Back Yard

A view that I don't often show but where I spend a lot of time.  The cars are in various states of repair and disrepair and provide shelter for the cats and chickens from the rain.  The goats are eating the delicious weeds I pull on a daily basis which grew out of the chicken room manure spread last fall.  My wool drying rack is protected from the worst winds swooping through the valley.  The garbage can lid has water in it for the little chicks that used to drown in the cat and dog water.  I sometimes pause and stand on the little porch to gaze at the hills beyond.  In a little more than a month they will be ablaze with color and breathtaking beauty..  If it wasn't for Lisa and Marie Merian, my dearest sheep friends from Bainbridge,  I would never have known about this place.   I don't think I have ever thanked them enough or ever can.

On Deck...

So much to do before I can settle down to work, which is hardly work for me since I like it so much.  Have to run to the bank in New Berlin, and would like to go to Tractor Supply in Hamilton,  but both stops are forty miles apart.  Life in bucolic upstate New York.   Two bags on the machine - Standing Stones - which makes me happy to look at it.  Can't get any more of this fabric.  Found it on the red tag rack at Joann's a year ago.  So many of my totes are "limited editions" but that's okay.  Makes them even more special.  I have two big pots of dyed wool on the stove in the milk room that have to be washed and set out to dry.  I don't have a drop of soap left to wash with - except for my goat milk bars and they don't exactly do well in the washing machine, unless I melted them and that's a big deal.  Will have to go to the market.  Slim pickins this time of year.  I paid property taxes and extra land lease with my summer pay so it's living off the farmer's market.  That's why I smile so pretty at the customers.   It's off to the feed store to buy some sweet feed for Miss Mamie.  Rodolpho and Marcello are doing well.  I thought this morning that they are beginning to look like normal healthy newborn lambs.  Miss Mamie had no pre-lambing treatment and was not shorn this spring, therefore she was not wormed or vaccinated this year.  She grew these lambs on green grass only.  Rambouillets need grain and extra TLC when they are pregnant - not like Bluefaced Leicesters who pop ten pound lambs on grass only.  I'm amazed and grateful the boys are okay.  Mom's one teat seems to be holding them but I'm giving tiny little Rodolpho a bottle four times a day.  I found a nice sweet bale of second cut in the mow for Miss Mamie, who is perking up day by day.  She is as big as a pony and so gentle with her little ones.  Will need to shear her soon.  It takes a couple of years for Rambos and Merinos to grow a decent staple length of wool.  I have one other Rambo left, a wether, from the rescue I did several years back in a very impulsive gesture.  A teacher in the Fort Plain area sold her farm, bought a Winnebago and took off, leaving her sheep fostered locally.  I have no idea how old Miss Mamie is, but she's aged.   Sheep can give birth until they die, but they need lots of nurturing and extra TLC.  Miss Mamie is getting all that right now.  Off to buy her some delicious, molasses laden sweet feed.

My Baby! My Baby!

I'm loving my little ram lambs, born days ago when Father Aaron was visiting.   Who knows how long it took for Miss Mamie to bring them down the big hill to the barn, tiptoeing along, coaxing them every step of the way.  What a wonderful devoted mother she is.  I know mama would love to be out of the barn, back up on the hill with her babies, but they are too tiny and fragile.  An eagle or hawk, or sneaky coyote could snatch them up so easily.  No, they are safe in the barn with Thor tied next to them.  Yes, coyotes have been known to go in the barn and steal animals.  Some farmers play the radio all the time to keep them out.  I'm bottle feeding the smaller twin as his brother tends to monopolize the one working teat.  The little guy stays close to mama but rushes to me when he sees me coming.  So cute!  I don't go far as mama gets very upset and only allows me the time it takes to down half a bottle before the yelling starts.

Surprise Package

I love presents.  Did I say I love presents?  Especially surprises that come in the mail when you least expect it, when you are feeling a little blue because your kids are together somewhere far away and you can't be there with them, or when the summer is almost over and it's back to work, and summer is over and winter is coming with all the worries and stress involved.  Yesterday I received an envelope containing the most beautiful pair of socks in the whole wide world.  They were sent to me by my dear friend Sock Lady Spins who lives alone in the wilderness of British Columbia, surrounded by grizzly bears and mountains.  Lynne Rettberg describes knitting her socks as a labor of love.  I can't imagine how she does it.  Lynne spins the wool then knits the intricate designs from her own imagination.  For those of us who have "second sock syndrome" getting the next sock done identical to the first is nothing short of a miracle.  All I need are a new pair of khaki pants, a brown top and my brown Danskos and I'm good to go!

