claiming to help those homeowners who were swindled...all this BEFORE the fraudulent activity was properly investigated! That settlement is less than a drop in the bucket for those responsible, and if the truth be known, will probably be paid for with taxpayer money. This obvious criminal activity and rewriting the laws as they go is another clear example of how our government and justice system is owned by those who do not have you or this country's best interest in mind...only theirs. How much longer can the citizens of this country sit back and allow trillions of dollars in home equity to vaporize, banks to illegally foreclose on homes, and hundreds of years of real estate law (contracts and property chain of title) to be ignored and rewritten to protect the criminals. All this and not one person has went to jail! Ditto for the economic crash of 2008 due to unregulated speculation by the banks (and subsequent transfer of private losses to public losses) , the MF Global swindle, billions of missing taxpayer money in Iraq, illegal wars and torture, killing and indefinite detention without trial of American citizens, insider stock trading by members of Congress, or any other recent high-level criminal activity you want to investigate. Involvement in any of these swindles by 99% of the American citizens would mean serious jail time.

Through decades of citizen "education" and outright propaganda promulgated by the main stream media, the financial and ruling elite have successfully convinced the masses that they are consumers and that their role is to be obedient, work hard your entire life, pay all your taxes, consume, take on/pay your debt, and do not question authority. In their eyes, this is your only function which by the way is the very foundation of their wealth and power. Once you recognize this and realize that most everything you've been taught about the economic and political system is false, you begin to question your role in the system and your complacency to allow it to happen and continue. The fact is, everyone does not have the same opportunity in this country. Take the recent example of Mitt Romney's declaration that he paid less than 15% tax on his 20+ million in investment income in 2010. Some folks would say more power to him since his risk taking paid off handsomely, or good for him that he can afford an army of lawyers and accountants to take advantage of all the loopholes in the 70,000 plus pages of the U.S. tax code. After all, you and I have the same right, correct? I don't think so. These loopholes were inserted into the tax code by wealthy people like him and special interests to increase their wealth and maintain their power. We the 99% have no such power or influence.  The financial and ruling elite have and continue to stack the deck in their favor when it comes to taxes, subsidies, investments, financial opportunities, employment, etc, and continue to enrich themselves at your expense. Don't get me wrong. I am an advocate of taking personal responsibility for your actions and abhor the entitlement mentality of our current culture. I also don't see a problem with being rich (as long as the money was earned in an honest and ethical way by producing something of value for society).  However, taking personal responsibility only goes so far when you see that the playing field is not level and there is no way in hell you, your children, or their children will ever break the chains of debt serfdom because of all the laws, taxes, policies, regulations, rampant government spending, collusion with big business, and debasement of the dollar designed to keep you and the other 99% in their place running like a hamster on a exercise wheel just to keep food on the table...all this while those at the top in their own little world pull all the strings.

No, the status quo does not represent my interests or anyone I know for that matter. It's time to stand up and make our voices heard and clean up this corruption that permeates our political and economic system and enslaves us all.

Beehive Housekeeping

To take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather today, my beekeeping  mentor and I swapped out the solid bottom boards on both of my hives and replaced them with screened bottom boards.  Not only does this improve ventilation in the hive, it allows the nasty varroa mites to fall through the screen to their death under the hive.  Being first year bee colonies, we did not expect much of a mite problem, but we wanted to be proactive and stay on top of the issue.  After removing the bottom boards and inspecting them, one had a low level of mites while the other had a moderate amount.  To my amazement, both bottom boards were cleaner than I expected which means the bees were doing a good housekeeping job.  In addition to replacing the boards, we also removed the hive tops and sprinkled powdered sugar over as many bees as we could to force them to groom themselves and hopefully lose more mites.   I plan to sprinkle more powdered sugar (ground granulated sugar) over them in a few more weeks, insert the gridded foam board under the screens, then inspect the grid a few days later to assess the quantity of mites again.  Our goal is to control this bee pest naturally without using chemicals.