Whew, have we cooled off! Now 9:30 and only in the low 50's according to our atomic clock/thermometer....only 48 by AOL weather. Supposed to be 41 tonight! Looks like our planned wood splitting session today is not a bit too early. We have been delayed this year due to an excess of "other" projects and am beginning to feel pretty uneasy with the woodshed only having three ricks in it (6'x14"x7' ). Last year we used 7 of the 10 that we stored. So, we have a way to go. We are using some nice big red oaks that have fallen on the farm this year. Guess they must have some type of disease as they look entirely healthy one day and just keeled over to reveal NO roots. Amazing and a trend that I hope does not continue though it provides us with a nice wood supply for the moment. My favorite little Gray Japanese Banty came off her nest with 5 of the very smallest, little, black, puff balls on Tuesday. Had been hoping that she would hatch some of this setting as an earlier try produced no viable babies. Swept out and washed down the walls of a new "room" in the ancient hen house, put some bedding on the floor and installed her with the babies immediately. Last night we put a heat light in there for her....spoiling her a bit, I know, but she is the sweetest little thing and the only hen of that breed that we have. Sure hope some of the little ones are hens! Am busily gathering and collecting seeds from my zinnia bed. Had thought we would enjoy having some for cutting and we have.....will have a bigger patch next year. They were the most productive part of the garden this year due to our extreme temps and drought in July. We still have a considerable amount of brush hogging to do but have been beset by rains that have kept the undergrowth green and moist. After July passing without a drop of rain here it seems bizarre to have to postpone so things can dry out. Sure is great hearing what everyone is doing at this time of year....you all will hopefully keep us "on track". This is just our third Fall on the farm....moved here in '03 after living in SW Florida for 24 years. Love the change of seasons and being back "home" again but we are kind of out of practice in the "getting ready for winter" department!

Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.

Our doves did try to eat some of the rice I threw out for them as I had read that someone had said they liked rice. Yesterday I noticed that our baby doves were sitting alone but we were also aware that the Mom and Dad were close by watching over them. Late in the day a Blue Jay was after the two little ones sitting in thier nest. Both parents decended on the Blue Jay until he flew away. Neither of the parents went back to the nest; we were concerned that they wouldn't make it to the next day. To our joy we found the Mom sitting on the nest early in the morning. However later both parents were away from the baby doves. Late this afternoon I was thrilled to witness both the Mom and Dad at the nest; Mom was feeding the little ones. And later - no parents, no baby doves. They had left the nest. My previous witness of all four of them together must have been the LAST family gathering. My question is: Do the parents stay with thier young long enough to teach them full flying lessons or do they kick them out of the nest and expect them to survive on thier own?

Truth be told, Phoebe is what is known as an "Earth Worker." In her mind she is working, hunting fox, racoons, etc. as she was breed to do. At the end of the tunnel (although sometimes in a tree) she will find a "bait" animal sprayed with pheromones that let her know she has found her catch. She retrives and brings it back. Thus protecting the "farm" from lethal creatures. Jack Russells are serious hunting dogs, when brought to suburban life they must be given jobs. It is not fair to take a dog of this intelligence and drive and make it a "lap dog." The JR is bred to have the courage to follow a fox to ground and stay with it until the quarry bolts, is dug to, or the dog is called out; they are intended to bay (bark) at their quarry, not to kill. Many a Jack Russell has been known to stay in an active earth for days, even weeks, without food or water because of the strong instinct bred into them to stay with their quarry. She is also being trained to do what only a few special canines can. Low bloodsugar detection for diabetics. My DH suffers from type 1 diabetes. We have a family member who is a diabetic educator and noticed how Phoebe responded to DH's low bloodsugar and said she would be a great candidate for this training. Unfortunatly, dogs cannot be trained to detect low bloodsugar. Certain dogs (no special breed) can pick up on the change in said person when they are experiencing a low BS. The dog can then be trained to respond to that! Pretty neat! Tail docking is a long established animal management practice based upon injury prevention and health enhancement. Working terriers, especially those bred to go to ground have had their tails docked for centuries, as hunters believe a terrier with a docked tail can work better in a confined space with less of a chance of tail injury. Experience has shown docked puppies experience no adverse effects and that the opposition to docking is not based on science and considered reason. Why else is docking performed? For Hygeine. Long haired, thick coated breeds like the Yorkshire Terrier and Old English Sheepdog are docked to avoid the hair around the base of the tail becoming fouled by faeces. Even with constant grooming and washing, such fouling is unpleasant. If allowed to get out of hand, it can lead to severe problems of hygiene, or even flystrike and subsequent infestation by maggots. Hygiene problems can be greatly reduced or eliminated altogether by docking. If you can gurantee that you would keep your dog clean, not every one can. Therefore the breeder chooses to dock (when the nervous system is not fully developed & little to no pain is caused to the dog) to help ensure the well being of the pups after they have been placed in other homes. To maintain breed standards... Breed standards are not for purely aesthetic reasons. Breeds which have been docked over many generations have been selected for specific qualities of build and conformation, but not for tail length, shape or carriage. If left undocked, it is unlikely that the best dogs would carry good tails. In seeking to maintain the quality of the breeds, breeders would therefore be left with a diminished number of suitable sires and dams. The gene pool would be reduced, greatly increasing the risk of hereditary diseases taking hold. Some breeds could even disappear for ever. ahughes798: I am interested, what is the purpose for the dogs tail you are speaking of? Cheers, Sarah