Brianna and Sailor. Getting back on the horse is easier when he's this small!

By Amanda Gallen, a Queenslander with two of our two-year-old Morgans.

Waking at dawn on our first day at Judy Oldmeadow’s farm was very special. I looked out the cottage window to the beautiful valley below. I woke my daughter Brianna so she could also experience the moment.

We had brekky, dressed quickly and went to the paddock to see our horses Sarge and Ava. They’d grown so much since we last saw them!

They were in a paddock with the other foals. We walked in and sat on a log. The herd noticed us and came over – our babies leading the way.

They smelt us from head to toe. So inquisitive! This was something I really wanted Brianna to experience.

Our week was full of adventures; childhood memories Brianna will never forget. Judy put her in charge of the farm’s smallest horse – a Shetland pony called Sailor.

It was just what Brianna needed. She gained so much confidence with a horse that was just the right size for a beginner. She fell a few times, once quite heavily. No broken bones; just one of those needed-to-happen experiences.

Brianna went very quiet after that and returned to the cottage for a rest. But she came back ready to regain her confidence.

I played with my babies and watched how they fitted into the herd. Observing lots of mare behaviour, I decided that human mothers would do well to act like mares. That way, our kids would get what we say first time, rather than wear us into the ground.

While most foals are well behaved, some don’t learn quickly. Sarge is one of them; he’s covered in bites as he just doesn’t move fast enough!

I rode with Judy – right inside the herd of mares and foals. I felt like I was running with the wild horses in The Man from Snowy River! It was an amazing buzz that kept a big smile on my face all night.

Judy worked with Ava and decided she was ready for saddling. Ava’s a clever filly and we even had Brianna sitting on her and walking around.

Though Ava was excited to have Brianna up there, everything was done with the utmost attention to safety and I wasn’t at all concerned.

I’m very happy I bought her.

I could go on and on about our lovely horsey experiences. Suffice it to say the farm truly felt like heaven to me!

My almost-home sat across the street from a wildlife habitat and had a creek running below the backyard. It’s in a pocket neighborhood next to the popular — and pricey — Hyde Park and North Loop areas of Central Austin. It had a killer location walking distance from some of my favorite local food places on Airport Boulevard: House Pizzeria, Burger Tex and Lammes Candies (in hindsight, not a very rational reason for wanting to live there). The neighborhood itself was quiet, but you could see (and hear) I-35.

However, the house itself had a ton of great features: Texas limestone exterior, corner lot, mature trees, big fenced backyard, built-in shelves and storage, lots of light and concrete floors. The negatives: a tiny second bedroom whose closet had been sacrificed to create 1/2 a laundry room (the dryer couldn’t be connected without having to bring the venting and power sources up to code); an ancient water heater; a flat roof (a style that’s prone to leaks and expensive to repair); a distinct slope to the floor in the back half of the house; and concrete floors that needed to have the cracks repaired and be sealed to be considered flooring rather than bare slab. Another weird quirk was that you couldn’t access the backyard any other way than through the house, making outdoor projects like landscaping and building a covered deck very challenging.

The bended bar - photo by Mangi press

Per anni abbiamo creduto che la maledizione di Casapiddu riguardasse la sfera sentimentale, chiunque metteva piede dentro quella casa, infatti, veniva regolarmente abbandonato dal proprio partner. Solo La Sguattera si salvò, ed è arrivata addirittura al matrimonio; in quel caso però la maledizione sembrava solo cambiata nella forma, infatti la cerimonia si è svolta in una domenica di agosto con la temperatura esterna intorno ai 40 gradi. Il tempo ha però fatto il suo corso, e finalmente la maledizione di Casapiddu si è manifestata nella sua totalità. L’occasione è stata l’ultima avventura pidduista, una trasferta a londra per iniziare la promozione del libro che celebra l’epopea della casa di San Donnino, a breve in uscita. Dopo due giorni nella capitale londinese, i pidduisti hanno finalmente scoperto la verità, la vera ed unica maledizione che pende su di loro:

Ovunque andrai, tribolerai.

