field lab field trip

Out and about today.  Task at hand? - Get a picture of Bud's parents.  Found them about 7.5 miles (as the crow flies) west of TFL...a 45 minute drive.  Just so you know - I wasn't just blindly driving around looking for them.  Dick Cane took me to where they might be and pointed them out when we got to the spot.  They just happened to be standing close to each other when we found them.   Bud's dad is the sire of most of Dick's herd.  Bud's mom had him when she was only 2 yrs. old...a bit too young for either of them.  That's why Bud is a bit of a runt.  I'm doing my best to fatten him up.  I forgot to ask if Dick named the bull, so I call him Brutus del Agua Fria.

A Tiny World Indeed

The usual critter and greenhouse chores all morning including soaking down my composts.  I think the "pit" will be ready to harvest next week since it is time to fill some tubs for growing and we should be safe from overnight frosts.

Had a very interesting visit from new friends from NYC this afternoon.  Theodore and Juliana are making their way toward LA and popped in for the tour.  Lately, when folks have asked about visiting TFL and if I need anything - I have suggested a plant for my greenhouse.  Today's visitors scored extra brownie points for bringing me a lime tree.  I had a great time with them and Ben was well behaved for an up close meet'n'greet.  One problem I have discovered with my new camera is that if there is no memory card in it and I only use the viewfinder when shooting - it will act just like it is taking pictures when in fact it only just sounds like it is.  That being said,  I thought I shot several pictures of the two of them interacting with Ben....nope.  Thankfully,  I can share at least one pic of their visit thanks to Facebook.

And now for the rest of the story:  As they were getting ready to leave, we confirmed our Facebook contacts.  Found Juliana and sent a friend request.  Found Theodore and saw that we had a mutual friend.  I sent him a friend request and a message asking him if he had actually met our mutual friend because I had dated his sister when I lived in Brooklyn.  Turns out he did actually know our mutual friend because he had dated his other sister.  Complete strangers just met that only had one degree of "intimate" separation.  50,70,28,0,C,0

As it goes...

As the true Word is passed down through generations, it gets diluted and denied more and more.  We are in a constant battle against the forces of evil and must join His army to defeat Satan.  The Bible will always be here to teach those who are willing to learn...but it needs to be shared and passed on with due diligence.  The everlasting fate of humanity suffers with every break in the chain.  May God bless the families that share His Word with their children so the Truth may be passed on to their generation.  
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Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up , and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go . 14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15  And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. 16  And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong , whom ye see and know : yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.  48,62,41,0,W,0

Head Gear

Finished up Benita and Bob's skulls today...topped off with a clear mat acrylic spray on the horns.  Tip to tip measurement on the old girls is 56 3/4" for 24 year old Benita and 47 3/4" for 4 year old Bob.   Ben's horns are now officially longer than his ears.  His new tip to tip is 18 3/8"/

Retired Field Lab cowboy hat #5 today.  Bought an unshaped palm leaf hat from http://www.bigbendsaddlery.com/hatsp.html (you can't beat the price for a do it yourself hat)  Soaked it, shaped it, blocked it, and let it dry.  68,83,60,0,B,0

The Millers Have Landed...

Feed run to Alpine today for the boys.  Scored big time on wood chips at the Alpine recycling center. Only got a small load on this exploratory trip.  I will take all I can truck out of there as soon as I figure out the best option.  My friend Bennet Jones steered me toward the nearly unlimited supply.  In case you missed it earlier - this is the plan.  http://backtoedenfilm.com/

My friends the Millers are just beginning their odyssey in the desert.  Gave them a welcome to Terlingua housewarming present today - the latest TFL mozzarella.  It looks really big in the tiny hands of their daughter Santa Alayna.  I can already tell that she and her sister Queen Elizabeth are going to become good friends of Ben and Bud.  You can share their new journey here.  http://www.our180.com/  70,86,50,0,B,0

My Best Friend

Dick Cain came ridin' up this morning.  I always enjoy a visit from him especially when he shows up on horseback.  The first time he did that, he gave me a birthday card deeding Benita to me.

In the mail today:  my order from http://www.cheesemaking.com/
Got some citric acid powder and vegetable rennet tablets at 1/4 the price of the drug and grocery store options in Alpine.  The Junket rennet I've been using has been OK...but not curding up that well even using 2 tablets.  Tried out the real thing today with just a quarter tablet and the milk began to curd as soon as I mixed it in.  Got great separation and a most excellent curd.

The orange and grapefruit trees are blooming like mad now and the whole greenhouse is filled with the aroma.  Found my first blossom on the lemon tree today.  63,84,36,0,C,0

Peakpureair.com

My friends Jon and Sandy came out for a repeat visit.  The title of the post is their web business.  Ben was informed earlier to be extra polite because they are the folks that bring and send Tennessee Honey.  

Got an interesting email from David Smith last week after my rant about sitemeter.  I checked with him to make sure it was OK to post his message: "Sorry you've been having troubles with Site Meter. I was the founder of Site Meter many years ago but sold the site in 2006 and unfortunately they haven't really treated it very well since them. Your solution to "fixing" Site Meter seems to be what a lot of people do, they switch over to statcounter. Just wanted to say hey! and I've been following your adventures for a few years. Your interests parallel a lot of mine with self sufficiency, photography, architecture, food/nutrition and just making things in general. I'm still living in the suburbs but I'm hoping the zoning for my neighborhood will finally be changed this spring and I'll be able to build my chicken coop."

Tech Talk of the day.  Finally got around to finding the solution to downloading my YouTube videos to my netbook.  The web worked exactly to my expectations today.  One quick search and I came up with this advice that worked flawlessly...ahhhhhhh. http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57405342-285/how-to-download-videos-from-youtube-vimeo-and-more/   CNET always has great computer advice.   I used their first choice.  58,63,50,0,B,0