November 11, 2013, Monday, Veteran’s Day

November 11, 2013, Monday, Veteran’s Day
Sally and I, DS Mark and granddaughter Hailey all went to the Nourishing Traditions conference in Atlanta, GA. We all got a lot out of it and had fun. My talk was very well received. The people in Georgia are all charmingly polite, friendly and helpful. It is many years since I have been in the South, not since I was a little child. I had a window seat on the airplane both ways and could make out patches of farmland almost the entire distance from Boston to Atlanta. Nothing forested, just one little pasture parcel with homes on the access roads the whole way. I couldn’t make out any livestock at 35,000 feet but there is grass for millions of cows.
We all met a variety of very interesting people. It seemed to me that they all had in common a deep desire to be of help to others, in this case through the agency of better nutrition.
Little Willie got along all right without us, with Marcia’s help, but he was mighty glad to see us. He seems to have done a good job of guarding the homestead. Here he is on Sunday awaiting our return.  We got our first snow of the season on Sunday.
 
This morning, two days after her due date, Fern went into labor. Thinking Martin was still at camp, we allowed Fern to go out and graze for awhile since she was so mad about being shut in while we were gone. We figured that if she had the calf out in the field, Martin would be available to carry it in. She made a beeline for the Pocket Field which is our most distant field with the greatest privacy, but we had closed the gate. She was willing to settle for a little copse of willow and she stood there several hours with our lead ewe Agnes standing close to her, being her doula. However when we learned that Martin wasn’t around after all, we had to bring her in as we knew we couldn’t carry the calf. Marcia came and helped and it all went very well, but she had to leave before the calf was actually born, which took place at 5:45. The calf was large and a great strain for Fern. When its nose finally appeared and two feet were showing Sally and I each grabbed one ankle with the towel and helped pull the calf down. He is large, dark brown (almost black) and quite vigorous. He has now sucked. We are both very tired.
While waiting for Fern to finish licking the calf, and while he was learning to stand up, I began bringing Fern one-gallon buckets of warm molasses water, each containing one cup of molasses. She drank a total of four gallons of this mixture as fast as she could drink.
November 13, 2013 Wednesday
Yesterday, Tuesday night, we were reasonably confident that Fern would be all right even though she was not eating and drinking well. Sally milked out about three quarts of colostrum with Fern tied in the beefer pen. The baby was sucking well and was too full to help with the milking.
This morning Fern was still reasonably ok about six a.m. when we went to check her, but was definitely in trouble when we checked again at seven a.m. I called Dr. Cooper right away, but he didn’t expect to be able to get here for several hours. Marcia came down and helped us give her some sub-cutaneous calcium. We also used the turkey baster to give her a cup or two of the day before’s colostrum and a bucket of molasses water. Dr. Cooper got here about ten and he gave her the IV calcium and another sub-q bottle. He also gave her a shot of thiamine and another of phosphorus. I sat there for a long time holding her head from flopping and we had her propped up with hay bales and covered with horse blankets. At 12:30 Sally and I gave her a canister of calcium paste by mouth as per Dr. Cooper’s instructions. She was still down at that time which made it relatively easy.
The baby, now named Elvis, was very cooperative. We stuck him in the side pen in there and he slept for hours. We checked her every hour, and in late afternoon when we came to see how she was she had gotten up and the baby was trotting around looking for his dinner. He nursed well on all four quarters.
Her bag feels soft. We watched while she ate some hay for the first time and also drank a couple of gallons of water, but not a whole lot of either. She was still nibbling hay when we came out at five to offer her some chopped up apples. She wasn’t enthusiastic so we went back and chopped up some leaves from the rutabagas that Marcia had brought up on Monday. She was thrilled about those and ate them right down.
November 14, 2013 Thursday
Fern seemed ok at 5 am, but at 7 am her ears were cold and she was weak, in fact so weak that she did not object to our dog Willie’s looking at her calf. Certainly not her usual response to dogs. At that point I got out another container of calcium paste and we gave it to her by mouth. Then Sally followed it with about a pint of warm colostrum to ease her sore throat (and to do whatever other good it might do) as the calcium paste is caustic. She put it down her with my turkey baster into the side of her mouth, holding her head up and making sure that Fern was swallowing. I also got out a bottle of Cal-Nate 1069 (calcium-boroglutinate) solution and gave her half a liter in two sites, sub-q. She was too weak to object when Sally jabbed in the needle. We covered her with blankets and left her to rest. She got up about an hour and a half later and drank water and started to eat her hay, though weakly.
She seemed to improve as the day went on and we let her go outside for a while. She didn’t want to go far from the barn as she didn’t want to leave Elvis but she ate along the fence line and seemed to really want it.
We are more and more convinced that the abrupt change of diet from grass to hay when we had to confine her when we went to Atlanta precipitated the milk fever.
We brought her in around 4 pm and hand milked a few quarts just to make sure everything was moving along properly in the udder. She ate most of her grain.
November 15, 2013 Friday
This morning Fern was pretty quiet but wasn’t ill. She was eating her hay and chewing her cud normally. She had drunk water during the night. We brought her in and milked her by hand and got about a gallon. We tied Elvis near her head. She ate most of her grain.
Later we put a lot of orange flagging on both of them and since it was a beautiful day we let them go out and join the sheep in the field. We watched them with the binoculars. We could see that she was grazing well, and later she lay down and chewed her cud. We still have plenty of grass. She was obviously much gratified to be grazing. We brought her in about 4 pm to be milked again, and her rumen was pretty full. This time we used the machine and got another gallon. Her teats are very small and it’s hard to milk by hand. Elvis is stuffed all the time. He follows her well.
Marcia and Sally went to Puiia’s hardware store. Marcia bought stain and varnish for a project she’s working on, and Sally bought a cute little electric heater which looks like a little fireplace.
©Copyright 2013 Joann S. Rogers

