Absentee farming today.......

We are leaving Mom in charge of the farm. Today is our big field trip to Funtown USA - our big amusement park in Maine and Mom has opted, actually downright refused to go with us. Tom, Ty & Kelsey (our adopted daughter and Ty's best buddy :) and myself will be heading out after chores for a day of fun and excitement! I'm not a huge "ride" fan but the kids assure me if I can survive the rides at Disney World, Fun Town will be a piece of cake. It looks to be a gorgeous day weather wise.

This is our first real field trip this summer. With the rainfall we've had, we haven't had many nice days to do outdoor activities. We have all been looking forward to spending the day together and a little junk food never hurt anyone right? Ooooooooooh, I can smell the fried dough already :)

*** What a great day we had :) This was my first trip to this amusement park and Tyler's as well. Tom and Kelsey gave us the tour and I think the kids went on every ride in the park. We arrived as the gates opened and we didn't wait in long lines which was nice. They convinced me to ride one of the roller coasters and that was enough for me! We splurged on a little junk food. It tasted as good as I knew it would :) ***

Kelsey, Tyler & Tom

It's difficult for me to tear myself away from the farm. I always feel like I'm slacking off; there's always so much work to do and it doesn't get done if we aren't here but............all was well while we were gone. Anything that didn't get done today will be waiting for me tomorrow for sure. I'm glad I spent the day with my kids. I know how precious that time is - they grow up too fast.

Under the weather........

I've been under the weather the last few days. I hate to get behind but occasionally I get a migraine that just shuts me down completely. It came on Monday morning before I got out of bed. If I'm lucky I'm only down a couple of days. I missed chores Monday evening. I rarely do that because of illness - but it was necessary. Thankfully Tom stepped in and took care of the animals. Around lunchtime the boys brought me in this beautiful bouquet of garden flowers to put on my bedside table. I'm so lucky - I have great kids :)

My second box of peaches arrived and I'm chomping at the bit to get them processed. I'm hoping either this evening or tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to try freezing some of them as recommended by a fellow blogger.

I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon taking it easy - below are a few photos of my farm buddies that were happy to see me this morning:

Timmy

Teddy

Hope

Pheobe

The boys: Mr. Finn, Graham, Cactus & Jacob


Have a great day~

Sunshine, repairs & stocking up continues......

Hard to believe another week in August is almost behind us. We actually had 36 hours without a rain shower. Not hay making weather but it was great to see and feel the sun. We had 50 different things we wanted to accomplish before the clouds darkened again. We didn't come close to checking all the things off the list, but the sheep barns got cleaned and fresh straw laid down, the duck house and chicken houses cleaned and bedded, pigs moved to a dry area AGAIN and most of my wool has been skirted and will be delivered tomorrow :)

The pullets and three baby guineas had a chance to check out their new chicken tractor. It's not completely finished but hopefully that will happen this sunday. We recycle everything we can get our hands on. This was an awning from a medical re-build that DH did a couple of years ago. We knew we could re-use them for something. We don't have the fence up yet for their yard so they are being moved to new grass each day.

The lightening from the last two storms managed to take out both of my electric fence chargers. Fortunately the owner of our local feed store repairs them. I dropped them off and the next morning both were fixed. He advised me to install a lightening arrestor and said that should prevent this from happening again. The cows and sheep were fenced on faith overnight. They were good and all stayed where they were supposed to be. Next on the agenda is to figure out how to keep these little imps out of my hay feeder :)

Two naughty shetland ewes in the feeder ~

I separate the cream from our milk on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Milk dishes take me longer as the cream separator has many parts. I was finished chores and cleaned up by 10 a.m. It was such a beautiful morning Mom and I decided to take an hour or so and go pick blueberries. We are fortunate to have Libby & Son about 15 minutes from the house.


