The Old Barn

Great Aunt Nellie and Grandma Lena
family barn built 1900

We are so excited to have been working on our old family barn this summer. Terry has been doing some of the work, and we have also had the help of the crew from EcoStructures.   When we were growing up it was full of dairy cows and calves.  There was a tall silo, a grainary and a pigsty out back.  Right now we use it to house most of the hay that we have harvested for the long winter ahead.  Five generations of our family have made use of this sturdy shelter.  We hope that given a good dose of TLC a couple more will have at least the opportunity to build upon this legacy within its comforting walls.  We love this old barn full of friendly ghosts and fond memories.

Roadside Beauty

Our days have been brightened by the beauty of 'Tickseed' blooming along our normally shady road.  In the evenings especially when the yellow flowers are backlit by the sunset, they seem to glow and almost glimmer.  With twilight approaching, they bring to mind one of Grandma's favorite songs, "In the Gloaming" written in 1877 by Annie F. Harrison. 

Fairy Lace

When I got up this morning guess what I found
Frilly lace doilies all over the ground.
Some call them cobwebs but they are not that to me
They are lace doilies made by the fairies and left there you see.
Frilly lace doilies, oh hasten to see
Frilly lace doilies made especially for me.

Their midsummer social was held on my lawn
They danced by the light of the firefly till dawn
And in their haste to leave before light
They left all their napkins behind in their flight.
Frilly lace doilies that's what I found.
Frilly lace doilies all over the ground.

I believe they were left there as thanks to me,
For the use of my lawn, I'm Irish you see.
No lovelier lace can be found
Than made by the fairies and left on the ground.
Frilly lace doilies, oh hasten to see
Frilly lace doilies made especially for me.

--- by Lena Gertrude Dixon Wiles, our grandmother

Fairy stories were often told to us by our grandmother while we were growing up. 
We still believe :) 

Weaning Day

Saturday was weaning day... a day full of lots of noise and confusion.  All the ewes' body conditions were checked, they were scored using the FAMACHA system, then put out the side door and into the paddock below the barn.  The lambs were weighed, scored with FAMACHA and kept in the barn until, in a grand exodus, we made our way to the graveyard field. 

By Sunday morning, about half the lambs had adjusted well and were moving about the field without a care in the world.  However the other half were doing a whole lot of what really can only be described as pouting.

In a few days the lambs will, once again, become quite frisky.  There will be plenty of cavorting and romping.  They will have developed new friendships and be having a grand time.   Lambs will be... lambs.

Sunday Muse

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth."
-- from Psalm 121 

{this moment}

{this moment}
A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a single moment from the week.
A simple, special extraordinary moment.
A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Participating with the SouleMama blog.

Vas Solum vs. Popillia Japonica

The Weapon - Vas Solum

The Enemy - Popillia Japonica

Yes, it's that time of year again.  The battle is on with our old garden enemy, the Japanese beetle.  One of my early memories of working on the farm, is helping our Grandmother pick Japanese beetles off of the grapevines.  We would carefully pick them off the leaves, then put them in the old can that she carried.  The can was about half full of kerosene.  My weapon of choice is the common glass bottle, which may or may not contain a little soapy water depending upon how much of a rush I am in.   It is best to attack early in the morning when the beetles seem to be groggy.  If you wait until the temperatures warm up this can become quite the challenge as they are more likely to quickly fly away.

As with most things on the farm, and in life in general, it is not a matter of having time but is really a matter of making time.  It is a time to slow down, observe, connect and reminisce - about Grandmother Lena, childhood, farm and family.  A quick word of warning... don't daydream too much, as it becomes quite easy to mistake a bee for a beetle... a painful lesson learned. 

Monarchs and Milkweed

We always let a few milkweed plants continue to grow around the house so that we get the chance to watch these caterpillars. We find it fascinating to see how much they eat and how fast they grow. It won't be long until this one finds a sturdy twig, begins pupation and forms its chrysalis.



After about two weeks, a Monarch butterfly will emerge, and we will enjoy two to eight weeks of its delicate beauty.

