The tow truck said his shop was too busy on Saturday to take drop in (or tow in) customers, so he towed them to the PEP Boy’s parking lot and dumped them. The state police was happy, the truck was off the entrance road to the airport, the tow truck operator was happy he got a tow and didn’t have to go far or work hard, Asa and Cheryl were NOT happy, PEP Boys said, Oh, we are too busy to help you, Sorry. So in the face of another disaster, Asa B snatched victory (?) from the jaws of a dead battery and charger, he went across the street to the Firestone Repair shop, he likes them as he has always been treated well by them, and they said sure we can fix it, it will be about 20 minutes and we will fit you in to the next bay. They were sorry to see the goats sitting there.&nbs p; So let’s hope it goes well.

Hallelalua!!! It was raised from the dead!! Or, at least charged. Looks like it was the alternator, so the Firestone repair guys have a new one, are installing it and Asa and Cheryl should be back on the road in an hour or less. Wow, what a hectic time. This truck was a nice buy, but it has had a lot of little (?) expenses since we bought it. Oh well, used vehicles, what can you expect?

Now I know that I am not the only one out there with raccoons on the porch, or the neighbors dogs visiting several times a day, etc. Tell the family some of your little trials and tribulations. Karen, nothing happening? How is your car since Dad and your brother fixed it? Cathy, how are the wedding plans coming along, your wedding is different from the norms in our families, Asa and Sarah have been to Cancun, but not a place like your’s. , I am sure some of us are interested. Josh, how is the life of a professional trucker?&nbs p; Since your mother reads this sometimes, don’t be too explicit.

Love to all,
--Asa Reed Jr.

Well goulish things come out sometimes on the full moon. This time it was a dead battery.

Well last week Asa and Sarah bought some additional goats for our herd. Today they are taking the first load of them back, seems that they have an infection, that while not fatal is very serious and a lot of trouble to control. The farmer they bought them off kind of alluded that they had something, but that it was taken care off, etc. Anyway, on Wednesday, I think it was, the day after they picked up the goats, they went to visit the head of the goat program here in NY, a lady at Cornell. She said they had made a mistake, that this condition wasn’t just treated and ok, etc. They should not pickup the rest, but should take back the part of the herd they had already picked up. They called the rancher, and he said, ok, bring them back and he would give them their money back. But, he wanted them back Saturday so he could work on selling them to someone else this weekend (for a lot less than he got from Asa and Sarah no doubt). Well the truck had a battery problem last weekend and it had been left got till last night and Sarah wrote in her blog about the night of the full moon, which I sent to most of the family earlier.

So today at the crack of dawn, Asa and Cheryl take off for Rochester to return the goats. Sarah decided to stay home and let the kids sleep in and see how the kittens were doing this morning. Asa and Cheryl were just at Syracuse airport when the battery gave up. So there they sit with a truck full of goats, stuck! A state police man pulled up behind them and suggested a towing service, they were trying to call the insurance company to find one when he arrived. So they are getting towed to the Walmart just up the road which had a tire and battery shop, hopefully it will do alternators if that is the problem.

WoW!!!

Love to all,
--Asa Reed Jr.

June 29, 2007

On the night of the biggest full moon of the year it was our 1 year anniversary on the farm and it was as crazy as usual. Woody went to the neighbors in the afternoon and I had to go get him. The trucks battery was dead and a part broke while trying to replace it, so we had to drive to Watertown to get the part Asa needed to fix it. While driving to Watertown we received a call from Grandma who was home with the girls alone. She called to tell us the two neighbor dogs came for a visit and what should she do with them. She didn't have any car seats in her van and there was two dogs with no collars or leashes. We told her to put them in the blue car with the girls and take them next door and put them in the back yard. She no sooner got the girls buckled in and the dogs were out again and following her back to our house. She then took them back over and put them in their garage. We were both nervous they would eat something they shouldn't so Grandma brought them back to the house and tried to put them in Woody's Kennel. However they wouldn't go in the kennel. Grandma then used Woody's collar and tied them outside to the porch with the orange tie down straps. When we got home Asa fixed the truck but puked because it was almost 10pm and he swallowed a few bugs which made him gag. After he fixed the truck we took the neighbors dogs back and Asa insisted they would be fine in their garage. Once back at home we were talking in the kitchen and heard a funny noise. At first we thought it was Salem the kitten stuck outside. I stated I bet Sparkles is having her kittens. We all went out to see and sure enough she had 3 kittens on the porch and one was sprawled out crying. I found a towel with holes and put her and the kittens in a tub so she wasn't giving birth on the yucky wood of the porch. We woke up Quinlyn and tried to wake up Addisson but she just rolled over and went back to sleep. Quinlyn loved looking at the babies. By 10:30 she was delivering another kitten. She had two tabbies and I couldn't really tell what the other one looked like. It was another exciting adventure at the farm. It never fails, anytime Asa and I go anywhere together alone and leave Grandma alone with one child or both something always seems to happen.

