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Looking back across our June and first half of July: it was a test of one’s patience and creativity as the rains came. It was a deluge, day after day after day. Here is the flock holed up in one of the pasture sheds waiting out yet another storm. It was a long four weeks of endless rain.
But the skies finally cleared the first week in July, we bedded their loafing areas with straw to ease the flock’s discouragemnt with the sodden ground and they instantly settled in and never looked back at June. Here they are back on the pasture where they were holed up a few weeks prior.
One thing that has been good is the pastures have grown by leaps and bounds. We finally were able to get some second cut in the second week in July, here it is waiting for us to load into the barn.
Webster finally could enjoy the front stoop with his girlfriends.
Then the annual renovation season began. We had some pressing issues with the big barn and the house that needed attention. The big barn which is our lambing barn as well as the barn we use for hay storage and shearing times and also just times when we need to treat or care for a certain sheep was in need of a new sill, ramp area and new windows. Our favorite contractors, Courtlan Construction, once again took to the task and voila! Safe and sound.
They have also been plugging away the past couple of years at my studio building and this year provided me a second floor, high in the treetops for more storage and office space. It is devine!
Then the back of our home was really struggling with some sill rot and had to be addressed. They tore off the old clapboards and are working on the repair as I write. New sills, insulation and fresh clapbords. They will address the moisture issue so we don’t have to revisit this in our lifetime.
I love to watch this crew work. Not only are they great at what they do but also they throw a good sense of humor into the day. One of the guys found this pair of old shoes, one inside the other, stuffed into the cavity of the wall amid the insulation. Any ideas what vintage they are?
Last weekend Faith brought her beau Brian home to meet us. They live in Arizona and we hadn’t had the chance to meet him. Brian is a self-proclaimed unhandy man so we had quite a few laughs as he spent the weekend here on the farm where everything needs a handyman! He went four-wheeling with Jack out on our land and they had a ball. It was so great to have them both here for a visit.
On Faith and Brian’s last day, bright and early in the morning, the tree crew arrived to take 3 great big trees from around our house. As we watched the crew cut the trees from top to bottom and feed the limbs into the chipper, Brian said “Now that’s the definition of a handy man!” For three good reasons the trees had to go. Too close to the house from a safety standpoint, too much shade out front and too much shade behind the house which was a large part of our sill rot on the backside.
Excuse me, this is our front yard!
Here is Ashley enjoying her own private pile of hay and wearing it too!
I am leaving shortly for the annual week in Seattle working at Earthues studio on some fresh concepts and color excursions. The week looks to be perfect weather in the Pacific Northwest and I am most excited! I will do my best to get a few posts out while I am out there.
Enjoy your week wherever it takes you!
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A few months ago I was happy to join in on Elisa’s challenge to help Animal Rescue of Fresno and she had a fun giveaway for those donating to the cause. And lo and behold I won the grand prize, a tiny painting by nrLois. I had the choice of a random painting or one done from a picture of one of my own pets. I chose Shelley, the Sheltie, who we lost last November. And here is the last photograph I have of Shelley in October and next to it the Tiny Painting nrLois painted from the picture.
I love it! She captured Shelley in a free form style and I will cherish this forever.
Shelley, my most loved canine companion, I miss here still every day. And she has instilled in me that I will have to have another Sheltie, sooner than later.
Thank you Elisa and nrLois!
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My favorite topic of any day is the weather but I have to say our current pattern here in New England is just the pits!
May was not the best month for sunny days but in June we have had 7 days without rain and a rainfall total so far as of this morning of 4.5″. Late May we were delighted to be getting a great start on the hay season and I thought what a great season it would be. Just after that thought it has rained ever since. No one can cut hay, and although our grazing is non-stop for the sheep, the areas around their sheds are getting too muddy. Saturday night we had a rotten thunderstorm and driving rains. In the morning when we got to the flock on pasture they were all in their shed and not interested one bit in coming out. We decided a move back to the winter barn would be the ticket, a change of pace, dry and spacious and the winter pasture would do them fine for a few days.