Among the websites containing information about Monarch butterflies, there is a great one here for kids that contains coloring pages, puzzles, etc.

More Coop Competition

Just minutes before this picture was taken, Samson was nowhere to be found. There was however a large shadow moving inside the guinea coop. Yes, this large dog had gone inside that small door. He made what was apparently an inspection tour and somehow came back out that small door.

The guineas were not home during this visit, but soon came back from their bug hunting to give Samson a somewhat noisy lecture about basic etiquette and manners.

Samson was appropriately apologetic.

Sunday Muse

Catnap

: noun - 1823

: a very short light nap

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a single moment from the week.

A simple, special extraordinary moment.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Participating with the SouleMama blog.

The Lambs Formerly Known As...

Recently Rosemary and Ginger (the lambs formerly known as Princess and Cinderella) made a trip to the county seat to participate in their first 'Weigh-In' and Livestock Show at the fairgrounds.

Here is our guest blogger, Lena, to share a little bit about this experience.

I had a lot of fun, but it is not all fun and games in the show ring. First I had to weigh my lambs. Rosemary was 71 lb and Ginger was 73 lb. I chose to show Rosemary because she had more muscle build up. They had two types of classes, the judging of the sheep and the judging of how well you show your lamb (showmanship).

This picture is during the first class which was judging of the sheep.

I am the one in the red shirt, right in the middle of the class

(which is a good place to be right now).

This is picture is during the judging of how well

you show your sheep (showmanship).

This is Rosemary and Ginger waiting outside the show ring.

In judging of the lamb you have to line them up with their side to each other and a little room between them so the judge can get through. He/she will examine them, then when he/she tells you to, you have to walk them in around the ring to the other side then stop and stay right where you are at. He/she will come around to look at them again . Then he/she will start place them in the order he wants them to be in. In judging of the lamb I got 4th place which is a good place to be right now because that means that my sheep doesn't have too much fat and that she needs to build up more muscle by the show/sale in September.

When you do showmanship you have to do certain things so that you can be a good sheep shower. First you have to keep a tight hold on its head. If you are using a halter (those yellow things that are around my sheep's heads) make sure they are not dragging on the ground. You have to pay attention to the judge because you are supposed to stay on the opposite side of sheep than the judge. That means that if the judge is on the right side of your sheep you need to be on the left side of your sheep looking at the judge smiling. You also need to make sure that your sheep's feet are in a rectangle like shape. In showmanship I got 7th place and that means I need to do a better job at showing my sheep.

This was my first show so I still have a lot to learn about showing sheep.

Bearing Fruit

Raven and I took a walk down by the gas well to check on some of the fruit trees, and while the apples and peaches are coming along nicely, there aren't any plums hanging on... a bit of a disappointment. As we were walking down the hill, we noticed that someone else was also checking the on the fruit.

Raven gave her 'a bit of knowing what's what' and she meandered across the road and down over the hill to check out what might be available at our neighbor, Learlean's. If we expect to beat this girl, we are going to have to watch the fruit progress very closely.

Sunday Muse

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

-- Maya Angelou

Hot! Hot! HOT!

Just like the rest of the Eastern U.S., it has been hot! Up here, high on top of our mountain ridge, we rarely see so many hot (90+), humid days in a row. It was so humid during one of our hay-making days that the in-home weather station reported that it was raining outside.

All of us, animals included, have been seeking the shade and trying to catch any breeze we can. The sheep do very little grazing during the day. It is just too darn hot. It finally rained a little bit yesterday, our first rain in July. We are grateful that it has cooled off some this morning, but hoping there is more relief in sight. We need rain, and the heat has been very stressful for the animals.

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Participating with the SouleMama blog

One Thousand Two Hundred Sixy-Eight

First cutting of hay is almost done. Just a small field behind the old barn left to do. Our hay bale count is up to 1,268. All that June rain (over 9 inches) produced substantially more hay than last year. We also set-up some temporary fencing last summer and pastured the sheep through some of the hayfields. Looks like that will be a good practice to continue.

Many, many thanks to all the field hands, the barn crew and Mom and the girls that fed us at the end of each day!!

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

(participating with the SouleMama blog)