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[Hey - don't forget we still have a few copies of the old version of the book to clear out of the basement - pick one up here).  Or get the new one, with lots of new information including Joann's review of A1 & A2 genetics, on Amazon].

 

Saturday November 2, 2013

Saturday November 2, 2013

 

Sally made raspberry with locally grown raspberries, cooked and strained and set with Knox’s gelatin.  There was a custard layer on top and then whipped cream.  We had these for lunch with Marcia.  Then I did a telephone interview with Aaron Zober for a program called  “The Appropriate Omnivore”  originating in Pasadena, California.  We talked for an hour on themes from my Nourishing Traditions talk.

   The weather was pretty good today, Sally and Willie walked around the fields and fixed gates.  We put a new bell on Fern as her old one had lost its clapper, and also gave her some orange flagging tape on her collar as it is hunting season.  We also got a bell on another sheep so they will be safer too. 

   Sally carried on coaching me on my talk.  I got to have a nice long chat with grandson Harper, who told me all the good things he was cooking from his Fergus Henderson book, “Nose to Tail Eating”. 

 

Monday November 3

 

   It was twenty degrees this morning. 

   Marcia hosted a superb lunch for Mitra, Sally and me today.  She made a Brussels sprout and squash tart with an outstanding pastry crust to accompany boneless steaks from our new beef.  Sally made apple cake which we had with Mitra’s whipped cream.  The lake was beautifully calm and the weather perfectly clear.  It was lots of highly entertaining conversation as we caught up on each other’s adventures. 

   Max has provided some terrific drawings to accompany my powerpoint talk

   Fern looks the same today as yesterday and we hope she holds out with her calf till we get back from Atlanta. 

 

Tuesday Nov. 5

 

Twenty degrees again this morning, bright and clear.   All the animals went right out to graze as usual.  Fern is bagging up a little more.

   We continue to work hard on my talk.  Martin has the pictures about ready.

    Sally and Willie went over to her field and had a fine walk around it.  It was quite warm and sunny by that time, and they found many little apples still up in the trees.  They avoided the end of the field in case a deer hunter was down there; the season started on Saturday.  It is posted but you never know.

   Marcia came over after lunch helped me with my paperwork and the barn chores.  I gave her some meat from the freezer.  Sally worked on making the drag under the front gate better since Marcia’s little dogs have been slipping under it and out into the road.