Market Day

The market was much busier today despite the Bouckville Antique Show continuing a few miles away.  I sold the most recent tote with no price tag on it and threads still needing to be clipped.  What a thrill.  A woman from the Adirondacks who was visiting some BOCES colleagues of mine bought it.  Another group of BOCES  people came by and the sister visiting from Utah bought a skein of mohair boucle hand spun to take back with her.  I do love those tourists.  The locals know I will be back another weekend with my wares.  The travelers know they better get it now.  Took my wages to Tractor Supply to get a bag of milk replacer for the still unnamed Rambo ram twins.  The little guy is so tiny and spindly - but sucks eagerly on the bottle.  I can't deny his will to live and will help him all I can.  Bottle babies are costly.  Milk replacer, made from whey powder, is ridiculously expensive.  If I could get him strong enough to nurse from mom it would be different but this aged mom has only one teat working and the bigger, stronger brother is monopolizing it.  I'm worried about Mom - she's devoted but seems tired.  I bought her some minerals and found some good hay in the mow for her.  I sure don't want to lose Mom and babies, too. 

Bye Bye

The humid stickiness has turned into lovely, cool. dry, sunny days.   Father Aaron is on his way to Gorham, Maine, to visit Eric, Annie and kids for two days before heading back to NJ.  He'll visit some friends for a day then report back for Army chaplain duty in Nevada.  It was great having him here although the visit was much too short.  I was able to give him two home cooked dinners and have some good conversations about his work out West and future plans.  I love the way he was able to shoot off fireworks, something he can't do in the city where he lives.  I beg forgiveness from my neighbors - they must have thought we were under attack.  Last night the last few were set off while I was hunkered down on the sofa with some very shaky doggies.  We had a very lovely campfire.  There is something about gazing into the flickering flames and glowing coals that is mesmerizing and soothing.  Matt got Luke's motorbike drained and cleaned up to put in AJ's rented SUV along with his bicycle to take to Maine.  I'm sure Luke will be happy to have his wheels back to explore the new neighborhood. 

Surprise Lambs

Look what Miss Mamie brought down from the pasture with her tonight...two little ram lambs.  This came as a complete surprise to me.  I've never had lambs at this time of year before.  Miss Mamie is ancient - one of the Rambos I rescued several years ago.  Dad has to be Zack, my Border Leicester ram.  The lambs are tiny and exhausted, having followed mom on the long walk down the big hill.  Mom is totally enthralled with her babies, and I am thrilled they are here.  Father Aaron arrived for a visit today and I asked him to bless my lambs.

Gorgeous Greens

My chickens, the ones that are incarcerated in the chicken room/run that is, are thrilled that I'm pulling weeds.  I've been standing up some of the dinosaur weeds in the run for them to eat.  My chickens are not laying like they should.  I think they are unhappy that I'm not spoiling them like I used to. When my farmer's market neighbor starts bringing in giant bins of cabbages I'll bring a few home for the chickens.  For now they'll have to be happy with corn husks and weeds.

Super Weeds

I am attempting to build some kind of "garden" in front of my barn.   With dozens of free range chickens (Luke caught as many as he could and put them in the chicken room, but there are still so many on the run) planting anything that has a chance of growing is iffy.  I would like to put in a holly bush, a little cherry tree, and some ground cover, before the snow flies.  My student Randy cleaned out my chicken room last year and deposited the black gold on my future garden.  Well, the weeds that grew out were of such robust variety I can't begin to describe them.  A few I recognize as poke berry, burdock and milk weed.  The others are likely from the chicken feed I gave the chickens, or they blew in on the wind. I tied one of the Goatie Boys out on a line to eat some of the weeks but he cried so much and got himself tangled up so badly that Matt felt sorry for him and let him go.  I'm doing some work on it every day.  I confess I don't have the gusto to spend hours in the hot sun like I used to.  Sitting at my sewing machine or spinning wheel with New Age music on is much more relaxing and fun.  I suspect I will be hiring another student to do the rest.  They appreciate the work and I can "do other things" like shovel poop.  Shoveling is hard work but it's done in the cool darkness of the barn.