Here was the flock about a week ago before the real deluge started. They were pretty happy here. It was cool and although misty, not pouring all the time. That’s Bea on the left looking at me. Crystal on the right laying down is really happy here, can you see it? This pasture is right behind our house and porch. We all love when they are here for the rotation. We have dinner on the porch and they love the company! One night I put a very gentle CD in the player and put it on repeat for the overnight. In the morning they were all sacked out and very mellow. (Sheep Tests 101: The Effect of Music on A Sheep’s Overall Demeanor)
This weekend we bought lots of quarts of fresh strawberries. Despite all the rain they are just stunning this year. And soooo delish! I made some strawberry shortcake with one quart and then froze the rest. The one thing I would drive interstate for is strawberry shortcake and now I don’t have to on some dark winter afternoon. They aren’t quite as good as fresh, I know, but still I’ll manage to enjoy that winter treat! So take advantage of your local produce while the farmers are putting it up at your local farms and road stands.
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Betsy MacIssac of Crooked Fence Farm, our sister farm across the river, is surely kidding. I stopped by yesterday to see the new arrivals from her flock of Cashmere goats. The past few days brought forth some dear little kids! This is Karina and her kid, June, just a few days born.
This is Dixie and her kids, Zeke (gray) and Crecent (white).
June and Crecent say hello. Once June and Karina are a bit more settled they will join in with Jasmine’s side of the fence. Karina is a bit protective at the moment however so no sense adding undo stress to her day!
I got to hold Cresent for awhile. Cashmere, as you know, is sooooo soft and there is nothing softer than a Cashmere kid! Or sweeter. Cresent was so mellow and loved to just be held. And Dixie, a first time mother, didn’t bat an eye with me in the pen.
Betsy is holding little June, another dear, sweet kid.
Final Cashmere tally are 3 doe kids and 3 buck kids for the season. Congratulations, Betsy!
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Jack and I traveled Downeast this past weekend for the memorial service for my uncle.
We left the farm at noon and traveled across NH and up the coast of ME to Bucksport and then down into Deer Isle. We arrived at the Pilgrim’s Inn (backview of the inn), a beautiful oasis on the island and in the wee village of Deer Isle in time to get settled before dinner. It’s an old inn, still showcasing the internal beauty of colonial days but updated in every respect. Happily there were no TVs or telephones in the rooms, only in one sitting room, so relaxing was the main course.
There is a beautiful pond off the backyard and the ocean is just across the street.
Coming in the front door, a warm and welcome view!
Saturday, June 13th, was Worldwide Knit In Public Day! These gals were great fun to talk with and had I had more time before the memorial service I would have sat and knit with them for while.
Love the colors of this scene…
We arrived at my cousin Burt’s house at 12…my uncle and aunt bought this slice of heaven in the 1960’s and since passed it on to Burt and his wife Pat.
Friends came with guitars and fiddles to play on the front porch all afternoon.
A view to the sea from the garden….
Burt is a lobsterman and keeps his boat in Burnt Cove. After lunch, family and friends boarded the boat to take the ashes over to the reach off shore from the house where my uncle had always wanted to be laid to rest.
It was a beautiful afternoon, couldn’t have asked a for better weather. The girl on the far left was the wild card for me. In chatting we learned we had grown up in the same town and had known each other although it had been some 45 years since we had seen each other. It was so great to reconnect with that part of my life!
Here’s Burt at the helm. He has a GPS now so although he has fished these waters for more than 25 years he feels more confident as to the locations of the barriers and reefs beneath the sea’s surface.
Burt and Pat’s dog, Lilly, enjoys the sea spray.
Those who didn’t take the boat ride came down to shore to watch the spreading of the ashes….Burt blew the boat horn three times, twice. It was beautifully sad.
This is me with cousin Burt and cousin Eric. My mom, Burt’s mom and Eric’s mom were all sisters and have since departed us.
We left Deer Isle around 6PM, headed for Portland, ME for the overnight. We were offered a family member’s condo, empty for the weekend, in Portland right on the harbor for the night. It was a treat! A beautiful sight at night when we arrived at 10PM and come morning , although a rainy day, the sight was still lovely. This was the view from our bedroom.
So another chapter’s closed, but the family bond continues and that’s the part that matters most.