   Starting tomorrow, Fern will be confined up near the barn.  This is to prevent her calving some distance away and will help keep her safe from hunters and coyotes.   The sheep will be in their own paddock with hay until we return from Atlanta.

 

Monday, November 11, 2013, Veteran’s Day

 

Sally and I, ds Mark and granddaughter Hailey all went to the Nourishing Traditions in Atlanta, GA.  We all got a lot out of it and had fun.  My talk was very well received.  The people in Georgia are all charmingly polite, friendly and helpful.   It is many years since I have been in the South, not since I was a little child.  I had a window seat on the airplane both ways and could make out patches of farmland almost the entire distance from Boston to Atlanta.  Nothing forested, just one little pasture parcel with homes on the access roads the whole way.  I couldn’t make out any livestock at 3500 feet but there is grass for millions of cows.

   We all met a variety of very interesting people.  It seemed to me that they all had in common a deep desire to be of help to others, in this case through the agency of better nutrition.

   Little Willie got along all right without us, with Marcia’s help, but he was mighty glad to see us.  He seems to have done a good job of guarding the homestead.

   This morning, two days after her due date,  Fern went into labor.  Thinking Martin was still at camp,  we allowed Fern to go out and graze for awhile since she was so mad about being shut in while we were gone.  We figured that if she had the calf out in the field, Martin would be available to carry it in.  She made a beeline for the Pocket Field which is our most distant field with the greatest privacy, but we had closed the gate.  She was willing to settle for a little copse of willow and she stood there several hours with our lead ewe Agnes standing close to her, being her doula.  However when we learned that Martin wasn’t around after all, we had to bring her in as we knew we couldn’t carry the calf.  Marcia came and helped and it all went very well, but she had to leave before the calf was actually born, which took place at 5:45.  The calf was large and a great strain for Fern.  When its nose finally appeared and two feet were showing Sally and I each grabbed one ankle with the towel and helped pull the calf down.  He is large, dark brown (almost black) and quite vigorous.  He has now sucked.  We are both very tired.

   While waiting for Fern to finish licking the calf, and while he was learning to stand up, I began bringing Fern one-gallon buckets of warm molasses water, each containing one cup of molasses.   She drank a total of four gallons of this mixture as fast as she could drink. 

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[Hey - don't forget we still have a few copies of the old version of the book to clear out of the basement - pick one up here).  Or get the new one, with lots of new information including Joann's review of A1 & A2 genetics, on Amazon].

 

Monday Oct 7

Monday,  Oct 7

We've had three more days of warm weather though today it did rain but it was warm rain.  I got the most beautiful basket of vegetables up from the garden- ruby red chard and Sungold tomatoes on top of it.  Marcia found a variety of corn that we forgot was there, it had large deep-red ears, very shiny kernels.  It was up in the paddock garden with the other corn.  We have a promising lot of beautiful cabbages coming, I must get at them with some slug dope though- we use 'Sluggo'. 

   Yesterday a neighbor brought a thing I least need; another rooster.  This one is a small breed called an Egyptian Fameuse, I think it was called.  Today I gave her two large roosters.

   Martin was at the Portland airport and found that the Downeast Magazine store front window had my picture from their Downeast article about me titled Cow Girl enlarged to poster size.

 

  My new computer is now set up though I'm not using it yet.  I think the boys will be putting it in my office. I have Mark to thank for this.

 

   Sally gave three of her favorite tiny hens to a friend on the other side of town.  When he let them out (after a few days) one of them took off for home.  Sally is very sad about it- it's a distance of about twenty miles and so there's no hope for her, poor little thing.

 

Wednesday, Oct 9th

  The new rooster escaped from his new quarters and has made himself at home with the hens in the hen room. This morning a hen, terribly pleased with herself, came out with five baby chicks. I don't know where she had been hiding. 

 

Fern comes up for her snack every evening now for her little bit of grain and a few apples.  I haven't started her on her special pre calving supplement yet. I'll start it on the 19th.