It's That Time Again

Fall shows are looming and I haven't even sorted all the wool from last season.  Time to get a move on it.  I don't usually go looking for wool as I have plenty of luscious fiber of my own...but once in a great while I give in.  I;m very fussy about where my wool comes from.  Kim and I were walking around the grounds of Maryland Sheep and Wool last May when we came upon a woman shearing her Romneys.  She was putting the giant fleeces out for sale as they came off the sheep.  Kim and I looked at each other and instantly understood that nobody else was going to get their mitts on those fleeces.  We were willing to fight for them if necessary.  Luckily, the grounds were deserted except for people taking care of their sheep and campers way down the lane.  The shepherd turned out to be from Mays Landing, New Jersey, and was happy for us to take them all.  I don't want to tell you what I paid because it was crazy cheap, causing me to wonder why I am raising my own sheep to begin with.  "Rita" even brought me another fleece or two at my booth the next day.  I am now getting around to sorting the Weymouth Walk Romney fleeces, and they are gorgeous.  I can hardly lift two fleeces at one time.  My Bluefaced Leicester fleeces are very light and hard to pick as they are so baby soft they attract every weed, seed and burdock within miles.  Romney fleece is what we call "open," with big waves of crimp that let the chaff fall out.  I picked them right out of the bag while stuffing the washer tub.  I have two giant dye pots and one fleece took both pots.  I have four more fleeces to wash and dye from Weymouth Walk.  I intend to blend them with my adult mohair, which is on the coarse side, like Romney wool.  The mohair and wool will blend nicely making the combination more palatable to weavers and sock knitters. 

Musings

Will do some tidying up, which I don't like to do, before I do the things I like to do.  It's my self-imposed rewards system.  Tinkerbell is sitting on my shoulder and purring in my ear, telling me, that's okay, the work will get done, spend some more time with me.  The Today Show, which I can't watch during the school year, is on TV.  Nicki Manaj is performing on the square outside the studio.  I was proctoring a test for one student at my school a couple of years ago.  He was fidgeting and staring out the window.  I asked him if he was okay, and he told me he couldn't take the test unless Nicki M. music was playing.  I had never heard of her.  I thought about it and said let me see what I can do.  I found her recordings on the internet and started the tunes playing.  He got to work, mouthing the words to the songs silently, and knocked out the test in no time.  That's what I like about being a special ed teacher in an alternative school.  Sometimes the kids need a little extra something...I'm sewing some gorgeous bags.  Somehow it seems right to create these functional yet lovely totes to carry the weight of the world.  Whenever I see someone carrying a tiny little flimsy bag I think their life must be wonderfully uncomplicated.  Mine is anything but.  That is my choice, or is it an inability to draw back and analyze what works and what doesn't,  what I can manage without stress vs. a constant crusher.  I think I am finally able to see things with more lucidity.  Having too much to do takes me away from certain realities I don't want to deal with.  I'm so lucky - I still wake up in the morning without having to take a single pill, letting the blessings of good coffee give me everything I need.  I have beautiful animals for company.  I'm going to do some chores - the barn floor looks terrible.  Lukie, God bless him, scraped up a whole bunch of dried manure but didn't have time to haul it out to the pile before I took him to Maine. I'll finish the task for him, with tears falling on the shovels full of poop.  What a fierce little worker he is!  I'll come back inside, put on a movie and sew my beautiful bags.  It works for me.