La reunion pidduista in quel di Londra è favorita dalla presenza di Jorgio nella swingin city, dopo la laurea se ne è andato lassù a lavorare in una non meglio precisata software house. La sua camera nei pressi di Hyde Park è pronta ad accogliere i tre italici Rambo, Mangi e Ragazzo Strambo, che partono dall’aereoporto di Pisa in una fumoso venerdì sera. L’aggettivo fumoso è d’obbligo quando si scrive di viaggi a Londra.
Appena messo piede nell’aereoporto una signorina chiede agli indomiti quale sia la loro compagnia di viaggio, disinteressandosi poi alla risposta e comunicandogli la volontà di regalare loro un viaggio. Il Mangi tira dritto, Rambo risponde “Che culo!” e il Ragazzo Strambo, altresì noto come Lord di Blackmount, liquida la signorina con un “grazie, non siamo interessati”.
Pronti per il check in, Rambo passa sotto al metal detector che suona senza pietà: le sue tasche erano piene di chiavi, monete e oggetti metallici qualsiasi. Risolto lo spiacevole equivoco, ad una prima misura la sua valigia sembra essere troppo grande per essere portata come bagaglio a mano. La truppa decide di ignorare e tentare di fottere il sistema.
Controllo passaporti, tutti in fila di fronte ad una sbirra traccagnotta, il Ragazzo Strambo, per stemperare la tensione, inizia ad intonare “Booooomba”, ma i viaggiatori in coda non si uniscono al movimiento sexy e la poliziotta sceglie proprio lui per la perquisizione a campione. Finita la procedura, lo Strambo dichiarerà: “è stato degradante.”
Una volta imbarcati tutti i passeggeri, le hostess iniziano a sistemare le valigie negli scompartimenti, ma ce ne sono troppe che eccedono i limiti e rendono impossibile la chiusura degli sportelli, ivi compresa quella del Guerrazzi, sistemata lontana dal sedile. La tattica decisa dalla truppa pidduista è quella del nascondersi indifferenti. Quando la signorina inizia a gridare “di chi è questa valigia blu?”, Rambo e gli altri si concentrano sul libro aperto sotto i loro occhi, una sorta di zaino in cui fingere di rovistare mentre la hostess sceglie chi interrogare. La paura è alle stelle, quando l’ufficiale di bordo legge il nome scritto sulla valigia, il Guerrazzi non resiste e confessa. La condanna è mite: valigia sistemata in stiva, senza sovraprezzo.
Immancabile l’applauso degli italiani dopo l’atterraggio, i pidduisti scendono dalla scaletta dell’aereo sentendosi come i Beatles. Non mancano di salutare la folla, che momentaneamente è assente, e continuano a salutare anche quando arrivano al terminal dell’aereporto di Stansted. Lì la folla c’era, ma erano i parenti ed amici in attesa dei propri cari.
Alla stazione londinese di Liverpool Street, dopo 3 mesi, quelli che furono gli abitanti di Casapiddu sono di nuovo riuniti. Manca la Sguattera, ma sono le undici di sera e sarà in casa di fronte alla tv; nulla è cambiato, insomma. Affamati come lupi, i boys from San Donnino vanno alla ricerca di un qualcosa di commestibile, ma l’ora e il luogo rendono impossibile l’impresa. Si ripiega su Burger king e poi via per una capatina nel West End, a godersi il venerdì sera di Piccadilly. I pub sono però chiusi, e la gioventù londinese affolla gli ingressi delle discoteche intorno Soho, ormai non più un quartiere a luci rosse. La cosa più perversa intravista è stata una ragazzona inglese, bianca come la morte e vestita come Madonna quando sbaglia lavaggio, intenta ad orinare lungo un marciapiede.
La truppa è stanca, e torna a casa verso le due di notte. Prima di entrare nel palazzo in cui abita Jorgio, un rumore sinistro preoccupa i Nostri: girato l’angolo tirano però un sospiro di sollievo, è solo un Suv con una ruota completamente a terra, che a passo d’uomo e guidato da una donna, cerca la via di casa.

L’appartamento in cui vive il pidduista emigrato è quanto di più lontano dagli standard minimi che un italiano richiede. Tutta moquette, vernice puzzolente acrilica, bagno diviso in due stanzine, uno con la tazza ed uno con il lavandino. Le stanze da letto sono quattro, insieme a Jorgio vivono una ragazza di Bettona, una coppia di spagnoli e una coppia di lituani. Questi ultimi sono soprannominati Barbie e Ken, e forse sono proprio loro: lui è castano, burbero e palestratissimo, lei è bionda, occhi azzurri e se occupa il bagno non lo libera in meno di due ore. Non il bagno con il cesso ma l’altro, ovviamente. Ogni appartamento ha il suo ingresso indipendente, l’ascensore dà direttamente sull’esterno ed il vialetto di fronte alle porte scorrevole è delimitato da due tubi di ferro simil corrimano, alti però una trentina di centimetri. Jorgio ci fa notare come il tubo di sinistra sia visibilmente piegato verso il basso, e ci racconta che quel danno è stato arrecato dal corpo di John Smith, che nel luglio precedente si è buttato dal nono piano ricadendo sul tubo. Nei giorni successivi Rambo Guerrazzi non nasconderà l’intenzione di volere piegare alla stessa maniera il tubo rimasto ancora diritto.

