Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!





Look what showed up today! A new Kubota M8540 tractor, yay! Hydraulic shuttle shift transmission, 4wd, power steering, canopy, rollbar, seatbelt (nice and safe), front end loader and 72" bucket (hydraulic self-leveling, shockless accumulator, quick attach hydraulics), grill guard, three rear hydraulic remotes, rear worklight, and a heavy duty 7 foot rear box blade. They even gave us two Kubota hats, what a deal!

We plan to further stimulate the economy by purchasing a mower/bush hog and a harrow in the near future so we can take good care of the pastures.

A special thanks to Mamaw for helping with the down payment for the tractor and to Nanny for helping with the box blade implement.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hay you!

We just sold 50 bales of hay to a man from Spring City who is raising miniature Hereford cattle. The man responded to a post I put on craigslist a couple of weeks ago. Usually when we sell hay I am climbing ladders and lifting and stacking bales but due to my recent accident I won't be able to do any of that for a while. The man and a friend loaded up the hay, John was our bale counter, Mary was in charge of Pup control. Being in the hay business has been fun because we have met a lot of nice people.

More Critters



John and Mary each got a Budgie for Christmas.

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Christmas to Remember



For Christmas dinner we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was very good but not quite the feast we had planned.

Me, SuperDad, the Chipster decided to ride the new horse with the new tack (saddle/bit/etc) for the first time. Debby warned me that it might not be a good idea. All went well at the beginning of the ride. I was riding Morgan in the field and our young stallion Spirit was galloping nearby in the pasture, envious of the attention that Morgan was receiving. Morgan decided to go fast, the saddle was not cinched on properly and began to slip (wardrobe malfunction), and SuperDad hit the ground hard. SuperDad did not bounce up like those rodeo guys on TV. SuperDad remembers hitting hard on his left side and saying "Ouch, Owwww". Debby said that SuperDad passed out for about 45 seconds. While unconscious SuperDad apparently made some gurgling sounds, had his eyes open wide, even stopped breathing at one point. Not good. SuperDad woke up, Debby was on the phone with 911, help was on the way.

I hurt pretty bad, my left thigh, left hip, and all the ribs on the left side. I laid on the ground, fortunately it was a beautiful day. Emergency personnel arrived and strapped me to a board (not comfortable) and took me to the hospital which is five miles from the farm. I spent about two and a half hours at the hospital. I received excellent care, X-rays, Cat scan, etc. The doctor said he did not think anything was broken, perhaps there was a displace rib fracture, that the radiologist would review the X-rays the next day. They gave me a prescription for vicodin, and sent us on our way.

I was and am in a lot of pain. I was worried that I might have messed up my left hip. My ribs hurt if I move or breathe. Seriously. Debby and the kids will be doing my farm chores for a little while.

If you remember, Debby visited the same ER less than two months ago on Halloween. We're not doing too well with holidays lately.

In spite of it all, we truly feel that we are very fortunate and very blessed.

Christmas dinner will be postponed this year to the 26th.

Christmas Morning


Upon waking on Christmas we found that Santa had visited, leaving presents and drinking some milk and eating two homemade cookies that were left for him.

Christmas Eve Children's Mass



We stayed at home in Tennessee for Christmas this year. We went to the 5:00 pm children's mass on Christmas Eve, it was very nice. As we entered the church all the children were given bells for them to ring during the service. The picture shows father Sweeney and the children during the homily. We learned about Christmas trees among other things. Christmas trees are green, the color of life, sometimes one sees the priest wearing green vestments (sp?). Christmas trees also represent the cross, being wood. Father made sure that all were aware of the gift of Love that God sent to the world.

Brrr, then warm again.


On Monday it was 10 degrees F in the morning and the temperature did not go above freezing all day. We've got icicles all over the place where water drips/falls over rocks (next to roads, etc.) Following the cold front was warmer air and rain.

Meet Morgan


Last weekend we went to see a horse for sale st the riding stables in Sevierville. He's a 6 year old blue roan quarter horse gelding, 14.2 hands, named Morgan. Here's a picture of John riding him. We decided to buy him, he was delivered to our farm on Monday December 22.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Nature

This morning the sun came out and it was a beautiful day so I decided to let some pigeons out to fly. This afternoon I found a bloody pile of feathers on the ground near my young bird loft where a bird of prey had killed one of my birds.

