SWEET CICELY-OLD HOME DAYS IN ROWE-THE CHICKENS

 

GREETINGS

The lazy days of summer are upon us.   The humidity will be gone for a few days and gentle cooling breezes are here.  New families are in the yellow bird house and the nest over the barn door.  Mom’s and Dad’s are busy bring all sorts of goodies to the babies.  As I sit in the sheep yard last night enjoying the nice breeze leftover from the storm i hear their wonderful songs.

SWEET CICELY

 

 

A friend gave me one plant many years ago.  Now I remove the seeds and  spread them farm from my house.  If anyone wants some seed I would be happy to send you some.  E-mail me.  It is a nice herb with wonderful leaves  for flower arranging and sweet flowers.  The seed pods smell of licorice.  Its a tall plant up to 3 feet and will spread like wildfire if it is happy.  

BEATRIX AND PRUDENCE

Beatrix and Prudence have settled in and Beatrix seems to have taken over the number one spot in the Flock and Prudence number two.  It may change several times before its settled.  It has been an interesting time with them.  Beatrix was always the low hen in her flock but once she arrived here she must have decided to stand up to all and take over.  The first thing she did was to go over to Hazel and peck him.   Hazel certainly wasn’t expecting that.  Things have calmed down and everyone is getting to know their place and the routine here on the farm.  They still have more changes coming.  This flock will be joining the front flock so I am adding to the yard in front and the dog houses will move there.  Hazel  Mrs. Brown and Emma will be staying behind in the yellow caravan and will winter inside .Although Emma will have her own cage as Mrs. Brown is so jealous of Hazel that she will peck on Emma if she is anywhere near. Mrs.Brown will put up with his philandering with the big birds but not birds her size.

OLD HOME DAY’S IN ROWE

An English phone booth right in the center of Rowe!  

 

On Saturday I did a sweet little fair in Rowe.  Rowe is a wonderful little town nestled in the  mountains with a  beautiful lake.    The fair was a wonderful place to bring your family with lots of things for everyone to do and great vendors.  Its the kind of town that I wish I lived in with a community feel.  In the afternoon there was someone  talking about owls in our area with several  different kinds with him.  It was so educational.

 And lo and behold last night while  putting the side yard chickens to be I heard the sound of an owl.  Be sure and put it on your calendar for next year.  It is not to be missed.  A bouncy house was there for the kids and a tractor pulling a cart with hay bales to sit on was there to gi ve you a tour around town.  Fire Departments were there showing their skills and Fire Works over the lake end the day.

Thanks goodness for cooler days this was Sammy yesterday

 

Many thanks for reading my blog on this delightful summer day.  Carole

THE SWEET LITTLE EMMA

 

DRAINAGE WORK-DREAM PILLOWS-HERBAL VINEGARS

GREETINGS

We are enjoying a long stretch of great late summer weather with some needed rain coming next week.  The side yard chickens were concerned about the activity in the sheep pasture, every so often I would hear the alert call from Eddie.

 

DRAINAGE WORK

What a wonderful feeling to have it done.  Still more work to do getting the fencing up and some seed planted on the berm.  Luckily I have help from Lauren.  Its been years since I have done fencing, great exercise.

THE BERM WITH VALLEY’S BOTH BEHIND AND IN FRONT OF IT

I am so grateful that I finally found the right person for the job.  He knew exactly how to make the water flow.  Demers Landscaping out of Turners Falls did the job and he was recommended by my Vet.  6 old tires and some fencing and other odd things were dug up.  Lots of large boulders were placed near a retaining wall to further stop erosion.

It will make a nice focal point for flowers and a bird house.  The garden area will change next season and I will have the winter to think about it.  

DREAM PILLOWS

I cut out lots of primitive hearts yesterday and mix up all the herbs except for Lemon Balm which is  drying in the dehydrator for the dream pillows.  I hope to get some sewing done tomorrow and get them packaged up.  They really do help with a more restful sleep.

MAKING HERBAL VINEGAR

A couple of days ago I finished up making my Herbal Vinegar for the year.  I love finding uses for bottles and one darker one is a olive oil  bottle and of course a coke bottle.  Garlic and Rosemary are my favorite kind to make .   You can make them out of any herbs but the more tender herbs like oregano will need to be drained out after a couple of weeks.  As I am writing this I think I will do one more, a vinegar with lavender in it.   These make simple, wonderful gifts with little cost and time.   My recipe :

Vinegar (good quality)  enough to fill your bottles (I guesstimate) 

Herbs:

Lavender, Dill, Chives, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme are a few I have tried and I do add Garlic to many of my mixes.

Clean bottles throughly , add vinegar to sauce pan and bring to a simmer (do not let it boil)   Add herbs to the bottles.  For a large bottle I usually add 3 stems of rosemary and one garlic sliced.  Add vinegar with a funnel and I like to cap with a cork.    I do like to put a tag on the with the ingredients and a ribbon or raffia for gift giving.

Many thanks for reading my blog on this delightful day.  Carole 

WHAT A DAY-MY DREAM-SUNFLOWER PINS-THE CATS-DYEING WOOL

GREETINGS

The day started off dark, damp, and dreary but there is sun and clouds now and the temps are nice  Snow is slowly leaving the mountain and the chipmunks and skunks are back.