We’d be very grateful if you could help us and our friends at the Latvian rural tourism association Lauku Celotajs, the Latvian Country Holiday Association, by filling in a brief survey on your travel experiences.

Surveys take about 10 minutes to complete, are available in various languages and could win you a week’s free stay in your choice of holiday cottage.

You’ll find the surveys and full details by clicking the banner in the right-hand sidebar or if that doesn’t work, please click HERE.

Thank you very much for your feedback, which will help to ensure the things you value the most are available in future. Good luck!

STOP PRESS: Cesu Namins is now available for just 2 nights over the Yuletide period: the only available dates are 28-30 December, price 70 Ls for 2 nights.

We’re already taking reservations for the spring and summer season 2010 (starting from 1st May) so book early for the widest range of dates.

Good evening one and all it’s Motoko Blogging tonight. As my blogs title says the weather is indeed starting to change and it’s about time too. The flooded lane at the bottom of our drive way has started to drop and the distance that the lane as flooded has decreased dramatically. Me and Jenny geared up and put our canoe on the flooded lane to check how far the flood was now, and that’s when we found that the water level had dropped. So we paddled back slightly happier knowing that things are changing for the better at last. It’s still raining here but that doesn’t matter, its Cumbria after all isn’t it! Below is the new forecast for our area of Cumbria.

We are still unable to leave the stables and so on so we are still working the mornings that we normally have off, but it’s not as bad as I could have been. I made a good call saying that our staff should wear our 66N waterproofs we use for hacking out and leading treks, rather than our Ocean Crewman waterproofs while the flooding is on. As it’s been so mistily with fog and hard rain and its very slippery on the yards and the fields are potted. Anna sipped up and twisted her ankle, it was hard and raining hard, but we found her as she showed up well. Once the harsh weather has stopped we will use our Ocean Crewman for working in and our 66N for riding and stuff in. Still I and Jenny took our doggy out for a stroll around the yard and we chose to wear our Musto gear for a change, some of our Musto gear is pictured below.

If you want to know what 66N looks like this is a photograph of our stuff. As for our Ocean crewman is Orange and Blue bib pants and smock, and they are sort of hi-viz but you will have to look Ocean Crewman up s our gear has our yard name on it and I am too lazy to edit the name out off them hehe.

Tonight I am going to make homemade spicy potato edges, with fresh carrots and broccoli. This will all go with my homemade stake and ale pie, which is currently in our Ray Burn and it’s making an awesome smell as I type this. Jenny is curled up on Sofa next too me reading one of her favourite books “The Wind In The Willows” she hasn’t head it for years. I my self have been playing Uncharted: 2 online, below is a score walkthrough from one of my co-op matched I played this evening.

Cumbria has updated its Flood Bulletin made by Cumbria’s public sector organisations, click on the picture below for the 27/11/09 update.

Click the banner to learn about our wonder paradise in England, which Is Cumbria.

I am still going to show my support for the RNLI, as they have done so much good work in Cumbria.

Right I must be off to finish off dinner, and then relax before our mornings work tomorrow morning.

Jenny and Motoko Carter

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

Hey everyone, it’s friday again, and Black 50L Friday and Reek’s got new stuff all across the board. The big change you’ll notice when you come by will be a nice, new snowy Mainstore showcasing the new Snowy Cottage.

The cottage is custom sculpted with baked textures, snowbanks and a bunch of fun little details. Cute french and dutch doors, along with a cozy little loft with a handmade ladder leading up really make it cozy. You should come down and just give it a quick walkthrough at the least

Also, out for today, and for 50L today ONLY, is the Reek Couples Bench, custom sculpts and baked wood textures, along with a custom couple’s sit pose made by Autumn Hykova of Tiny Bird.

Oh, and here’s a few detail pictures of the cottage:

Come on over to the Reek Mainstore on Buster to grab your 50L Item and the Snowy Cottage!