 

I was running out of milk again so Marcia and I made a plan to go to Farmington.  When she came to get me, though, the car was having trouble.  First it lost power going up a hill and it put out a great puff of smoke and when she got here she found steam coming out from under the hood.  We decided to take the truck instead.  It was a beautiful day with perfect fall weather.  We went to Mitra's and had lunch and picked up our milk. She gave us some beautiful bell peppers and pears. 

 

Mitra said that Roshan is trying out for the Maine Youth Orchestra and is playing a Bach partita.  I am so proud of her. We all are.

 

Then we went to Whitewater and got more feed  and did various other chores.

 

It frosted last night, not too hard, but enough to ruin my dahlias had I not put sheets over them.  Yesterday I brought up another large basket of tomatoes but I haven't had time yet to go check frost damage.

 

Mark and Hailey are signed up to join us in Atlanta.

 

Read it on the website with Mitra's fine edits:

http://real-food.com/heifer_diary_2013.htm#September_28,_2013_Saturday_

Saturday, August 03, 2013  Wedding Day of Grandson Rafe McGuire and Sally Boisvert

Pre planning enabled DS John to manage the sheep this morning and Fern let down well.

Sally called at 6am Alaska time ant told me of the masses of flowers she had grown and cut for the wedding. I am hoping for many pictures of the celebration.

John and DIL Lou drove down to Brunswick to visit  DD Abby.They went to lunch and to a flea market. The weather was excellent. All reported having a good time.  When they got home I fed them beans and bread pudding.

Sunday, August 04, 2013

John got on well with the sheep this morning and also fine with Fern. She is  letting down perfectly for him.

There was one cloudburst today otherwise the weather was excellent. DD Sally called to tell about Rafe an SallyB’s wedding.They were married at 10am on a beautiful Alaskan promontory with about 20 in attendance. Friends and family then gathered at their home to set up the dining tent and prepare for 100 guests. My grandson Harper, Marcia’s son, catered a sit down dinner for the guests. The menu was varied and imaginative with meats smoked by Harper, a home grown and cured ham and another of bear meat and many handmade sausages. The latter had to be rescued by Harper with his bare hands when Rafe’s smoker caught fire. There was also king salmon caught the previous day which SS Sally said was about the best thing she ever ate. There were vegetable shish kabobs sourced from SallyB’s large garden and wedding cakes made by DD Sally’s daughter Rebecca. The masses of wedding flowers were all grown by  DD Sally.. Later there was dancing with music provided by friends, for square dancing.

       Back here at in Maine, DD Marcia hosted a large party of friends and relatives. DIL Lou made a fine Philippine adobo, Marcia made great chili, Mitra brought one of her home grown chickens roasted, and there was lots of other great food. Roshan played a Bach unaccompanied partita for us on her cello.

Earlier in the day, Lou found a lot  of apples from a tree  that I did not even realize was bearing, and I made applesauce.

Monday, August 05, 2013

The cows were not waiting for John this morning. The weather was beautiful so he enjoyed his tour of the pasture looking for them. He saw two does bedded down in the draw.  When he located the cows they were near the house in the sheep paddock.. Mark and Annie, David Eskandari and Roshan climbed Tumbledown.

       Lou and I picked more apples and made a couple of gallons of applesauce. Lou did nearly all the work.

       John worked all day on shower installation and now Lou has taken a shower.  John is in there now and I will take my turn last..what a treat awaits me.

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

John reported that Fern and  Milton were perfectly behaved, the sheep not so much. It was chilly this morning, maybe 45F, but later warmed up and was clear and fine. Neighbor Ruth Snell came by with freshly picked blueberries. I took all she had, ten quarts.

John and Lou went to Rumford on errands. When they got back I greeted John with the news that my computer screen had gone black, a desperate occasion.  John did all the things he could think of while I prayed. Something worked and I am back in business but there have now been a number of ill portent s with this 8 year old computer and I am going to have to replace it as if it dies it will not just be the computer that goes black.

Lou made a delicious lamb curry for dinner.

        Marcia called to day that her DD Caiti had arrived. A party is planned.

              DS Bret called. He and the kids should be here tomorrow night.