June 29, 2007

On this date one year ago we began our adventure at our current residence. We arrived at the farm at about 5pm. We were so overwhelmed by the conditions of the house we opted to sleep in the car. So tonight we are going to celebrate our Anniversary by sleeping in the car. Grandma and I decided one Asa and the kids fall a sleep we are going to sneak back to the house and sleep in our beds. Leaving him in the car with two kids and a dog. LOL.

Looking back at the past year has been a year of learning. Especially recently with the goats.

To be continued.........

Mr. Raccoon is at it again, last night he was up on the porch just after Asa and Sarah took of for the drive in. Just before they left Asa B set the live catch trap, turned around and Sparkles the cat got caught in it. So he set her free, reset the trap, and headed to the car and bang, Salem the kitten got caught in it before Asa and Sarah were out of the drive way. Cheryl did not know how to open it so she just let it sit there with the kitten in it, no harm done. When the raccoon showed up it was trying to get the kitten from the rattling and the kitten crying, so she chased the raccoon off the porch and brought the cage into the kitchen. Though we hopped otherwise, the raccoon came back and this time Cheryl sic’ ed Woody the dog on it. Woody ran off into the yard area barking and howling, but we have no indication that he caught the raccoon. So, for now Mr. Raccoon is still free and a still being a pain. He had opened up the birdseed, the turkey seed, and most of the other containers on the porch creating quite a mess. What a pain raccoons are.

Love to all,
--Asa Reed Jr.

Pancakes anyone? Well the girls and I make breakfast a lot of times and they know how to make them by now, Addisson can almost receipt the scratch receipt, not bad for a 4 year old. So they know that you can make them a lot of ways, their favorite being blueberries by a large margin. Well this weekend, they had a small supply of gummy bears, gummy worms, and gummy lobsters thanks to Grandpap Reed. (Grandma Taylor had supplied them both with little plastic tweezers to pick up their gummy bears, there is a little light in the tweezers, so when you squeeze the gummy bears they light up and the shine, even when you put them into your mouth, the girls loved these tweezers.) So they took the next step and wanted to try t he gummy bears in pancakes. Not a good idea. We tried on gummy worm and one gummy lobster in the pancakes and they melted completely and then fried on our griddle and what a mess Grandpap had to clean up!

The girls and Grandpap in the midst of the real work spend a couple of hours in the hay barn putting together the swing set. Since the work was going way too slow for a 4 and 2 year old, they asked if I would hold the two person swing while they tried it out. Whoa!!! Grandpap can hardly lift the swing let alone hold it with my two favorite granddaughters on it. So, I told them no. Addisson then asked it I could temporarly put it up like I had put the single swings up? This was a lot more doable, so we took a couple of minutes and a couple of pieces of rope and hung it from the rafters. The girls loved it and spent their free t ime, when they were not helping mark, drill holes, and screwing screws for the next couple of hours riding the swing. And this was not a casual swinging time, they put a lot of gusto into this. Little Quinlyn had to literally stand on her feet most of the time to keep up with Addisson and they both were flying, shaking the rafters of the whole hay barn. Well, but the time we quite, Grandpap was in trouble again. Addisson had sore arms and Quinlyn actually had blisters on her little hands!!!! Today, Sarah has identified blisters on Addisson抯 hands also, Grandpap clearly worked these little farm girls too hard.

That night we all went down to the pond for a hotdog roast. What is a picnoc without a little fishing at the pond, Asa B and the girls caught a couple of cat fish immediately and the girls helped me clean the fish and put them on the grill, so besides the hot dogs we had 3 nice catfish for dinner. Quite a nice day, gentle wind and temperatures in the 60s it was nice.

Love to all,
--Asa Reed Jr.

Sarah and Dan Trimming the bushes out front. They hadn't been pruned in probably 40 years. It made a huge bonfire.