Family News

Reports from Maine are good.  Luke is attending Webelo camp at Camp Hinds where I visited when I took the kidlets home.  He'll be making lots of new friends and figuring out how to run the place someday I expect.  Luke has a very shrewd, analytical mind and has given me many pointers here on the farm.  For example - Omi, why in the world did you want so many dogs?????  Hannah is helping Annie unpack the many boxes delivered from the Dallas Palace.  She likes her periwinkle blue room with the Ikea loft bed.  Little Fergus is settling in nicely and has figured out how to climb the ladder to the upper bunk.  Eric continues to get the Pine Tree Council on track with his vision for it.  There are many meetings and dinners to attend.  The job of a Scout Executive is a way of life.  I'm hoping to get back to Maine with all the little things left behind, along with Luke's motorbike and bicycle.  Mia reports that her nurse practitioner job is coming along nicely.  She and one of her surgeons saw 35 patients in the office on Friday.  Her hours are long, making hospital rounds early in the morning, then seeing patients in the office in the afternoon.   She's learning all kinds of neat medical stuff.  Father Aaron is visiting in New Jersey now and will come up to the farm on Thursday to see me, continuing on to Maine on Saturday.  He's having fun with old friends and burning off some of that Army Chaplain stress.  He sounds so happy to be home.

Lean On Me

I love being home with my little friends over the summer.  Once September comes I'm always bombing out the door, leaving the critters to while away the day until feeding time in the evening. Everyone has their job - growing wool, guarding the critters, keeping the rats away, laying eggs, etc.  Some kitties are so adorable they become house kitties.  Portia is letting Tinkerbell use her as a pillow.  Portia thinks she belongs in the house and knows how to pop out the bathroom screen to get inside.  Tinkerbell is so cute she can stay in the house all she wants.  I wouldn't mind if she caught the mouse who likes to run across the stove while I'm cooking.  Yes, this mouse seems to wait until I get dinner going to come out.  I'm a big strong farm girl but the sight of a long tailed grey furry thing streaking across my stove always gives me a start - and sometimes a shriek. 

Sewing

What a gift sewing is.  Nothing occupies me when I'm "home alone" as happily as sewing does.  My old Singer is my favorite power tool.  My fiber artist/attorney friend, Carolyn D'Agostino, from Albany collects vintage sewing machines and decided to offer this one to me in exchange for wool.   It's similar in age and style to the last one I was using, only bigger and stronger.  When sewing my Bundaflicka totes with heavy tapestry and chenille fabric, bigger and stronger is a good thing.  My first show is in less than one month - Colorscape Chenango - and I'm working on hard on creating product.  Today I'm putting together snap frame totes with some lovely purply/flowery embroidered chenille chosen for me by my personal fabric consultant - Carol Crayonbox of Freeville, near Ithaca.  Love it!  I'm very late with sorting and dyeing fiber, but it will happen.  When, I don't know.  I go in fits and starts, ebbs and flows.  That's just the way things are.

Bean, Inc.

Eric took us to the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport.  This massive complex is open 24/7 year round.  I bought from Bean for many years.  Everybody got matching Beaners to wear on Christmas morning and I wore their boots until they wore out.  I got away from Bean products in recent years.  The quality is not the same and a lot of it is made in China.  What isn't?  Still it was wonderful touring the store with Eric and family.  I have some ideas for holiday gifts now.

Camp Hinds

Eric and Annie lived at Camp Hinds while waiting for their house to be ready.  Camp Hinds is outside of Portland where the BSA Pine Tree Council headquarters is located.  When I brought Hannah and Luke home to them last weekend Eric drove us out to the camp.  Vans of Boy Scouts were arriving for their stay at the camp.  We walked the grounds and met some counselors, the cooking staff and the waterfront staff.  Everyone was very friendly and happy to meet the mother of the new Scout Executive.  I was very impressed with the wild natural beauty of the location.  The dining hall is covered with creative and artsy signs made by previous Scout troops staying at the camp.  I love signs anyway and had a lot of fun seeing what the various patrols came up with.  Annie showed me where to pick wild huckleberries.  Luke will be attending Cub Scout camp there next week.  Lucky boy.

From Pond to Pond

The pond on the farm figured largely in our summer program here on the farm.  Luke now has his own pond adjacent to his yard in Gorham.  This lovely setting is actually a communal pond shared by the people who live in the development.  It's left wild and has bull frogs who make the same music we hear on the farm.   A fire pit and benches are provided for residents.   What a lovely haven for bird watching and contemplation.

Top Gun

After many years of moving all over the country in service to the Boy Scouts of America, including a recent stint at National in Texas, Eric has landed his own council.  The Pine Tree Council is located in Portland, next to the airport, and Eric took me to see his headquarters.  Eric has a large staff that oversees dozens of troops along with Camp Hinds, a beautiful rural facility on a lake, which we also visited.  He is in charge of developing a vision for the council and making it happen.  When I asked how it was going he said "They love me."  What's not to like? 