August 9, Friday

   Today was the day for John to take Lou airport.  He got up and milked Fern  as he has every day since coming here. Fern accepts him as though she'd known him all her life.  Then he and Lou had to leave as Lou is going to California for a week.  He mounted a little cow on my mailbox. 

   Today Bret's kids Maia and Roger got up and had fun running around the farm..  Shireen brought Roshan here about three o'clock.  They ate a huge breakfast at mid-day and cooked and ate a huge dinner later on.  It rained all last night and all today.  Shireen had to go to work after dinner.  I went and picked vegetables in the garden,  I got carrots and radishes.

   We got word that Abby went to see an optometrist in Brunswick where she is, and that optometrist said that she does not have macular degeneration, as she had been told.  We are all so excited about this.  She has been very careful to take many antioxidants that are recommended for this condition, and we believe they are having this fine effect.

   Poor Willie is having to stay outside because he is such a mess, poor little dog.  We hope to get him cleaned up soon. 

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Saturday, June 22, 2013
The weather remains warm and mild reminiscent of New Jersey, “The garden state”. It’s great for growing plants but also suits mosquitoes.
Sister Barby phones to tell me that her son Jon’s family have decided to pass along their recently acquired puppy to her. They live in a 4th floor condo and it wasn’t ideal for a puppy. I feel sure that Barby and the puppy will get along well as she is very much a dog person and has a well fenced yard. The puppy is a very small mixed breed..
Nancy H worked long and hard brimming the grass Impinging on the electric fence. Abby gardened for hours and made three loaves of bread. Marcia worked digging over more ground for another raised bed in her flawless veg garden..
Aided by some long distance help from Sally, I worked on my talk.

Sunday, June 23, 2013
The hot humid weather continues. Things are popping out of the ground.
I started some home grown baking yeast. All it takes is fresh raw milk and flour about 40/60 in favor of milk. In this weather it will be ready by tomorrow.
Abby and I joined Marcia and Abby Rose for dinner. She grilled turkey/shrimp patties with home made feta. Truly excellent. She also made rhubarb ginger ice cream.
My sister Barby has taken over on the puppy that her son Jon and family recently acquired. Nobody was very happy with the puppy living in a condo I guess. Barby adored the pupp, a miniature Schnauzer X Australian silkie. Never heard if either breed but it it's tiny and cute. Barby has a big fenced yard and adored the puppy.

Monday June 25
My computer wouldn't work at all this morning. I tried everything and finally in desperation turned it off at the power bar; this worked. When I turned it back on again it behaved itself. Hot weather continues, it got to 88 today and is dripping with humidity. Abby went to a job interview for a caregiver job today, she is still making up her mind whether to accept the position. The garden is growing like crazy and everything looks absolutely beautiful, the flowers and vegetables. All the roses are blooming now, including Fantin Latour which is a little later than the other roses. This is the rose that an overzealous helper cut off at ground level three years ago and it has come back with five foot high canes. I cleared out around a favorite pink peony that was getting strangled. The animals seem to be doing very well in this hot weather. There are a lot of huge mosquitoes but the black flies don't seem to be too bad this year, or the flies. Fern is giving about two gallons a day and all is going well there.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday night was the appointed time to take four sheep to the butcher. I re-thought the number which included two tams and two ewes, all about 15 months old, and ended up only sending the rams. So far as any of us ingnorant shepherds know, thhe ewes were not bred but I would feel pretty bad to later learn they were pregnant.

I cooked food for a dinner at Martin’s camp for the volunteers taking the two rams to Castonguay, I braised the last two lamb ribs from the freezer and made a batch of brown rice. Amy made a sald using Marcia's fresh lettuce and Abby made a custard. Brett Shifrin, Martin’s friend and helper with the sheep, made a layer cake. Before dinner the men, Martin DS Mark and Brett, and kids went swimming. After dinner the men came to the farm and loaded the rams. I took the precaution of running out first to the barn to call in the sheep before they detected the presence of strangers, so the sorting and loading went pretty well. The rams were very heavy, maybe 200 lbs each.
Mark spent the night here.