It's very interesting, doves and hawks. The doves /pigeons are the symbol of love and peace, and they are basically defenseless. The hawks are efficient killing machines.

Four Six!


Yes, I had a birthday on Wednesday, December 10. Turned the big four six. Debby said that sounds pretty close to fifty. Thanks Dear.

John and Debby baked a home made chocolate cake for the occasion. John and I went on a long hike on the farm and worked up a good appetite. Mmmmm good!

Big Water




We had about 5 or 6 inches of rain here earlier this week. Our ponds are overflowing, the springs are flowing, and the creek is roaring. From the house we can hear White Oak creek, if we walk towards the pond we can hear the water spilling over the dam, and if we walk near the well house we can hear our waterfall in the hollow. I took a picture down at the road close to our driveway, it shows a natural waterfall there at the entrance to our property which winds down through some hemlock trees.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Chinese Dinner puzzle for readers

Tonight John had a karate class and Debby needed to run some errands so we (Chip, Debby, John, and Mary) met up and had dinner together at the China Buffet restaurant in Oak Ridge.

At the end of the meal our check was presented along with four fortune cookies. We each selected a cookie and opened them to discover our fortune. The fortunes were:
  1. You always bring others happiness.
  2. You will have a bright future.
  3. Life to you is a dashing and bold adventure.
  4. You look pretty.

We were surprised at how well the fortunes seemed to fit each of us. So, what's your guess? Leave a comment, send an email or call us and let us know who received which fortune.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

It's like summer for your ears Mommy!


Just a few minutes ago Mary came into the kitchen with a pair of pink ear muffs and handed them to Debby and said "Here Mommy, it's like summer for your ears".

We had a very busy day here at the farm. Renee and Chris and their three boys came over to help us to connect Spirit's pasture to the barn/paddock area. We also installed some windproofing at the barn stall. We ended up installing about 820 feet of new fence line. Spirit now has free range of his pasture and the barn stall/paddock area.

Cheers!


On Tuesday of this week Debby and the kids went for a cruise on the Watts Bar Bell paddle boat with friends on a home school field trip. John said the outing was "awesome".

Monday, December 1, 2008

Picture to share


I was just searching for a computer file and came across this picture, thought I'd share it. This picture was taken in April 2007 for John's first holy communion at St. Mary's church.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Giving Thanks


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. The highlight was the feast, Debby did a fantastic job! We had the Van Horn family join us, all had a nice time.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Seizure Dog Fundraiser

Earlier this year some friends of ours who live in Rockwood learned that their four year old daughter Bonnie had epilepsy. Bonnie began having seizures, and they started to happen more frequently. Bonnie was injuring herself when the seizures occurred, so our friends got a helmet for her to wear, although she did not like it.

Debby helped by embroidering a pretty cover for Bonnie's helmet with a pony on it and her name.

At one point Bonnie was having more than 50 seizures per hour. I don't know how the family has managed to remain functional with everything they have been going through. The family has been spending a lot of time at Vanderbilt, and they have been working to get the right medication for Bonnie.

Apparently there are certain dogs (poodles, schnauzers) who can sense when a seizure is about to occur. In addition to this ability having one of these dogs also seems to reduce the number of seizures. The family would like to get one of these dogs for Bonnie, but they cost several thousand dollars.

So, on Saturday night we took part in a fundraiser dinner at a local church. Debby prepared some vegetable beef stew for the dinner, other families brought chili, soups, desserts, etc. Everyone had a very enjoyable time and we raised $1000 to help get a seizure dog for Bonnie.

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Saturday, November 22, 2008

Chip's Christmas list ....

Last year I asked for a racing pigeon named "Dream Boy", he was available at auction with a starting bid of only $30,000. Mamaw and Papa told me to "keep on dreaming boy". I was so crushed.

So, I thought I'd put my Christmas list up here, where it will get wider exposure. I'm not expecting to actually receive any of this, but since this blog is on the net, you never know. Perhaps Warren Buffet reads this blog.