Teleport to Reek!

-Riq

Change in the tide is upon us I will reluctantly say in case the water rises again. But for now the flooding has not got any worse where we are and in fact it has started to withdraw from the drive and back into the lane, which doesn’t look as bad as it did a few days ago. A few days ago it resembled a white water river, but now it’s like a bubbling stream. Because the lane is still flooded that means that we still can’t get out of the stables grounds and that also means that we are still getting no customers, or the part time girls arriving to work fri sat and sun. Which is why me and Motoko have been on the yard this morning mucking out and doing odd jobs, we are still going to work the mornings on the three days we have off until all this flooding is over, and the rest of the girls are doing afternoon and evening work.

Our home now has ten sand bags in front of our front door and ten sand bags behind the front door, this works really very well and hardly any water is steaming into our home now, so this is a really good thing! Also currently have some nice big logs on our fire and the warmth is really very welcoming and slightly romantic. As you can see from the picture below our floor is water free.

I put on my waders and strolled out to the sign I painted and put on the yard gate the other day, as I had to re-tie it back onto the gate as some of the cable ties snapped in all theses high winds that has been battering us. Motoko watched from the edge of the drive-way waiting for me to slip up and fall in the flood water, but sadly for her I didn’t hehe. Some of the paint has run off the sign but it looks ok, which is the main thing.

Below is a picture of our predicted weather for the rest of the week, and so far it is fairly on target. Though at the moment it’s raining pretty hard, but nothing like the rain we have been getting of late.

This made me smile found this on YouTube from the BBC© TV show Top Gear. They find out that Cumbria is indeed the wettest place in England.

Also we are continuing to show our support for the RNLI. So below is another video.

Well that’s it for now, we are going to do some much needed house work and washing. Pile of work uniform to wash and other things like that. Then we are going to bake some muffins, since we ran out of our last batch.

Jenny and Motoko Carter

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

Some pics from Parteen Villa Weir, O’Briensbridge, Montpelier, Castleconnell, Annacotty and Plassey here.

I have not watched Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) in a while but this time I started watching late in the season.  I love the Osbournes and routed for Kelly the whole way.  Until I watched Donnie Osmond’s first dance on Monday night.  Well I fell in love.  He won, Kelly came in third.  I am happy and well I will see how it goes with Season 10…  Watch or not to watch that is the question!?

Went to see New Moon this past week-end…  Not impressed.  I loved the book it was my fave of all four I read it in one day at the cottage.  The movie just didn’t do it justice!  Jake all the way for me peeps!  Not contest in my mind!  Love me some werewolves! 

Have been skimming through blog roll here some really good blogs and writing you should do the same when you have some time.

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat if you haven’t got a penny a ha’penny will do if you haven’t got a ha’penny then god bless you!  Picture Miss Piggy and John Denver!  I love it.  Gotta break out the CD!!!!  I am so very excited, I am sure it is going to be a good year for us!  I have done most of the shopping only about two more to go! 

Work have been good nothing too much to report.  I for the first time actually enjoy coming to work. 

 Cell phone is busted.  Every timeJames calls it hangs up on him!  LOL!  I think it’s hilarious and it just really ticks him off!  Oh and I busted my Parking break in my car and with a manual trannie it ain’t a good thing!

 Love, happy to be in it! 

Was going to do a pic of the day but found this on YouTube instead!  And they say dogs are dumb!

Here’s a quick recipe too!  They have a new Budget wise section on Kraftfoods.com and a big Potluck section for Christmas and US thanksgiving coming!

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/chicken-parmesan-bundles-107338.aspx

So, I am going to the One of a Kind show with  my Mother-in-law and Grandmother this Sunday!  I have not been in years, should be fun! 

Along with the One of a Kind we used to go to the Sugar Plum Fair every year at Casa Loma, it was the National Ballet of Canada’s major fundraiser.  Kinda miss it.  We always got these chocolate and caramel covered apples from a place called Treemendous apples.  I don’t know if they still exist!

I am really very sad that  Eastwick has been cancelled it was really the only new show this season that I liked. 

Jon and Kate plus Eight signed off on Monday night!  I am really sad!  I am going to miss that show quite a bit.  STOOPIT  Jon.  Criminal Minds and Vampire Diaries have moved into my fave show category although I am really leaning towards Table for 12 as a replacement and in the end I still have 18 (soon to be 19) Kids and Counting! 