Here are some chickens supervising the sheep loading operation:



And here is where we drop off the sheep (lit by brake lights from the truck):



Today I made the depressing discovery that my upright freezer where I expected to store the new meat had quit. Bloody melt water greeted me when I opened the door. This nearly pitched me into clinical depression
It is at least 20 years old and the gasket is shot and the freezing coils have to be propped in position so I doubt it is worth repairing. I If we all have to go Medieval I intend to be a good sport about it but I admit I picked up the phone and offered thanks for living in a time and place where I can count on a new one by Friday. I ordered a 15 cu ft as my other freezer is at least as old. I stuffed everything into it for now. All my new strawberries were thawed. Sigh.

Marcia came down to garden but then the sun went in an it rained torrentially for a long time. The mosquitoes remain truly awful.

Thursday, June 27, 2013
Abby took the dogs for a walk over to her field. It was a wet day and they all had a fine time running around. The dogs went swimming in the river. Milo has been trying to get his courage up to climb up on the couch which he now has done. I don't think he is allowed on couches at home but this is his vacation. He's been coming along and putting his chin on the couch to see if I was noticing. No doubt he sees that Willie is allowed on the couch. Martin and family are off to Montana.
The mosquitoes are awful this year. The cows don't seem to be too bothered though fortunately.
Abby brought in a fine bouquet of sweet peas which are in bloom now. They are an old-fashioned mixture and very sweet smelling.
I worked on my talk for the Nourishing Traditions conference in Atlanta where I am speaking on November 9th, which I worked out on the calendar is the exact due date for Fern. Today I worked on carbon sequestration.
It rained and drizzled and everything is wet.

Friday, June 28, 2013
I went to Farmington with Marcia. We stopped at Agway again which has wonderful plants for sale. I bought a Flame elderberry. The leaves are a beautiful lacy chartreuse resembling a Japanese maple and it should have beautiful berries. I also bought a hydrangea with puffy pink flowers. I've always wanted a hydrangea. I haven’t decided where to put it. It was raining hard all day and we didn’t need anything at the Farmer's Market so didn't get to see Mitra. Marcia was endlessly patient in helping me to buy new sandals.
My new freezer was delivered today. The delivery people were very helpful and took the old freezer out and put the new one in, first finding some pallets to set it on . My cellar floor is often wet.
Fern was saucy this morning and production was down about a quart.

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Visit real-food.com to learn more about Joann or to purchase Keeping a Family Cow

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Saturday, June 15, 2013
The peonies popped open last night..
The perfect weather and a ride we took over Sally’s field, inspired Martin who is u p for the weekend, to cut some hay. He limed his sister’s field last year aad it has responded with nice thick grass..
Amy, Martin, the kids and I had dinner here. I served braised lamb neck bones (scragg end), a superb dish when cooked long enough which this was.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Agnes, the ewe that was mother to the twin lambs that died, still has quite a bit of milk. I tried milking her this morning.. I didn’t get much but it was evident to me that she could easily be made into a milker. She is easily handled when tied. She just needs to be desensitized with rubbing her udder so she got used to being handled.
The weather for the first part of the today was good for drying hay. Martin was able to rake and cut yesterday’s hay and by 3 o’clock was baling..

We were a small team, just Martin, Amy Abby and I. I did the easy job, just tipping the bales off the top end of the elevator. By 4:30 it was in the barn. It started to rain the moment the last bale went up the elevator.