So here goes.
1) sawmill. Woodmizer LT50 hydraulic diesel sawmill and twin blade edger. Someone to operate the mill and funds to purchase logs would also be helpful.
2) Kubota tractors, I need a few.
a) Big tractors: M96S, M108S, M108X.
b) Large tractors. M9540, M8540
c) Medium tractors: M5040, M6040, M7040
d) Small tractors: L3400, L3940, L4240, L4740
e) Backhoe: M59
f) mowers: ZD331 zero turn
g) utility vehicles: I need a few Kubota RTV's or similar to get around in.
3) staff: I'm too busy, have too many things going on, I need funds so that I can hire some staff. And some funds so that the staff can do useful things.
4) well drilling, trenching equipment: I want to install a geothermal system and run some water lines.
5) truck(s): I need a serious truck (or two), something like a Dodge Ram Big Horn, crew cab, 4wd, dually, diesel, 6 speed auto, 15,000 lb tow package, loaded.
6) cattle trailer.
7) horse trailer.
8) computers
9) swimming pool
10) night vision, thermal imager, binoculars, high intensity spotlight, spotting scopes
11) beef cattle and some good milk cows such as swiss brown so we can make gruyere cheese (will also need subterranean cave for aging and storage)
12) lime, about 100 tons
13) timberframe barn, haybarn, storage building, super uber pigeon palace
14) horses
15) ski lift and snowmaking equipment
16) canoe, raft, kayak
17) corvette
...
...
...
Actually we are very fortunate and very blessed and don't need a thing. Want perhaps, not need:) Ho Ho Ho, happiness, health, and good tidings to all!

Yet more fun!



We had a couple of the kids friends over for a spend the night party. This morning Mary made and distributed party invitations and the kids had a nice little party with sweets and hot chocolate. Mary decided to decorate her Dad. And puppy too.

Got Pup?


We have way too much fun with Pup-pup.

Pigeon update



Pigeons are doing fine. How do I know, well one way is to look at their perches in the morning. The picture taken this morning shows a perch with a nice little pile of fresh perfectly formed droppings with a down feather or two.

Brrrr!



Fourteen (14) degrees here this morning! What happened to the global warming? Our heat pump is running in emergency heat mode (heat pumps are not very efficient when the air temp is below 25 degrees F).

Spirit has some frost on his back, and some ice on his whiskers, but he's actually doing just fine.

Gas price update


Gas prices continue to drop, here's a picture I took in Kingston, TN. I joked with a friend at work the other day, I said the gas prices have dropped so much that I don't even bother to shut off the Suburban anymore, I just leave it idling (not!). Actually, it's quite a relief, we can fill up our old Taurus for less than $30, and the old Suburban with it's 40 gallon tank for less than $100!

Waffle Operation


John loves Papa Waffles so recently Debby found the perfect waffle iron. Here is Papa's (my Dad, Maurice Piller Sr.) famous waffle recipe:

WAFFLES
FROM PAPA’S KITCHEN

Start with a good waffle iron (mine is a round electric Betty Crocker).

This recipe makes 6-7 golden waffles.

Stir the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 & ¾ cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Beat with a fork in a separate bowl:

2 egg yokes

1 & ¾ cup of milk

½ cup oil or shortening

Then pour the liquid part all at once into the flower mixture.

Stir it until blended, but still slightly lumpy.

Gently fold in the (two) beaten egg whites (peaked).

Do not over mix.

Princess and Pup-pup


A picture of Mary and her puppy, just hanging out.

Where's John?


I came home the other day and was not able to find my son. It's hard to believe with us living on a farm in East TN that we don't have any camo in our wardrobe, until now. Debby got some hand me down clothes from a friend and what you see is John's new favorite outfit.

On the subject of camo, or camoflage, earlier this year I got quite a chuckle when I saw camo Easter eggs for sale. Ha!

Christmas Spirit


We had fun making some Christmas decorations.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Flurries today

A few snow flurries outside this morning, some local school systems are closed for the day. It was 19 degrees F at home a couple of days ago. Ski resorts in North Carolina are already open.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day, SNS talk

Happy Veterans day to all! The freedoms and liberties we enjoy today are the result of the sacrifices made by the present and past veterans of this nation.

I gave a talk today at lunch about the Spallation Neutron Source to the Knoxville Sertoma Club, a longstanding service organization in the area. The group meets at Regas Restaurant on Tuesdays. I had a little trouble getting there due to the Veterans Day parade, but all was fine. I gave a talk earlier this year to the same group on the subject of pigeon racing.

More Mamaw Birthday pics




Greg and Janet sent us a CD with pictures from Mamaw's 75th birthday, thanks guys! Here are a couple more pictures.

Jaguar, computing

Yesterday came the announcement that the world's fastest open science computer is called Jaguar, and we've got it at ORNL where I work, click this link for more info.

