Saturday, September 22, 2012
The day was softly warm and slightly moist, nice Fall day.
Once again the cows and sheep were all down in Pocket field at milking time and didn’t want to budge.After only a few minutes of my ringing it, the sheep responded to the sound of Linda’s bell, their lost sister.Fern didn’t move her head. She raised her head and stared when I beat on the bucket and waved my arms but did not move. I went back in the house and made blueberry muffins using Grandson Harper’s recipe. When I came back out about 9:30 Fern and Milton were in the Beefer Pen.
Martin and the kids arrived at 10AM.The kids and I ate muffins while Martin hitched the manure spreader to the Moline for an experimental run. He has done a lot of work on the spreader, a classic old thing, and now it works.Hurrah! The photo shows a tractor painted John Deere green by a former owner but it is really a Moline and should be Prairie Orange.Someday we’ll get it repainted.Martin’s pointer, Milo, is next to the wheel.
Martin did lots of work including repairing the fence and chain sawing firewood. He went out with Milo for a while and put up some woodcock.
Monday, September 24, 2012
DD Sally sent this link to an interview with her son Gabriel (my grandson) who lives and teaches in Kazakhstan.It’s all in either Russian or Kazakh – neither of us understands a word of it but maybe somebody does.Anyway, we are proud of him!
I glanced up while milking this morning and saw framed in the tiny open window a hawk sitting on the top rail of the chicken run. She was staring straight into the henhouse and did not see me until I got up and moved to the window for a better look. She was small but bigger than a sharpshin. She flew off without getting any of my chicks.
The weather is getting colder.I brought in the last of the peppers and cukes.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
It’s been another day of fine fall weather.
Once again this morning the cows were down in Pocket Field. Last night we did not get the gate that keeps them near the barn shut in time so I was late with milking.If somebody else had been around to let the sheep out I could have slept in which would have been lovely. I stayed awake last night to listen to On Point, a forum led by Tom Ashbrook that is rebroadcast at midnight. He takes on hard subjects, this time global warming.He interviewed four involved scientists.The Arctic ice cap is at its lowest point in recorded history and is melting about four times faster than projected.At this rate it will be completely gone in another decade.Antarctica is adding enough new ice to compensate in surface are for possibly a quarter of the missing Arctic ice but it is much thinner ice. It was hard to go to sleep after this news so I was tired today.However, I did manage to finish one new section in my editing (writing about machine milking.)
A few days ago I sent DD Sally a spray of aromatic blue flowers from a plant I was puzzled about, since my description over the phone was inadequate for her to identify it. It turned out to be Petrovskia (Russian Sage), a very fine plant.She had actually sent for it last winter and potted it up and forgotten about it. It has been blooming in its pot on the deck. I then looked up its requirements and set it out on the south side of the barn.It wants full sun and not too damp a soil.It is only hardy to Zone 5 and we are Zone 4 so I hope I can keep it going. It is a truly stunning plant that makes blue spires that can be 4 ft tall.
Each morning after I let Fern out of her stanchion she always diddles around in the aisle as long as she can.One of the things she likes to do is go and sniff the old “cow bra”that her mother, Jasmine, used to wear.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Since my last entry we have had a night of rain followed by clear cool weather. Nancy came and sawed up a fallen tree by the river. I set out a beautiful potted rudbeckia and dug some more potatoes.This evening I started a large batch of chutney.I promised it to Martin for his birthday last June and am just getting around to it.
I did not see anything of Abby yesterday.Tuesday evening when she got back to camp, fortunately before dark, there was unmistakable evidence of an intruder.In fact she has been suspecting this and has been making a point of getting there before dark for that reason.She spent all day Wednesday dealing with this.The sheriff was there and went over everything.Abby found the house open including the front doors wide open. It appears that the intruder(s) fled out the front of the house when he heard Randy S arrive to mow the lawn about 4 o’clock. There was damage to the lock.The house is totally empty except for the room in which Abby is staying and she did not miss anything. The sheriff thinks it was probably a thief looking for copper.
On a lighter note, Abby found a sheep today in the carriage house (garage). Later she wrote me saying,” I was walking back from the barn at one point and she or he (one of the young 'uns) was bawling loudly & plunging about in there. I quickly closed the garage door. Then I closed the door to the buttery. Then I opened the back door to the field to ponder if he/she could jump down that far. He/she immediately ran over, screeched to a halt upon seeing the perilous drop, glanced sideways at me standing there, then squeezed his/her eyes shut and leaped. Ran off.”
Friday, September 28, 2012
Abby and I raced off to Farmington today and saw Mitra at the farmer’s market.It was a pleasant day and there was a steady stream of customers at all the stalls. Besides Mitra’s popcorn, there were many fine displays of vegetables, meats, dairy and baked goods. Afterwards we went to the gourmet shop and had coffee and picked up some elegant cheese before driving out to White Water Farm for grain.
The price of grain is getting scary.
Now that (the steer) Milton’s collar is off he is a lot less touchy and head shy.That is always a symptom, being head shy, if the collar is getting tight. One has to check collars constantly.
I started chutney yesterday and canned it tonight.I made 12 half pints.
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