Rows and rows of highbush Jersey and Bluecrop blueberries as far as you can see. They also have a huge apple orchard with several different varieties. Tyler and his friend, Miles, went with us. We had our buckets weighed when we arrived and headed out. They gave us a scenic tour in a four seater golf cart and showed us where to pick. We stayed about an hour and a half. The boys really did pick more than they ate although their tongues looked like they ate a bushel of blueberries :) We had a great time.

~Sweet blueberries~

More blueberry bushes to pick from

The picking was plentiful and easy. We picked about 30 pounds of berries. We packaged most of them in quart bags for the freezer and will use them this winter. I left a large bowl in the fridge to enjoy on cereal or in yogurt. Sunday mornings we have a family breakfast after chores. This week it will be blueberry pancakes, our pork sausage, fresh eggs and Maine maple syrup. Can't wait!

Miles and Tyler at the blueberry field

We knew the good weather wouldn't last. Thunderstorms blew through here this afternoon bringing heavy rains and thunder/lightening. No serious damage here, The worst of the storm went around us. Folks to the north in Bridgton reported a water spout over the lake late this afternoon.

I was very surprised to see my poppies were still standing when I went to the barn for chores after the storm. They appear to be so tender - I really expected the rain would have knocked them all over. Was glad to see they all made it :)

Orange poppy

Stocking the pantry....

I love books and have a great habit of collecting them. Many different kinds of books. My Ball Blue Book canning books are some of my favorites. I have three of them and they are used many times throughout the year. The edition on the left was published in 1937, the middle in 1963 and the one on the right in 1999. I have used recipes from all three books many times. Most of the recipes are still basically the same as well as recommended procedures. The two oldest books were passed down to me from my Mother.

Fresh peaches ready for canning

We were fortunate to find a local source for fresh canning peaches. They are delicious! Firm, sweet and priced right. I bought half a bushel and hope to buy another half bushel at the end of the week. They peeled and pitted easily after blanching. It was an enjoyable and productive afternoon and we are looking forward to doing it again :) I love to see my pantry shelves filling up with produce that we will enjoy this coming winter.

(fresh, canned peaches)

In between canning and freezing vegetables, I'm still skirting wool, getting it ready to send to the processor. My friend Shane was here yesterday and we made progress. I should have it all done by the end of the week and delivered.

Freida's fleece -spring 08

This beautiful variegated fiber belongs to a lovely ewe named Freida. She's a Maine mutt. She's five different breeds and a lovely old gal. I do not breed her but keep her for her fiber each year. The photo really doesn't do the fiber justice as far as the gorgeous colors. This will be spun as a two ply worsted weight yarn. It's incredibly soft and several friends have made wonderful sweaters with this yarn. I'm going to make one someday :)

A wishy - washy week......

I've been so reluctant to post this week........I've been short on time and I didn't want to waste what time I had whining. I'm not usually a person who suffers from depression but I think that's been my problem. That and lack of sunshine. I can't remember the last time we've seen it. The rain has been relentless. It has taken it's toll on everyone and everything. It just won't let up and the extended forecast isn't great. We have water where we have never had water before. My poor pigs have a flooded pig house but they are burrowing in the round bale and seem very content and dry. I hope so.....I can't do a thing about the water right now. I think that's my frustration - I can't fix this mess.

Several neighboring towns have many roads closed due to high water and people are being forced to evacuate their homes. One of our largest businesses, LLBean had to close and tell it's employees to stay home because none of the roads leading into Freeport were impassable. That has to be a first. Certainly not helpful for a struggling economy.

south pasture road

not a pond but my new pasture

Looking on the bright side, the gardens are surviving it although the weeds are growing quicker than the vegetables. I hesitate to do anymore than I have to in the gardens because everywhere I step creates more mud and the plants are so tender. I'm definitely not pulling weeds in a thunderstorm.