This speed machine is running Linux, of course :)

Not to be outdone, I have a home computing device named "John" with a speed of about 1 flop. That was meant to be a joke, however I just asked John what 1.2 plus 1.2 equals and he replied 2.4 in about 1 second, so I'll call that 1 flop.

Jerkey Time!


A while back we bought a food dehydrator/jerkey maker unit. Debby surprised me this weekend by making some beef jerkey. Good stuff!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Chip's Right Wing Blog


Seeing that I've been blogging for a while now, and that apparently election season is upon us, I felt it appropriate to weigh in on things political. From the picture you will see me and a right wing. Ha!

Yes, I'm a right wing conservative. I'm pro life. I believe in God. I believe in family. I believe in personal responsibility.

I'm supporting the McCain/Palin ticket. McCain/Palin will win Tennessee, we are a red state. As for the rest of the country I don't know.

My wife and I homeschool our children, previously we enrolled them in private school. Just like the founding fathers of our country were educated. The democrats however don't support school choice. As I frequently observe with liberals this is just one more example of "do as I say, not as I do". Barack Obama sends his children to private school. So did Al Gore.

I believe charity begins at home. Government social programs work against family and faith. Liberals are generous with other people's money, not their own. Obama has a brother living in a hut in Kenya and an aunt living illegally in a slum in Boston. Barack wrote a book from which he earned big bucks. In his book he described his family, his responsibility, and he claimed to be his brothers keeper. Barack earned millions and gave zilch to charity until he began running for president. Barack's running mate Biden earned millions and also gave virtually nothing to charity.

Obama joined a church and supported that church and it's pastor for 20 years. When it became public knowledge that Obama's pastor was preaching a lot of hateful things Obama claimed that he did not know. I don't believe him for a second on this. I've been to a lot of churches. While living in Yorktown, VA we briefly attended a church that was close to our home. We went there for a few weeks and were surprised and offended by the pastor. We had never before nor since experienced a pastor like this man. We quickly registered with and began attending a different church which was farther away.

Obama pledged to take public financing back in 2007, citing at the time John McCains pledge to do the same. John McCain stuck by his pledge, Obama did not. Obama now has a huge spending advantage in the election. Obama should be way ahead and easily win the election due to his huge spending advantage. Obama also has a big advantage by having the liberal mainstream media in the tank for him.

Obama wrote in his book that he used illegal drugs. Until recently he was a smoker, it's possible that he still smokes. Obama has a pattern of associating with some questionable people, for example his relationship with domestic terrorist William Ayers. Obama wants to be president but would likely not pass a background check for a job at the FBI.

Obama politics are the typical democrat tactics of class warfare, division, and dependence. Obama has compiled the most liberal record of any sitting US senator.

McCain voted with the Republicans less than Obama voted with the Democrats. I like McCains preference for market based solutions more than Obama's big government solutions. I trust McCain as commander in chief. Obama has waved the white flag of surrender and voted to cut off funding for our troops

It'll be interesting.

PS: just a comment on voting. I prefer the old fashioned paper ballot. Tried and true. Add optical scan if you want, but stick with the paper ballot. Electronic voting is not secure. Electronic voting makes it possible to hack an election. Another thing, I don't like early voting. I think that early voting opens up more possibility for fraud.

Scary Halloween

On Friday afternoon Debby called me at work and told me that she felt sick and needed me to come home right away. She was complaining about a vision problem in her left eye, a headache, dizziness, and numbness in her left hand. I talked to her on the phone as I rushed home. I called our doctor and Debby spoke to the nurse. The nurse said we should go to the emergency room and that's what we did.

At the hospital they put Debby in a room and connected her to a blood pressure monitor, heart monitor, etc. They did a CT scan and bloodwork. After a couple of hours the results were back: Debby is in perfect health but was showing classic symptoms for a migraine headache, something she has never before experienced.

The doctor said that with migraines one needs to be careful with salt, caffeine, and stress.

This medical event put a serious crimp in our Halloween plans, we missed a party at a friend's house but I was able to take the kids to a planned Trunk or Treat event at a baptist church in Kingston. Mary dressed as a princess, John as a scary ghoul. Both had a wonderful time. Unfortunately no pictures :(

At the end of the day we counted our blessings. Debby got a thorough medical check and is in perfect health. The children enjoyed Halloween with their friends.