It’s kinda funny that this season I didn’t watch too much of the reality TV, I have not watched Survivor, missed a few of the Hell’s Kitchen, got board with ANTM to the point I PVR’d it and skipped to the end every week so I could just see who got kicked off!  I am getting back to the dramas except when it comes to TLC.  Oh who am  I fooling, still watching the Housewives and Tori and Dean.  Still watching Canada’s Worst Driver!  I love it!  My newly discovered Rescue Ink is GREAT too!

Had lunch with an old friend and her puppy last Friday!  It was nice!  This time of the year is always good to reconnect!  

I miss my best friend we don’t see nearly enough of each other.  Lives are too busy!

A shout of Sympathy to my long time friend MAB.  You have an angel watching down over you know.  Just know that Snoopy is with Tiny and Mowhawk now!  You will always have him in your memory! 

The loss of a loved and cherished pet is devastating especially when they are nearing their 20s.  Here is a website that helps with this…  http://www.pet-loss.net/index.shtml However you need to remember that you have to go through the stages or grief the same as you would with a Human being!  Don’t let anyone tell you any differently!  http://www.petloss.com/rainbowbridge.htm

Well that is me done!  Going to sign off now!  Have a good one!  I won’t leave it so long in between next time! 

You all know DH is working on-site for the next year or so.  Maybe longer (although God I hope not).  Anyway, DH is very lucky in that his company pays him a very nice per diem which probably works out to more than my post-tax income. 

So, DH is living in a ratty dorm-type residence and not liking it all that much.  I am living in Casa Not Clean with only the cat for company most of the week and not liking it all that much either.  But before DH left for the on-site, one of my coworkers suggested we look into buying property up there.  The on-site is in one of my province’s cottage country regions (sadly not Muskoka…although we wouldn’t have been able to afford buying a boat house up there let alone a real house) so we tossed around the idea of buying a winterized cottage and having DH live there while he’s working on-site and possibly renting it out to another of his co-workers to give him some company and offset some bills.

Last week the deal was finalized.  We are now the pround owners of a three bedroom-yet-to-be-seen-by-me-winterized-yet-to-be-finished-basement-craptastically-furnished-close-to-but-not-on-the-lake cottage.  We may rent it out on (long) weekends.  We hope to rent it out during the summer at some point to recoup some of our investment as well.  But for now, all we want to do is pay off our mortgages (so weird to have more than one) and dump all the craptastic furniture currently residing in Casa Not Clean’s basement at the cottage.

At. The. Cottage.  Never thought I’d say those words.  Never thought I’d own one either.

Good evening to you all bloggers, Jenny blogging tonight.

Well today we discovered that the lane at the bottom of the driveway of our stables this morning has in fact become even more flooded and deeper than it was on the weekend. It’s also moved up the driveway a little bit more which means that the water is getting close to our home, which is not a good thing really. The water is still running though the yards and down the drive and passed our home, but good news is that we now have ten sand bags in front of our front door that hardly any water is getting though. To get into our home we simply open the top part of our front door and in, simple really. Picture below is some of our grazing flooded, and this was on high ground, the bottom two fields are a good 2 foot under water at the lower end of them so no using the bottom fields again this year me thinks.

For the staffs personal wellbeing me and Motoko and told them to wear their 66North waterproof clothing, we normally only ever use for hacking out. Reason is that the 66North clothing is same type as Ocean which is that oil skin type, but its orange and very hi visibility. Unlike our Ocean gear that is Orange and Blue. So all of our staff members now wearing their 66North clothing so they show up on the yard, this means we can see each other though all this flooding and rain. Also Motoko told them to go to their provided cottages and, do a stock take on all of their food and note it down and hand a copy to us so we know how long we can all home out. It’s good news as every one as plenty of supplies for a good whole week, and by then all this flooding should be slowly going. We have a plan to use our canoe and paddle around the flooded lane for supplies from local farm shop which is not as flooded as we are. Also Sam our friend is a flood response operative and she lives on the arm with her partner. So help is a flooded lane away if we really badly need it.

With all this weather no one as you know can enter our leave our stables, so today has been customer free. So that’s not so good, but means that there are no lessons and treks to take and lead. That means there is more time to work on other things.

Also if you are a fan of the band called Muse, you will love this video.

I think it was a really great performance but not as good as their Devon gig which was just fantastic to hear.

