Sunday Afternoon Stroll...v 2.28.16...

We haven't taken many Sunday afternoon strolls lately, but yesterday was so beautiful that we just couldn't stay at home!  Neither could a lot of other people!

We met my sister and brother in law at the Pinnacle Overlook in Holtwood. It's a nice place to get a great view of the Susquehanna River, between the Safe Harbor Dam and the Holtwood Dam...just about thirty minutes from our house.

The mighty Susquehanna was quite muddy yesterday!  I guess there has been a lot of rain and melting snow lately.  But it's still beautiful...

Binoculars come in handy...

...as do cameras...

We also did a short, easy hike...

After we had seen what we wanted to see at the Pinnacle, we headed across the Norman Wood Bridge to Lock 12.  We drove north along the river until we reached a parking area close to the west side of the Holtwood Dam.  I had been there before, but never when all of the gates were open the whole way across the dam to let water over.  What a powerful force water is! Here's a short video to give you the full sound effects of the rushing water...

If you click on the links at the top of the post, you can read about the Hydro-electric plant that you see here across the dam...

We walked a little farther north, and got a different view from the lake above the dam.  From where I was standing to take this picture, I could feel the spray from the water!

My Dad used to run with the local fire company, and they were often called to assist with river rescues.  People would wade out to the rocks below the dam and get stranded when the water levels would suddenly rise.  There are warning sirens before water is let over and levels rise, but some folks don't listen!  There have also been times when boaters have been in this lake above the dam and either lost power and went over the edge, or weren't paying attention to how close they were to the dam and didn't get stopped. Some lucky ones have survived, but others have not been so fortunate. The fall is about fifty feet, and there are a lot of rocks in the water below...

Before we left, we spotted this in a tree in the woods behind us...

It appears to be a bald eagle's nest!  We didn't see any eagles flying around...only buzzards...but they are known to be in this area...

It was a nice afternoon be to outside, and hopefully there will be many more days like this to come!

Friday's Hunt #9...

Friday's Hunt feels different this week...

I had in the last couple of months just begun connecting via Blogland with East Gwillimbury Camera Girl. She was a wonderful photographer, and  it was always fun to anticipate what her "starts with" pictures would be! She also left very kind comments on my blog.  She and her husband were tragically killed in a car accident in Ontario earlier this week. Although we never met, she will be missed!  Many thoughts and prayers are being lifted for their families and friends.

My photos aren't nearly as interesting as hers, but here is my interpretation of this week's prompts...

"Something blue" and "week's favorite" are the same this week...

I've been scrapbooking ever since Eric was a baby...and that's almost 20 years ago! In this digital age, I still like the process of putting photos in a book, and labeling them in my own handwriting. I've heard it referred to as modern day quilting.

Anyway, this is Eric's school album, which is almost finished! It's fun to look back at the first day of school...

...and it's interesting to see how scrapbooking styles have changed over the years too...

I spent most of today scrapbooking with a friend, and I'm happy to say that I hope to have his book finished this week!  Then it's time to get Jenna's book up to date.

"Starts with I"...

I don't often find eggs inside the nesting boxes! For some reason, my current chickens like to lay their eggs in the corner of the shed, in the straw. Oh well...

I hope you have a good weekend!

End of the Week...

It's been a strange week!

Last Saturday, we battened down the hatches for some bitter cold wind, and had temperatures in the single digits...we had snow during the day on Monday and an early dismissal from school...sleet Monday night and a two hour delay on Tuesday...and rain on Wednesday which resulted in lots and lots of mud.

Today, we have seventy degrees...yes...70 degrees and breezy sunshine! We also have snow drops blooming in the flower bed beside the house. Spring must be soon coming!  I know it could still get pretty cold, but today there's a hint of warmth in the air.  Yes!!!

This is my "Week's Favorite"...

For "Starts with H" I chose Home...

This is where Jim and I have called home for the last twenty-two years, and where he called home for many, many years before that!  This is an old picture, taken the year we moved to the farm.  Not a lot has changed, except that a couple of trees have come down and the barn and silos have since been repainted...

"Family" is the last prompt for this week.  I used to always try to get a good family snapshot taken each year for Christmas, but I've been lax in doing it lately.  Now the kids are so busy, and we are so often going our separate ways, and I miss having that photo!  So here are a couple from last June, at Eric's high school graduation...

I'm linking up again with Teresa at Eden Hills, for Friday's Hunt.  Click on the link for more blog posts!

Friday's Hunt #7 (just a little behind schedule!)...

