Strolling with Baby Joshua (May 1, 2010) May 2, 2010

I spent the most incredible spring day yesterday, strolling with Baby Joshua (and his Mom), along the beach, through a nearby garden center/nursery, and on our farm.  We even enjoyed an outside lunch at a favorite seafood stop (which Joshua slept his way through).  Somehow, the marvelous re-birth of spring flowers and outside activities seemed that much more special, sharing them with this precious seven-week-old miracle.

It’s actually May Day, but by the number of sunbathers on the beach, you would have thought it was the middle of summer!

It was a perfectly brilliant day and Joshua slept through his entire visit to the beach.  He loves to be held close where he feels most comfortable, either in his Mom’s “babywearing” pack or in Grandmom’s arms (of course I had to have my time with him, too!)

I told Joshua that he’d have  to wait just a little bit more  before he was big enough to ride the antique carousel . . .

(He didn’t seem to mind.)

Then, we visited our favorite garden center and checked out all the spring flowers.  Joshua pretty much slept his way through the Mandevilles, too . . .

Then, we walked through the orchard on our way home and enjoyed some late peach blossoms . . .

. . . and apple blossoms . . .

Mommy even gave Joshua a chance to feel the new, spring grass under his feet . . .

Then, he had a chance to play with Uncle Nate . . .

. . . and visited with Grandpa, too . . .

“Can I borrow your hat, Grandpa?”

It sure was a busy day for little Joshua . . . and a lovely day for all of us!

“Is it bedtime yet, Mommy?”

To continue strolling, please click on over to the Quiet Country House.

“30 Days of Beauty” Photography Challenge: DAY 2 February 17, 2010

Good Morning!

Here’s my second offering (on the second day no less!) in my quest to find beauty in the winter, specifically in the snow . . .

Isn’t he cute?  Duke just loves to “weasel,” as we call it, in freshly fallen snow.

Oh, by the way, if you’d like to follow Duke’s adventures, you can converse with him on Facebook at Duke Farmdawg!

For more “30 Days of Beauty” Photography Challenge, click on over to Bluebirdbaby.

Update on “Baby Belle” February 16, 2010

Our dear filly, Isabelle, sure has grown up in the last few months!  Here she is, at 7-1/2 months old, catching up quickly in size to her mother, Annabelle.

Remember her as a newborn in June, just a few short months ago?

Mom Annabelle has decided that baby Isabelle has nursed just about long enough and now pushes her away when she attempts to nurse.  Baby Belle is quite happy to gorge herself on grain and hay and really enjoys romping in the pasture with her Mom, and our Dapple-Gray Percheron, Vinny.

She was definitely “feeling her oats” on a recent, brisk day when we turned her out after too many snowed-in days in her barn, alongside Mom.  Isabelle was quite happy to kick up her heels in the snow, as you can see in this video . . .

Giving Thanks . . . November 26, 2009

As this new day dawns—Thanksgiving Day— I think it’s appropriate that I take just a few minutes before the busy hustle/bustle of this holiday weekend takes over to give thanks.

In short, I’m thankful for:

• Four generations of family members to celebrate the holidays with
• An 87-year-old mother who inspires me on a daily basis
• A grandbaby on the way (OK, you’ve heard this before!)
• My wonderful husband who supports me even when he thinks I’m crazy (as in currently pursuing my Doctorate)
• Three grown kids who make me intensely proud!
• A career (working with kids and adults) that I love
• Purposeful work at school and home
• Our family farm full of animals and adventures
• Friends who “hold me up” and occasionally, let me “hold them up”
• A positive attitude despite everything around us in the news–and world–that could make us pessimistic
• “Enough” of all of the above!

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR ON THIS DAY OF THANKSGIVING?

So, you thought YOU had a tough day!!! September 28, 2009

Check out this mamma pig with her 10 baby piglets who are all maneuvering for Mom’s attention. . . and nourishment.  (We saw them at the Durham Fair yesterday and were just mezmorized!)

Do you think she ever just wants to call a babysitter–or pigletsitter?

Sunday Stroll September 27: Fall Has Arrived!

Fall has arrived in all its glory on our farm.  We’ve officially made the transition to this wonderful harvest season and a recent stroll around the farm vividly displays all the colors of fall . . .

Giant field pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns

Sugar pumpkins for pies

The opening of the corn maze . . .

. . . a place for family fun.

More pumpkins and the hay maze

More pumpkins . . .

Gourds galore

Indian Corn

Fall has arrived on the farm in all its glory.  What do the colors of fall look like in your neck of the woods?

To continue strolling, click on over to the Quiet Country House  for more Sunday Strolls.

I’ve Got Friends with Tractors! September 27, 2009

 

What a HOOT we had last night at a dear friend’s annual Pig Roast/Tractor Parade/Hay Ride!  The invitation said to bring a favorite appetizer, dessert, and/or tractor.  So, we arrived in style . . . in our big green tractor!

You see, our friends collects Farmalls, which for anyone who knows tractors are RED, so we figured we needed a little GREEN in the picture.

Our son, Jonathan, brought the old antique Ford, which brought a lot of attention.

Nathaniel arrived in his mile-high pick-up, which he had just “lifted” . . .

 

. . . after he washed it, that is . . .

Our nephew, Stephen, arrived in our new/used Ford orchard tractor, which has a compact shape and size, for going in between trees in the orchard.