Everyone here been really cheerful and up beat about the whole thing and Motoko has been wearing a lifejacket all day over her gear as a joke all day, that made me smile. Also have a painted sign on our yards driveway gate with a cartoon raft with lots of horses on board it. Was my idea, so I was the one to wade in and tie it to the gate, once again I got my hunters flooded. I really must remember to wear my waders next time I do anything like test the depth or put if funny signs.

Here is another RNLI video to continue Motoko’s RNLI support in her last blog.

But that is it for now, I need to see to our fire and then help Motoko with our dinner. You can’t go wrong with bangers and mash!

Jenny and Motoko Carter

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my first boss, Tom Poole, who died a year ago.  A quiet, unassuming Down Maine’r, as a young man Tom left the Pine Tree State first to fight for our country and then to make his mark on the business world.  In his retirement, he returned each summer to his cottage in northern Maine.

Tom taught me four lessons — about hiring, making unpopular decisions, buying a cottage (in Maine!), and taking vacations — that have had an immeasurable impact on my life and, by association, the lives of many around me.  Each lesson has its own story which, this Thanksgiving, I share.

Cottage First, House Second

We own a cottage on a lake in Maine.  This summer will be out 25^th there.  It is really more ‘home’ to us than our house in Lexington.  When we lived in Ireland for four years, the cottage in Maine kept us grounded to the States.

We own the cottage because of Tom.  Often when we are there, friends ask, “How did you come to buy this place so long ago?” I answer by telling them about Tom, by telling them about the day I told Tom I was contemplating buying a house and he said, “Des, buying a house is important, but before you do, buy yourself a cottage on a lake.  There is a limited supply of lakefront property.  And if you buy a cottage first, you’ll still figure out a way to afford a house later.  But if you buy your house first, you’ll not likely ever get the cottage.”

Tom was right.  Though my boys have heard my telling the story too many times, they never seem to tire of it; rather they smile slightly as they hear, once again, about this guy they never met named Tom and how his advice resulted in their having a cottage that they enjoy so much.

Decisions That Are Right, Not Popular

I was lucky to become a manager at Burroughs at a very young age.  The company was growing like crazy in the early computer days and there were plenty of opportunities for young people like me that Burroughs hired right out college.

A key lesson from that time was when Tom told me of some decsion he was going to announce, which, though clearly right, was sure to be unpopular.  (I’ve long since forgotten what the decsion was even about.)  Sitting in his tiny windowless office in Manchester, New Hampshire I said, “But Tom, people will not like you if you make that decision.”  To which Tom replied, “Des, my goal as a manager is not to make decisions because they will make me popular; my goal is to make decisions because they will be considered best for all of us.”

Again, Tom was right.  To this day, whenever some young manager – or one of my boys – questions a decsion I’ve made with, “But people will not like you” I tell them about Tom.  I tell them about how the people who I thought would not like Tom’s decsion are the ones who came to realize that Tom’s decision was right; the ones who came to respect Tom for making that tough decision; the ones who, over the years, stayed in touch with Tom and who are, I’m sure, thankful for what Tom taught them.

Vacation Time is Sacred Time

One year (long before email and cell phones) Tom was heading off for his annual two-week family vacation at his lakefront home in Greenville, Maine and he put me in charge of the office.  I said, “Tom, things are so busy right now, you’d better give me your cottage phone number in case there is something important enough for me to call.”  I was flabbergasted when Tom said, “Des you’ll just have to get by on your own without calling me.  We have no phone at the cottage.”

When I protested, “But suppose I need to call you for something really important?” Tom said, “Well the only way I can be reached is for the Maine State Police to hike into my cottage from the main road.  So you, Des, will have to decide that the situation is important enough that you are willing to call the Maine State Police.  Then the Maine State Police will have to decide that the situation is important enough to send a trooper to hike in and get me.”  At that moment I thought Tom incredibly irresponsible.

But, once again, Tom was right; and it wasn’t too many years before I matured enough to realize this.  To this day, I consider vacation time sacred time.  However important my job might be, I am simply not that important; while I might be president of a company, I’m not the president of the United States!  While I’m away for a long weekend or for a couple of weeks the people back at the office can make the important decisions without me.  So whenever someone – whether a subordinate or a Board member – says, “How can we reach you over your vacation?”  I tell them, “You can’t.”  And when they protest, I then tell them the story about Tom and the Maine State troopers.