WHAT A DAY

I am out of hay and the person i buy my hay from in Greenfield has no more.  I will need a supply till haying starts in June .  I called my friend Ceacy to find out the first name of a person whom I know has hay and she said she was bringing me down a couple of bales of her hay to tide me over.  Today she showed up with 4 bales of hay.  So nice of her.  Then I was making the chickens oatmeal and  there was a knock on the door and it was my Friends Ulla and Dick from Plainfield.  SHe had books and spinning equipment for me to do as I pleased

And a bottle of citronella oil that she had made herself.

 

 I have been thinking of them this morning.  What a nice surprise.  Then Wool and Dye works called to place an order for dyed wool, I had been thinking of those wonderful folks lately and planning a trip down.  All this in one morning.What a day.

MY DREAM

My dream was to have a herb farm,  grow  herbs and flowers have a small shop on the property with an  occasional open house.   Things didn’t quite go that way.  This dream has been on the back burner since the mid seventies.   I have decided to pursue it now in a very small way.   The dream all started when I would demonstrate spinning at The Big E.  I would wander around and always end up in Storrowtown village in the Caprilands booth.  I loved everything in the booth.  All the herbs and spices wreaths and other things.  I can still remember the smells.  I started adding herbs and flowers to my gardens, reading and researching.  Now there are so many people doing this that I have to find a niche.    I came across this book, Growing your Herb Business which I had bought a long time ago.  I am reading it and making notes.  It has a lot of very good information.  

 

I do make a lot of herbal things and have decided to grow herbs that aren’t as popular.  Borage and Lovage are two that come to mind and I hope to start soon..

 I will add a few more.   I am looking forward to starting this adventure

SUNFLOWER PINS

I have started  Sunflower Pins, Some will go to Sheep and SHawl for sale.  They are fun and quick and I will be having a class in making them there at the end of the month.  

My cat friends are napping upstairs today where it is nice and warm.  I wonder if they will be doing more yarn bombing tonight!!!!

Many thanks for reading my blog today I hope you have a wonderful day.   Carole

DYE WOOL TODAY

 

 

DREARY WEATHER-MENDING-HERBS FOR WINTER-CANADA

 

GREETINGS

Torrential rains are coming down and have been for most of the past few days.  So far no water in the barn.  Trenches were dug and they seem to be holding up.

  I will keep checking it. This is part of a nor’easter that is coming up the coast.   The weekend looks lovely.  Many leaves have fallen off the trees now, this year we somehow missed the vibrant reds.  But there is still color in the woods.

MENDING

We are living in a throw away society, I think that is changing now.  Blogs and you tube sites are offering instruction to mend socks, sweaters and clothes and I hope that Tom of Holland will write a book about mending.  I find mending very therapeutic.  This week because I must remain somewhat quiet I will be mending a sweater that I handspun and hand knit many years ago. And a flannel blanket that I have had since I was a child.

  My Grandfather sewed  old cloth feed bags into sheets and pillow cases all done by hand. I use them still.  I also remember he and my Uncle Roger mending their socks.

HERBS FOR WINTER

Every year around this time I wish I had saved some basil or was able to buy some plants.  While in the store yesterday I saw some on sale and quickly bought them.  Now I have Bay, Thyme, Basil, Chives and Rosemary growing on my kitchen window sill.  It will be delightful to have fresh herbs to use through the winter.  I hope I can keep them going.

TO MY NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS IN CANADA

You are in my thoughts and prayers in this bad time for your country.The times we live in are so hard but we will carry on.  

Many thanks for reading my blog on this rainy day, I hope your day is pleasant.    Carole 

SWEET ANNIE-STRAWBERRIES-A FEW MORE BITS FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS SHOW

HELLO

LEAD LINE AT THE MASSACHUSETTS SHEEP AND WOOL FEST

For those of you who do not know about Lead Line contests at SHeep and WOol Fests here is a brief overview.    This is a contest in skill.  You will get points for your wool outfit for poise and control for sheep’s fleece.

 

 

The contestant must halter train their sheep.  This is not always the easiest thing to do.  There can be three classes jr. sr and adults.  I was lucky this year to see a few minutes of the contest.  It was younger kids.  Some sheep adjust to all the hoopla and others just don’t.  One sheep ran away jumping and running with the little boy running after her then a crowd of people were chasing the sheep which made matters worse. She was finally caught.  There are prizes given .

 It requires much patience to halter train a sheep these children all receive cheers from the crowd no matter how they do.  A good judge will complement even the worse preformer so they will come back next year with more determination.  I think things like The Lead Line event help to form a good character in children.

PERMACULTURE

The strawberries are just setting fruit and I don’t think I can move anymore to the bed now.  I hope that by putting them in there i can have some for myself.

 

  I will put netting on soon.  My blueberries have set fruit too and I will have to test the soil soon I am sure the soil is not acid enough.  I need to find a source of pine needles to put around them too. The hops are doing well too.  

SWEET ANNIE

Sweet Annie is one of my favorite herbs.  It is invasive if left on its own,  I have left it on its own and am happy with the results.  It’s from the artemisia family and has a lovely sweet scent.  I mix it with my moth away and make wreaths with it in the fall.  I always leave some on the stalk to reseed itself.  I will have some baby plants at the Farmers Market tomorrow.

Today is an Oatmeal day for the hens who would think it would be this late in May but even at this time its in the 40’s. tonight down into the low 40’s..  I will plant my seed on Sunday when the temps return to normal (if there is such a thing anymore)

Many thanks for reading my blog today I hope you have a wonderful day Carole.