Stone's Throw

Eric and Annie's new home has a lovely variety of landscaping with pretty and interesting stones incorporated every where you look, appropriate for the Granite State.  The driveway is lined with a stone wall and even the drainpipe over the culvert is covered with decorative flat stones.  The front walk is absolutely beautiful.  Low growing evergreen shrubs form terraces at various levels of the sloping grounds.  I couldn't help but imagine Christmas wreaths made from the clippings.  Beds of flowers are interspersed throughout the lot and a small field of wild flowers lines the road. 

Maine Doggies

Booker, Eric and Annie's Kentucky blueblood English Pointer, is feeling rather indignant at being tied to a well pump on the grounds of their new home in Gorham, Maine.  Annie is training this world class runner on the invisible fence - not an easy thing to do.  Booker joined the family while they were living in Louisville, Kentucky, where Hannah and Luke were born.  Eric was working for the BSA council there and Annie was teaching English and Rhetoric at the Univ. of Louisville.  Booker was joined by Perdita, a Chihuahua mix who was lost of the streets of Louisville.   Dizzy, another little-white-fluffy-lapdog mix, also homeless, was added during Eric's stint at National Boy Scouts in Dallas.  The doggies fared quite well over the last month when Eric and Annie were living in sparse quarters at the local Boy Scout camp while waiting to close on the house. 

Room to Roam

There was much unpacking and organizing to do on the first day in the Gorham house but Annie makes it look so easy.  Hannah and I couldn't resist setting up her Louet spinning wheel in the great room.   This spacious area is very cozy with a wood stove, plush carpeting, fantastic lighting and could easily accomodate a few spinners.  There is another room upstairs from this one that Luke refers to as his "Man Cave."   After a month on the farm with no video games, Luke was enjoying getting reacquainted with his game buddies.

First Breakfast

I felt so lucky to be with the family when they sat down for their very first breakfast in the new Maine home.  Annie is a world-class cook and her blueberry pancakes were fantastic.  Maine is the leading producer of wild blueberries in the nation.  I suspect we will be enjoying more delicious pancakes with these scrumptious little berries in the future.

Halycon Yarn in Bath

Annie took Hannah and I to the famous Halcyon Yarn store in Bath, the historic ship building town.  Halcyon (named for the owner, Halcyon Blake) is fantastic, with yarn for knitting, weaving, hooking, etc., and fiber for spinning.  I had a great time looking through patterns and paging through big glossy knitting books.   I was proud of Hannah who asked for some rainbow roving to spin instead of commercial yarn.  YES!!

Home to Maine

Hannah and Luke are safely delivered back to their loving parents.  We packed up and set out for Gorham, Maine, on Saturday morning.  Annie and Eric spent the day unloading the giant trailer holding all their worldly goods into the new home on Settlers Way in the Fort Hill section of Gorham, near Portland.  I wish I could have kept the kids longer but they missed mom and dad and with the house secured it was time to return them.  I'm very lucky to have had them as long as I did.  There were, miraculously, no injuries, no trips to the ER, not even a fever.  Hannah and Luke are the easiest kids in the world to keep and I enjoyed them so much.  The trip took us around seven hours, with rest stops, etc.  The weather was great and it was all systems go.  Annie was waiting on the front porch for us and it was hugs and kisses all around as the kids ran into her arms.

Bovine Beauties

We are surrounded by dairy farms but rarely get a chance to see them up close.  The Otsego County Fair had plenty of cows for Hannah and Luke to admire.  What magnificent animals they are.  I can't imagine catching one if I had to...

I Did It!

We returned home from the Otsego County Fair just in time for chores.  We were hot and tired but the animals had to be taken care of.   Luke has wanted to climb the big pine tree all month, and, with the end of his visit looming, he decided it was time.  The branches are rather high so he stood on my shoulders to get high enough to grab on.  Climbing up is one thing but climbing down is quite another.  Luckily Omi found a step ladder in the barn.