I know, it's not Friday...and I'm a day late for Friday's Hunt with Teresa at Eden Hills!

It's been a busy couple of days, and I wasn't sure if I'd get a post finished or not, but finally there's time to sit and relax, so here goes.  I'm also going to go a little out of order this week, which goes against my grain, but oh well.

First up is "in my kitchen".  There's been a lot of hot tea consumed lately around here, and the tea box just got refilled.  It sits on my kitchen counter right beside the stove.  What's your favorite flavor?

Next up is "week's favorite"...

Tonight was the county orchestra concert, and Jenna played in the Sinfonietta.  We were sitting in the balcony, which gave us a nice view of the whole group.  They're warming up here, waiting for the concert to begin...

Last but not least is "starts with G...

I'm tired, so I chose "good night" for this one.  This picture was taken last night, just as the sun was about to go down.  The last couple of days have been long and hard.  We've been blasted with some frigid air and strong winds, and finally we are in the warm house and ready to say good night!

Check out some of the other blogs with the link at the top of the post!

Winter Fence Building...

There are a lot of things I wouldn't want to be doing this time of year, and I was reminded again of one of them today...

The last section of old meadow fence at the "other farm" is being replaced, and this is the week it was put on the schedule.  Brrrr...it's a cold week to have to be working outside all day!

Jim penned the heifers and dry cows inside the barn, where they can stay out of trouble, and watch the activity if they so choose...

The north side of the barn yard will be replaced with wooden fence and a gate.  The post holes are all dug, and the fence posts are resting loosely in place....

There are bags and bags of Quikrete that will be used to anchor the posts securely into place...

The east side of the meadow will be replaced with PVC fence.  There will be an electric wire running through the fence for added security against rambunctious animals that have wanderlust...

...and the section along the driveway will be done as well...

In the next day or so, once the posts are anchored into their holes, the rails will be snapped into place, and it will look fantastic!  It will be a huge improvement from an old fence that needed lots of repair!

I'm joining up today with Good Fences.  Click on the link to visit other blogs with more fence posts!

Friday's Hunt #6...

Once again it's time for another Friday's Hunt post.  Thanks Teresa, for hosting again!

This week's prompts are...

Starts with F...

We've had two fresh cows this week, and are expecting two or three more at any time!  For those of you unfamiliar with farmer lingo, a fresh cow is a cow that has just had a calf.  This cow just had her third calf, but we have a slew of two year old heifers that will soon be freshening and joining the milking herd...

*the correct answer to yesterday's post about this cow and her unusual birth is...the calf was born backwards...or breech.  The fact that both the cow and calf were facing the same direction indicates that the calf was born back feet first.  Normally the calf presents it's two front feet first, with the nose on top of the feet...as if were taking a dive headfirst off a diving board.  You can quickly determine that the calf is breech if the bottom of the hooves are pointing upwards.  (think about how the bottoms of your feet are face up as you enter the water from a dive) It's usually a little more difficult calving, and the cow often needs a bit of assistance when this happens. Jim peeked in on her, noticed right away what was going on, and was able to help her without complications.  The calf was big, but she is an experienced mother, and that was definitely to her benefit!

The second prompt is "week's favorite"...

Yesterday was my Mom's 83rd birthday, and tonight my Dad invited us down to their house for a birthday party.  Definitely a favorite from this week!

The last one is "negative space"...

I'm a novice photographer, but when I looked up what it meant, and looked at some of the other photos, I came up with this one.  It's from a snow storm about five or six years ago, but I was able to find it!  The focus is on the milk truck of course, but  I thought the blowing blinding snow gives the proper effect.  And yes, it really did look like that on that very cold winter day.  I remember it clearly...

To see more entries for Friday's Hunt with Teresa at Eden Hills, click here.

Bethany's Baby...

A heifer calf was born this morning...

Because this birth was a little unusual, I was hoping to get a picture of Bethany and her baby right after the birth.  I wanted to see if you could tell me what was unusual about her birth?

Jim had to give her a little help, but once her calf was born, Bethany jumped up right away and started cleaning her baby off.  So, in the time it took me to run to the house for my camera, I missed the picture! Instead, here's a word picture of what I saw..."when she was born, both baby and mother were facing the south side of the pen." 

This is the first picture I was able to get, about five minutes after birth...

Fifteen minutes later...

...and about an hour later...

Mom and baby are both doing fine.  She was born on my Mom's 83rd birthday, so I wonder if I should name her Helen?

Put your guesses as to what was unusual about her birth in the comments, and I'll tell you if you're right in tomorrow night's post!