I have the best crop of green peppers I have ever had. I picked 30 peppers today in between rain showers. I harvested green and purple basil tonight for the first time. I'll offer it for sale at farmer's market tomorrow in 1oz and 2oz bags. We also harvested cukes, summer squash, and 2 bushel of green beans. In the morning I'll harvest broccoli, swiss chard, lettuce, mescalin mix, spinach and sunflowers for market.

My tomatoes are ripening very s-l-o-w-l-y. I found my first creepy crawly (tomato hornworm) two days ago. I must have picked off 50 since then. I LOVE feeding them to my guineas and chickens. I hate these things. Just when I think I'm not going to get them, they show up!

The hateful hornworm

My zucchini isn't doing as well in all this rain but we are still getting a few. Mom and I made zucchini relish yesterday. Our entire family enjoys this so we try to put up as much as possible to get us through the season.

The wild blueberries and blackberries are plentiful as well as lots of greenery for the deer and other wildlife to enjoy.

wild blueberries & balsam

honeydew melons - we are never sure if we will have a long enough growing season or not for them to ripen but it's always worth a try - especially when they make it!

Daylillies that have survived the pounding rain

Garden glads adorning my coffee table - my favorite :)

I wish you all a great weekend filled with sunshine :)

It's great to be home...............

We had a great weekend camping. We are so fortunate to have such a great spot to camp so close to home. I couldn't have gone without Tom being home to take care of things. I came home mornings to milk and do chores but he milked at night and did evening chores. Thanks Tom for a job well done!

The campground offers wonderful amenities for everyone and we all had a great time. The weather wasn't great - you never knew when a thunderstorm was going to blow in but we didn't let it stop us from enjoying ourselves. It was warm and we knew we wouldn't melt :)

They have a large private lake that is well stocked. Dave was the only lucky angler this trip and pulled in a nice bass. Of course, my camera wasn't handy at the time. The water is very clean and the kids enjoyed a swim in between rain showers and we all played a game of mini golf as well.

We started out years ago when Tyler was little with a pop-up tent camper. It didn't take us long to outgrow that. We were fortunate to pick up a 26 foot camper last year for a song. It needed a little work but was otherwise in great shape. It's so handy - everything can stay packed and when you want to go, you can just load the fridge, hook on and go. I guess I've reached the age where heat, hot water and a decent bed really make a difference in my life :)

Over the years Steve has collected several strings of "camping" lights that he likes to string up around the the campsite. Tree branches were spread out at this particular site so we had to make due. Mr. "I'm always prepared" (my DH) happened to have a ladder in the back of his worktruck (which he NEVER leaves home without :) I was designated to climb the ladder as I weigh less than the rest. They promised they wouldn't let me fall. After alot of good natured bantering, the lights were all up and looked really cute when night fell. Steve was happy and that's what mattered.

I love breakfast cooked over the open campfire - our own bacon, sausage & eggs :) We certainly ate well this weekend. We will all need to diet the rest of the week. We enjoyed our evening campfire, of course, the s'mores being the best part. The kids had sparklers and a friend of ours sent us with a bottle of home made blueberry champagne.

Our lives are all so busy that it almost requires as much effort to relax as it does to work. I was edgy for a couple of days - I kept feeling like I needed to get out of my chair and do something. It was worth the effort for sure :) Thank you Brian, Kelly & Kelsey for a great time - we are all looking forward to doing it again soon!

We're going camping......

Acres of Wildlife Campground, Maine

We are going camping! We weren't sure we were going to be able to pull it off but looks like we are going after all. Steve has a couple of extra days off from work and we aren't getting severe thunderstorms so we are heading out. The campground is 3 miles from the farm down in the woods. Close enough that I can come home twice a day and do chores, far enough away that I can enjoy the beautiful lake or read a book or take a nap or do absolutely nothing!

Tom is going to stay home and mind the farm - it's our first chance away since last year and we are anxious to use our camper. Our friends, the Kimball's are joining us - bonfires and smores, Yummm!

Have a good weekend everyone :)