Skein Competition

I made a point of stopping by to check out my friend, Mother Katherine's, skeins at the Otsego County Fair competition.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that she entered a lovely woven piece as well.  The fiber art exhibit featured some beautiful quilts, too.

Piggies!

I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with this mother and her piglets.  She was very calm and patient with her little ones despite fair patrons sticking their fingers in the pen and playing with the piglet tails.  This sow is a mixture of Landrace, Duroc and Yorkshire.  It seriously stirred my blood and made me want pigs again.  I think they are the most amazing animals and a great way to raise a LOT of food very easily and quickly.

Otsego County Fair

I've wanted to check out this fair for several years and finally got there with Hannah and Luke.  They had a fabulous time, shooting at the carnival venue and riding the rides.  I wanted to spend more time in the animal barns and the kids were fine with it.   We could buy a cup of pellets for a dollar to feed the sheep and llama.  Hannah wanted to know why our sheep were not as friendly.  I explained to her that the pellets help the sheep become very friendly.  

Roadside Flowers

The flowers that line the roads around Brookfield are stunning this year.  I was worried because our very hard working, dedicated road department came by, scraping the shoulders and widening the culverts, which usually takes the flowers away.  They did their work but something beautiful happened - thick lines of lovely white Queen Anne's Lace grew along the roads, with blue chickory flowers and pink Globe Amaranth.  I went into the village to pick up my mail and had to stop along the way and admire the flowers (before the road department comes back.)

Going Home

Annie called with the news that they closed on the house in Gorham, Maine, today and all systems are go.  I'm taking Hannah and Luke to their new home on Saturday.  The kids are excited and a little nervous.  They are so sweet and already expressed remorse at leaving me here on the farm.  They helped me bring doggies to the free rabies clinic at the town barn in Brookfield - what fun that was.  Wish I could have brought the White Boys but with Matt out of town there is no way the kids and I could have wrestled those monsters into the little Saturn, even one at a time.  Izzy was a little sissy and screamed like a baby with his shot.  This others were troopers.  After chores Luke and I went up on the pond with the dogs, me on foot, him on his motor bike, and chatted for a while.  We diverted to the Hidden Pond by the apple orchard on the way back.  Luke picked mint to make tea.  Somehow we missed the rising of the full moon before we came in.  I had forgotten about it with other things on my mind.  Went out to bring warm oatmeal to the kitties on the stoop just now and there it was - so beautiful.  If the Olympics were not on we would surely be outside with a little camp fire going.  Low on everything in the kitchen so I made a big bowl of buttery mashed potatoes for Hannah.  Luke requested marmalade on toast - his new favorite breakfast.   Now it's ten o'clock and time to spin a bit I think.  Tomorrow we'll take a ride over to the Otsego County Fair to check it out.  Luke is going to help me shear Minnie Driver tomorrow night - my favorite little black doe.   She was so runty last year I worried about her growing at all, but now she's a mini goat with the nicest, softest black mohair. 

Kitty Company

We are fast approaching the time when Hannah and Luke will go home to their new life in Maine.  Eric and Annie have been living in the tiny staff headquarters at Camp Hinds BSA facility while waiting for the closing to go through on their beautiful Cape Cod style home in Gorham, Maine.  I always go through a "kiddie withdrawal" when Hannah and Luke go home.  They are the easiest, most undemanding kids in the world and I love to have them on the farm in the summer when I'm home from school.   Hannah and Luke never complain about being bored or whine about going home.  Their parents are always taking them on exciting adventures with the Boy Scouts or in Eric's plane.  They are happy with whatever food I give them, a miracle since Annie is a world class cook and I know they have fabulous meals on a daily basis, when they are not frequenting their favorite restaurants.   I will have plenty to keep me busy, with fall shows fast approaching but I still miss them.  I'll have many sentient beings to keep me company, including kitties who love to sleep on my sewing machine table.

A Boy and His Dogs

Luke loves dogs and he doesn't lack for company here.  I love watching him sleep with Izzy and play with the other dogs.  Luke has three dogs at home he will be very happy to be reunited with once I take them home to Portland, Maine.   The free rabies clinic is being held at the Brookfield Town Barn today and we will be there.  So glad I have some extra hands to help me with the doggies.  A couple are already vaccinated by the vet but the others are due.  This should be interesting...