Spirit, napping in the sun


Snapped a picture of Spirit taking a little nap in the sun. The weather was just gorgeous here yesterday and Puppy and I went hiking and exploring and were headed back to the house when the kids spotted us and came out to join us in the field. I decided to lay down in the grass and the kids just piled on. Debby came out and joined us. We all laid down in the grass, enjoyed the sunshine, and took a little rest. Delightful.

In the picture is a little feeder rack I built. It's a frame built from 2x4's that fits over a pair of T posts. A feeder bucket can be hung over the 2x4 cross rail. Previously we used a round rubber feed pan to give sweet feed/grain to the horses but they always step on them and turn them over. This arrangement works much better.

Pup Pup Birthday!


We had a birthday party on Saturday for Pup Pup who is now two years old! We don't really know his exact birthday, he is a stray dog that we rescued. At the end of August last year the vet told us that PupPup was about 10 months old, so we think his birthday is on Halloween. We were unable to celebrate on Halloween so we celebrated the next day. Debby baked homemade chocolate cupcakes and icing for the event. Puppy got a bone, we had cupcakes! Don't be afraid of the big spider, it's just a Halloween decoration.

Swingset, friends


Here's a picture of a swingset I built a while back. It was sort of a quick and inexpensive prototype swingset, but the kids love it. We had a nice wooden swingset at out last house but a tree fell on it during a storm and snapped it in half.
This swingset is made from all 2x4's. The legs are 10 feet long. The top pieces are 8 feet long. I made some gusset plates out of 7/16 OSB. I built two frames and they are connected together by a pair of hinges. So, you can pull the legs apart or make them closer, the whole thing will fold up if you want to move it. I built this for about $20, and am surprised at how stable it is and how much the kids enjoy it. We'll see what comes next.

As for this picture, I took it a week ago, it shows Mary and her fried Sarah who spent the night here. We often have fog in the morning and it was just starting to burn off.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Taylor Story

A guy I work with named Taylor told me this story today:
"It seems that a man was arrested for killing a bald eagle. In the courtroom the judge said that the bald eagle was an endangered species and that it was illegal to kill them and he asked the man to explain why he did such a thing. The man told the judge that he and his family were hungry and that he killed the eagle for food. The judge took pity on the man and dismissed the case. As the man was leaving the courtroom the judge called out and said he was curious and wanted to know what bald eagle tasted like. The man replied that bald eagle tasted like a cross between california condor and spotted owl."

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Marathon Bro'

My brother Greg Piller today ran in and successfully completed the Marine Corps Marathon race! Totally awesome! This was his first marathon (full marathon, 26.2 miles), and he already has plans to compete as part of a team in a 200 mile race next year. Way to go bro'!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Dropping gas prices

I filled up the car today and regular unleaded was $2.53 per gallon in Kingston, TN, definitely the lowest price I've seen in a while.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Mamaw's 75th Birthday Hike






The family gathered last weekend to celebrate Mamaw's 75th birthday. On Friday evening there was a fondue in Vienna (the TN Pillers were en route and did not arrive in time). On Saturday morning we met at the McDonalds in Warrenton. Aunt Doris, Uncle Johnny, Aunt Doris Anne, and Uncle Lloyd had breakfast with us and we had a very nice visit.

We then proceeded to the Shenandoah National Park and set off to climb Old Rag Mountain. We hiked the saddle trail and on the way up we encountered members of a wedding party on their way to the top. A young couple had climbed Old Rag when they first began dating and decided that they wanted to get married on the summit of Old Rag. There were about a hundred friends and family members that made the climb and we also witnessed the wedding ceremony.

While on the mountain we encountered another small group, a young man in the group had a guitar. We asked if he could play Happy Birthday and he said yes, so we all sang Happy Birthday to Mamaw.

We saw a warning sign about aggressive bears in the area, and the children were terrified (not really, they were just acting)!

The weather was just about perfect for the hike; no rain, not too windy, not too hot or cold.

After the hike we went to the Outback restaurant in Warrenton and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Debby, John, and Mary met us at Outback.

Nanny's Flowers



We were up in Virginia for a family visit last weekend and I snapped a picture of some pretty flowers at Nanny's house.

There is a nice park just down the street from Nanny's house, the kids enjoyed the swingset and we met several nice dogs that were taking their owners for a walk.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Training for Old Rag, Fall Foliage



Next Saturday we plan to hike Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to celebrate Mamaw's 75th birthday. Today I successfully hiked from the house down to the mailbox and back as a training exercise. The fall foliage is beautiful right now.