Chicken Problems

Yesterday, I got a call from home saying that the night before a raccoon got into our chicken coop and killed one of our chickens. It was Rita (one of the young one's). Later that day, I got another call from my mom saying that she put another layer of chicken wire all over the coop. I hope to get rid of the raccoon soon.

10th Day in New York

Yesterday, at 6:00 AM, we had another rain storm. The rain was going sideways. we lost electricity twice, but the total amount of time we were without power was 10 seconds. At around 7:30 AM, my grandma and I went to Ithaca to pick up my grandpa at the Toyota dealer. He was getting his car fixed. A little after we got home, the gardener came. After lunch, my grandpa brush mowed and mowed half of the lawns and I mowed the other half. We went out to a restaurant for dinner. It was called "Dorothy's Music Room". It was pretty good.

9th Day in New York

Yesterday, at 5:00 AM, we had thunder, lightning, and rain. During the morning, my grandpa went to play golf in the morning. My grandma needed to take a blood test, so we went to the doctors office and she got her blood test. Then, we went to the library to return the movie. At lunch time my grandma and I went to see Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was O.K. Then we went to Wegman's for lunch and groceries. On the way home we took the back roads so, it took longer than usual to get home.

When we were at Wegman's, we wanted to get salmon for dinner. My grandma want to get farmed salmon, but I made sure we got wild. It tastes much better. When we got home I asked her how she was going to cook it, she said, "I'm going to broil it,". I said that she should try grilling it. I ended up grilling the salmon. It was not great, but it was O.K.

8th Day in New York

In the morning I helped the gardener, by digging up weeds and emptying buckets of weeds. At 9:00 AM, my grandma went to a dentist appointment and my grandpa went to a meeting at the library. The gardener left at 12 noon. Then, I mowed part of the lawn with the push mower. Yesterday, was not full of projects.

My grandpa had to go to a meeting at the library during dinner, so my grandma and I had dinner without him. Then, we watched Airplane.

Fixing the Pump

Yesterday, my grandpa and I went to the hardware store in the morning and got a blow torch. Then, we went to the library to get a movie, "Airplane", they didn't have it, so we ordered it. When we got home we lit the blow torch and loosened up some rusted bolts on the old pump and got the top part off. We tried and tried, but we could not get the pipe unscrewed from the bottom part of the pump. We wanted the pipe off because it was not long enough. We also think that the pipe was lead. I suggested that they get a brand-new pump, but my my grandpa decided not to because it was "too expensive" ($70.00). I think it is worth it. At 4 PM, my grandma took me fishing so I could try out my new reel and my newly stringed pole. After dinner, we watched Antique Road Show.

Fishing with my Cousins

Yesterday, my cousins, my aunt, and my uncle came over for lunch and fishing. Right after they arrived, we all went down to the pond. We only caught about 4 fish. When we got tired, we went swimming and we raked the grass of the bottom of the pond. After they left, my grandma and I went to the sporting goods store and bought a new reel for one of the fishing poles and we bought 300 yards of 8 lbs. fishing line. When we got home, I put new line on one of the poles. After dinner, we watched Casablanca.

5th Day in New York

Yesterday, I trimmed some of the paths in the woods with my grandpa. Then, I took the top part off the old hand pump and found out that we need a new rubber disk, but I can't get the old one out. It was all rusted. Then, at around 5 PM, I went to the pond with my grandma to go fishing and swimming. I caught three fish. After dinner, we were going to watch Casablanca, but we ran out of time.

Mowing of the Lawns

Yesterday, I mowed the backyard, the side yard, the front yard, and a little area by the field on the ride-on mower. When I was mowing the front yard, I was making a sharp turn and my back wheel went down a step and I had to ask my grandpa to get it back up the step. I was almost finished then, it started raining really hard and I got soaked. When I came inside, I finished the organization process of the T.V. cabinet. After dinner, we watched Caddy shack.

3rd Day in New York

Yesterday, my grandpa and I trimmed the plants along the trails in his woods. We only got 1/3 of it done. Then, I organized my grandparents T.V. cabinet by taking everything out then putting it back in, in an organized fashion. Now, my grandpa has to drill more holes in the back of the cabinet for all the wires. After dinner, we went to a talk at the library about the local Indians.

2nd Day in New York

Yesterday, my grandpa went to play golf in the morning and came back around lunch time. Then, I watched my grandpa mow the paths around the field and through the woods. Then, the cleaners came to clean the house. At 4:30 PM, we left to go to the library and the farmers market.