Hire The Very Best

Tom taught me that, if you surround yourself with great people, you’ll succeed.  Because Burroughs was the only computer company hiring right out of college, we were able to interview the “cream of the crop” at local universities.  My first year as manager, we interviewed dozens of candidates for one opening.  When I told Tom that my choice was a kid named Steve Lilly, he said, “Fill out the paperwork and bring it to my office.”  Later, as he was about to sign he hesitated and, without looking up, quietly asked, “Is he better than you?”

I was surprised by the question and didn’t immediately answer.  He looked up and repeated it a bit louder, “Des, is Steve better than you?”  When I said, “Yes” Tom smiled slightly, looked down, and signed the papers.  As he handed them to me Tom said, “Good.  If the first person you hire is better than you – and if every person you hire after that is better than the last – you’ll succeed.  Some people are threatened by surrounding themselves with great people.  Don’t be threatened.  The great people you surround yourself with are not a threat; rather they are the means by which you will excel.”

Steve turned out to be a star, as did so many of the people we hired right out of college.  Many of them eventually ran significant companies.  It was enjoyable to read the comments of so many of these guys on Tom’s memorial site.

One man.  Four lessons.  An immeasurable impact.  If only I could be so good.

Để Bụi Đường Cay Lòng Mắt (IMG_5544-W1), originally uploaded by Nguyen K. Do.

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Eltham, November 2009.
Nguyen K. Do © 2009

Hello bloggers this is Jenny blogging tonight.

Well what a hard, wet and long day it has been for us, our home and sables are located in a natural basin and last nights long hard rain tipped the balance and we got really flooded out last night and this morning. Out ground floor sports a stone flagstone floor and only has two rooms and its all open plan, that’s living room and kitchen / dinner room. We woke up to find that the ground floor was just less than two foot of water and you can guess the rude words that we spoke. At this time of year we always flood but this year has been the worst for a while, but not the worst we have ever had. After five hours of brushing out the water and putting up new sand bags and water we can at last relax a little, but we are some what a little worn out but today’s goings on.

On top of all that in the middle of the night a power transformer blew up and that woke me up and somewhat creped me out a little. It also spooked my new horse Saber, who in turn cut himself open so I had to walk up to the yard in the morning in full Ocean waterproofs and sort him out.

As with all these things it didn’t look as bad as it first seemed and after a short while he looked as good as new. Also today made a Global Herds order, but with all this flooding I am unsure when it will arrive. The yard its self (we lie in our own home o the yards drive way) is cut off by about ¼ of a mile as the lanes are fully under water.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better, and a little more relaxing. Motoko wondered around in a buoyancy aid and wore one of out Ocean waterproof suits that is work uniform today to make the whole thing slightly more cheerful. A good friend sent some funny llama pictures and the good old llama song which also cheered me up.

The Llama Song

Well that is it for now, take care everyone and hope you are well.

Jenny and Motoko Carter

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MY GO-TO WEBSITE when I miss the Hudson Valley– a real blogazine — is Rural Intelligence.

Wouldn’t want to chance missing the recent post in which a dilapidated 850-square-foot Columbia County cottage at the end of a dirt road is bought and made chic by a pair of NYC-based Australian stylists and set decorators “whose job it is to make things look fabulous — and fast.”

As it turns out, it wasn’t really all that fast…go here to read more of the saga and see more pix.

I adore this. Such a modest cottage treated to such a stylish makeover! I wonder when the house was built and how much they paid for it?

Photos by Dana Gallagher

Sometime around June 13, 2009… Lake Muskoka

PRIME HOUSE-HUNTING SEASON is almost upon us. With cold weather, the dilettantes and Sunday shoppers disappear. Most won’t think about country real estate again until April. Meanwhile, the serious players remain in the game, knowing that winter is the best time to look, find, and negotiate.

I combed the listings and turned up three properties I would check out, were I in the market right now with half a million to spend.

Click on the live links below for more pics and info on each property.

• This early 19th century house in Springs, above and below, is owned by a young couple in the landscaping business. They bought the house 6 years ago and renovated it, even jacking up the house so its old foundation of locust posts could be replaced with a modern steel one. 2 BR, 1 bath, 1,100 square feet, 1/2 acre, wood stove, separate studio, 595K.

• This cedar-shingled 1959 cottage in Noyack, near Sag Harbor, below, was featured in a recent issue of Ty Pennington at Home magazine (amazing that it’s still publishing!) 1,500 square feet, 3 BR, 1.5 baths, 1/2 acre, water view, mooring rights, 595K. Taxes: $3,739/year.