DD Marcia hosted a lovely dinner at camp. Martin and Amy had to get home because of the kids’ school but Mitra, Roshan and Mitra’s parents Marie and Alex and our cousins Holly and Richard were present. Shireen has started her summer job at Kawanhee boys’ camp so we did not see her.. Marcia made pasta with her machine and served it with a primavera sauce.
Monday, June 17, 2013
We had alternate rain and sun.
My writing is a struggle. But I got some done. DS Bret and old friend Billie Berten sent me reminders that it was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Pacific Sun newspaper in Marin County CA. Merril and I founded this paper together. It has now had a couple of different owners but is still going strong.
http://www.pacificsun.com/marin/life_in_marin/article_7ac2b2ac-cd61-11e2-ac97-001a4bcf6878.html
Tuesday, June 18, 2013s
Abby planted the last of the squashes today. I think she said she had planted nine varieties.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Marcia’s salad garden is a thing of beauty. Magazines put gardens like hers on the cover.
We have had two day s of perfect weather Nancy and I walked the electric fence line. The pasture looks lovely with wild flowers among the grass.. Nancy took both of the trimmers for repair and trey are now working well.
Fern was down a quart today for no reason I could detect.
Friday, June 21, Summer solstice and Martin’s birthday
Marcia and I took the day in Farmington. Marcia picked up some furniture for her guest rooms. We were too late for Mitra’s farmer’s market, a disappointment, but we had a good time shopping.
Fern’s production is back up.
Abby's corn is well up.
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Visit real-food.com to learn more about Joann or to purchase Keeping a Family Cow

Saturday, May 04, 2013
It froze again last night but we had protected everything adequately. We are doing the same tonight. It is a cold dry spring. I can report that the wonderful green is now mounting daily, The evening sun created green gold halos on all the trees.
Abby succeeded in getting the string collars off of the two rams. Sally was worrying about them with good reason. Abby took my sharp sewing scissors out to the paddock, put down a bit of grain, and they did not even notice when she snipped..
So far all we have done about separating the rams from the flock is make plots and plans.


Abby made a nice fork-able dinner that we could eat in front of the TV so as to watch the Kentucky Derby. She has decided not to take the job in CA.

Monday, May 06, 2013
Yesterday (Sunday, Cinco de Mayo, DD Marvia and GDD Abby Rose hosted a lunch for DD Abby and myself and DIL Mitra and her mom Marie and Shireen. Roshan was at her string group at Amy Leblanc. Marcia served an elegant version of hamburgers accompanies by roasted squished potatoes in a sauce and roasted stuffed beets sprinkled with walnuts caramelized in maple syrup. both sides were a big hit. Mitra brought a strawberry rhubarb pie. We ate outside. The weather was excellent.
And today, in response to the new grass, Fern broke the 1 ½ gallon barrier by nearly a pint.
Marcia gardened here today. She worked on digging weeds out of the asparagus patch and was rewarded by the first spear. She reported starting her day by making very successful mozzarella with milk from Mitra’s Nellie.
DD Sally called from MI where she is having a fine old time with her DS Gabe and the aunts and uncles.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013
It has been another day of perfect weather and the world is daily growing more lovely. Fern’s production continues to creep up. If only spring could be bottled for an occasional February tonic for her.
DD Marcia worked in the garden again. All her tiny vegetable seedlings are now up. The predicted low for tonight is 40F. I believe I can safely leave the tomato seedlings outside.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Another very fine day but rain is predicted.
SS Abby an DD Marcia took a long hike up through the woods following the spring line. They fixed a break.. It was easier this time than last because at Nancy’s suggestion they took along a thermos of hot water to soften the plastic pipe. Unfortunately it was still not possible to get any water from the spring.

Friday, May 10, 2013
The spell of fine weather had merged into light rain just enough to bring Marcia’s carrots up and not hard enough to damage the apple blossoms. They are just starting. Most years harsh winds do shake the darling buds of May and discourage the pollinators. I hope the dear old tree will bear this year.
My new edition of KFC arrived back today from my publisher, Chelsea Green, the stage which used to be known as page proofs. I am getting brain cramps as I attempt to expand my Word skills to meet the editing and proof reading requirements of the task.
Fern had a touch of mastitis this morning. I could tell as soon as she walked into her stanchion and moved to the far side. I didn’t do anything for her and there was nothing on the filter but tomorrow morning I will apply the lard and cayenne treatment. I picked a bunch of new comfrey for her breakfast also.
Davis Florists brought me a huge bouquet of flowers from “All your sons” What a treat.


DDs Marcia and Abby, signed up for a woods walk for wild edibles conducted by some woods dwelling people over in Temple near Farmington. They learned a lot. I am told.. Abby said she would not have gotten much out of it had the sponsors not passed out head nets. Black fly season has started.



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