Our friend, Bill, has quite a collection of the “red” ones . . .

 

. . .probably about 20 in all. 

My favorite is this two-seater model . . .

 

People who don’t usually get to drive tractors took them for a spin around the pond, with embankments on each side, which could be a little scary, especially with drinks in hand.  But the worse that happened was . . .

• one tractor ran out of gas, deep in the dark, while pulling a hayride full of people and then had to call for assistance
• another caught fire because there was a bird’s nest in the engine (luckily Jonathan was on this one, so he knew what to do!)

There was a huge spread of food, lots of good cheer and comraderie, and a magnificent bonfire to warm up around.

 

As I was driving one of Farmalls,  following a parade of red tractors around the winding path by the pond out back of our friend’s garden center, one song kept playing over in my mind:  Rodney Atkin’s hit, “Friends with Tractors.”  Take a listen:

 http://www.rhapsody.com/rodney-atkins/its-america

Friends with tractors are such great friends to have!!!

Latest Antique Tractor Pull! September 20, 2009

What fun we had yesterday at our local agricultural fair!  It was a brilliantly sunny, blue-sky day, and it was Jon’s second tractor pull.  Here’s a look at one of his full pulls, in living color with all the glorious  sound (and my narration)  included . . .

I’m going to “borrow” the stats from Jon’s sister, Abbie, over at Farmer’s Daughter, who did all the actual research:

• Driver: My brother Jon
• Restored by: My dad and brothers Jon and Nate
• 1955 Ford 960
• 4 cylinder gas engine
• 40 Horsepower
• 4446 lbs (with driver)
• 1955 price- $2561
• Current price- NOT FOR SALE !

CONGRATS, JONATHAN, ON A GREAT SHOW!!!

Without missing a beat . . . August 19, 2009

Do you have a really good friend who you may not have seen in a while, but when you’re back together, you pick up right where you left off, without missing a beat?

Meet Annie.  She’s that kind of friend.  She’s actually my second cousin and I hadn’t seen her in years.  We used to spend time together in the summer: a week on my family’s farm (which she says was a real treat for her) and a week at her family’s home, outside of NYC (which was a treat for me!)  We did this for several consecutive summers through our early teens . . . and then, life just got in the way.

Well, yesterday, Annie (who lives clear across the country now) showed up at my Mom’s farm because she was in New York, attending to some family business, and she wanted to share her happy childhood memories on the farm with her own children.  I made sure to arrange some time for a quick visit to my husband’s family farm, where we live, as well.

Even this photo brought back memories.  Annie, the eternal photographer, would delight in taking rolls and rolls (back then!) of photos around the farm.  We did crazy stuff and I was a willing subject.  She had me pose in a prom dress in blistering heat in a hayfield until she got the lighting just right.  We also attempted some photojournalist-type essays with close-ups of our hands as we climbed out of chicken coops or some such nonsense.  Now, 30 (or more) years later, here we are posing in my Mom’s flower garden, while Annie’s son snapped the shot.  She suggested we move around to the other side of the flowers to take advantage of the best light and to kneel down so more of the pinkish-purple cone flowers would show in the picture.  What you don’t see is another one of her sons who jumped through the garden at the very moment the shutter flicked  and landed on the other side (just kind of cropped that out).  Oh, the beauty of digital photography, which we definitely did not have way back then.  But, we did have a darkroom set up in an old house on the farm (i.e., a room that I painted black with shades on the windows) where I mixed chemicals and developed my own black/white pix to my heart’s content.

Anyways, as we relived our summers of decades ago with fond memories of “minding cows” on the farm while we serenaded them with our clarinets (a story for another time) and our trips to Greenwich Village or Annie’s annual carnival in her hometown, we realized that we hadn’t missed a beat.  We could still just about finish each other’s sentences.

Then, to my surprise, Annie gifted me with this wonderful, watercolor painting, created by her mother.

You see, the reason Annie was back in New York, was to clean out her parents’ home, because her Mom had recently passed away.  She was a wonderful artist and I’m sure her home was brimming with lots of her creations.  Annie picked this one out for me, she said, because  the apples in the still-life reminded her of our farm and she knew her mother would want me to have it.  Thank you, Aunt Dotty, for your creative spirit and for all the happy memories spent with you summers long ago.

Have YOU had a chance to reconnect with a good friend or family member this summer?

Up a Tree! August 16, 2009

As we were sitting on the deck last night, my very observant son (with MUCH better eyesight than me!) saw something interesting, up in a tree.

Do you see it?

Do you see it now?

It was the most adorable, young raccoon (probably this years) resting peacefully in a crook of the tree.

Every so often, the little bandit readjusted itself and continued sleeping soundly . . .

. . . seemingly oblivious to the four people and two dogs on the deck below it.  It must have known it was safe, high up in the tree.

Of course, our younger son tried to lure it down with a small ear of corn, but that only caused it to wake and go further up the tree.  Raccoons are usually big fans of corn-on-the-cob and have been known to visit our corn fields nightly.  He was probably resting up from a raucous night with his friends gorging on the sweet corn and getting prepared for another night of the same.

And this morning, he was gone.  He probably departed during the night when the coast was clear when the dogs and meddlesome boys were inside and asleep.  Farewell, little friend.  Eat well . . .