• Got farm animals? The 100-year-old Amagansett cottage, below, is on almost an acre and has been twice reduced. 1,000 square feet, 2 BR, 1 bath, wood stove, detached garage, 570K. Near the RR tracks, but there are only a couple of trains a day. Anyway, whaddya want for half a million plus? This is Amagansett! (Also only a mile from the ocean.) Taxes are $1,008/year – can’t beat that.

  Fall is here and Stone Ridge Landscaping is in full swing to finish several projects before winter arrives. This year we have installed several patios  that combine low voltage illumination with the sitting walls and surrounding landscape. Outdoor lighting allows friends and family to enjoy your patio area at night in the summer and in the evening and during the dark winter period after the time change. From inside, the patio looks like a warm canvas in spite of the cold howling wind outside. So plan to add lighting to your outdoor landscape! Give Stone Ridge Landscaping a call.

Many serviced apartments provide Internet connectivity. Kitchens in serviced apartments are equipped with cooking gas, a refrigerator and microwave oven. Some even have coffee makers and food processors. Most serviced apartments provide cooking utensils, cutlery and silverware. You never have to bring linen or towels to a serviced apartment.

There are usually four categories of rooms and suites:

◊ Single room or a studio apartment with a kitchenette
◊ One-bedroom suite
◊ Two-bedroom suite
◊ Three-bedroom suite

In rare instances serviced apartments can have up to eight bedrooms. Each bedroom in a suite has an attached bedroom. The concept of serviced apartments is relatively new and so there is currently no system in place to rate them. It is always a good idea to ask for a detailed description and a list of amenities before you reserve your
suite at a serviced apartment facility.

Serviced apartments are usually 30% to 35% less expensive when you compare them to hotels. This is because the pricing structure at serviced apartments is predicated on longer duration stays thus resulting in significantly higher occupancy ratios.

Serviced apartments are more spacious allowing you to literally spread yourself all over the place. The second most important difference between a serviced apartment and a hotel is that you can cook your own food in a serviced apartment whenever you choose to do so. This major advantage is specially a plus for those guests who have special dietary needs as well as those who have very small children.

Trying to sterilize feeding bottles in a traditional hotel can be a major challenge. Hotels will generally not allow you to cook in your room except in cases where the hotel owns and operates its own serviced apartments in addition to regular rooms.

Serviced apartments have all the amenities we traditionally associate with a regular hotel. In addition to being fully furnished, serviced apartments are secured with guards who are posted 24X7 and remote cameras are used for surveillance purposes. TV and direct-dial telephones are also provided.

My daughter will be turning 11 in a couple of weeks.  For her birthday this year, she has asked for a new bike and a desk.  Very practical, don’t you think?  Well, of course that’s not her entire list but those are the items I like best.  Yesterday we went on a search for the perfect desk for her room. First we stopped at TJ Maxx because earlier this week, I was shopping there and noticed a cute little writing desk (or so I thought at the time) at a great price.  So when I was presented with her birthday list and noticed “desk,” I knew we had to check out the desk I had seen earlier.  Once in the store, I pointed out the desk to her.  She immediately grimaced with disgust (as almost-11-year-old girls do so well).  That’s when I noticed it wasn’t a desk…it was a small console table with a drawer.  I guess earlier in the week, I wasn’t on the look out for a desk but that’s how it was categories in my memory.  I probably should do something about that…but I digress.  Back to the desk/ console:  double duty, right?  Not exactly.  She was right (ah hem)…it wasn’t going to work.  Since I had to pick up some items at Target, she asked if we could look at the desk selection there.  Good idea!  Of course, she found the perfect desk to coordinate with her room at Target.  I was happy because it wasn’t an exhaustive shopping trip to multiple stores AND the desk was on sale (my favorite!).  Even better, once we made our purchase and brought it home, the desk  took only minutes to assemble.  Actually, it took 15 minutes.  The clean up of the box and packing contents took longer than the assembly itself!  The only thing I really had to assemble were the legs and they only had to be attached to the desktop (which was pre-assembled).  Easy and cute – my favorite combination when it comes to “requires some assembly” items. 

FYI:  This desk at Target (and www.target.com) is the “Cottage desk.” 

Step One:  open box…

I really love when things make sense and have pictures!  (So nice and neat…)

I didn’t even have to figure out which washer was the spring washer and which one was the flat washer!

She couldn’t wait to get her new desk set up in her room.

Let the homework begin!

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