A long-winded attempt to catch up

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted. I promise it is not because of re-joining Facebook! I am managing my time there very nicely, I think. And I've actually found it to be very helpful. The woman from whom we bought our sheep three years ago, wrote on my timeline and messaged me to offer two ewes who were done being mothers. They are nine years old, and are going to spend their retirement years at Windy Poplars Farm. Here they are in the back of Matt's truck.

They have settled in well, and I like having six sheep. They are more of a presence in the pasture.

Nebby, the donkey. In the back, close together, as always, the mother and daughter, Aberdeen and Angelina. On far right, Maybelline. In the foreground, L to R: Cappuccino (new), Maggie Mae, and Kiah (pronounced Kyah - also new).

Our Dominique chicks, born May 8, lived in a box in the cellar for a few weeks, and are now in the barn and moving around just like the big chickens.

Tom's parents made the big decision to move to a smaller place. They do not have to be in assisted living, but they wanted an easier life without having to shop or cook. They have a kitchen so still can make meals when they want, but both breakfast and supper are provided. It's a lovely place with a swimming pool which will be a big draw for the great-grandchildren. There is a library which I naturally love. It has chairs by a window and many shelves with all kinds of books. We've gone down a few times to help move smaller things, and to receive a few lovely rugs, Nina's framed needlepoint, some things for the kids, and this beautiful kitchen table.

It was Tom's grandmother's and we have loved it for decades. So happy to have it. Since the kids were little, we've had a round table which became oval with extra leaves. But I have always wanted a rectangular table. It feels like a real farmhouse table, and I love the little drawer. I put grandchildren treats in it. Incidentally, the white cupboard belonged to my aunt Mabel, and it was given to me when she died. It was in her kitchen and both Margaret and Michael remember she always had a can of Pringles in it. I love it so much. For fifteen years, it has had the 'distressed' look, aka, chipping paint. Tom recently painted it and we moved it into the kitchen. The books are my food related books, like Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking.

The final move-in was this week, and they are very happy. Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago. When we go down next, I'll take some more photos.

A lovely patio and garden

 Great kitchen

The living room looking out the sliding doors to the patio

It is a big change for them, but they are both such sports, always looking forward not back. They have a gift for enjoying life.

I've missed posting two weeks of my CSA flowers, so here you go:

Two weeks ago, I decided to use the little pail provided last year as my vase. And this week I used a pitcher that belonged to my aunt Gladys.

I've made a batch of pesto both weeks with basil that was in the bouquet! Just like last year.

After a rainy spring and early summer, we are finally having real summer weather. It has been perfect really - sunny, but not too hot. The gardens are going great guns, but there is still 'witchgrass' amongst the daylilies, and it has been hard keeping the weeds down in the garden as they all got such a hold during the wet weather.

Remember the rust on the hollyhock last summer? I actually decided to not plant any this year, but lo and behold, a plant came up, in the same place as last year!

The first flowers appeared this week.

There's something going on with the leaves again. Not sure if it is rust or insects, but the nearby Chelsea Prize English cucumbers seem to have it, too.

H

 C

We'll see. The cuke in general looks okay, and I hope it stays that way.

The Clarimore Middle Eastern zucchini is doing great. I've made two meals with it already.

The really tall French Gold filet pole beans are just coming. If there is a big enough crop, I think I'll freeze some this year.

I've eaten 3 or 4 Sungold orange cherry tomatoes, but most of them are still green. There is nothing like eating a warm tomato right off the vine.

As usual, I have too many plants in too small an area, but I can't seem to help myself. In the spring, the two we started under lights were so small, and I decided to buy two more plants from a local farm. Of course, ours have pretty much caught up with the ones I bought.

And now to my favorite gardening subject - the daylilies. The stars of Windy Poplars Farm which make July and August as pretty as could be around here.

I'm sure your eyes have glazed over by now, and you're wondering, when will this end? Well, now!

Ticks (more than you want to know)

This is by far the very worst tick season we've ever had. April 25th, Tom found the first tick on himself, and I found one a couple days later. From then on I have tried to avoid being outdoors in the grass. It wasn't hard to do because April and May were chilly and rainy for the most part. However, Tom takes Lucy up the hill twice a day (Labradors need a lot of exercise!). He rides the four-wheeler so you'd think he would be protected but he still finds them on himself. Lucy runs through the tall grasses and woods and comes home with ticks. We find a lot of them still crawling over her body. Luckily she is light colored so we can see them, but try as we may we still miss some and have pulled off a few big ones. And the other delightful thing is that they get caught in clothes, and I've found live ones crawling up the cloth laundry holder, and even inside the washing machine. I've found them crawling on the floor and crawling on the walls. Not many, but still.... Tom pulls them off Lucy with his bare hands and squishes them. I take them off with a kleenex and burn it in the woodstove. And though we check ourselves every day, we are still apt to wake up in the morning with a tick crawling around or semi-attached. Yuck, yuck, and yuck. They were never here in my childhood or my children's childhoods. They seemed to show up in the early 2000s. I did a search to see if this was recognized as the worst year by anyone else, and got this result. In a way, it is heartening to know there is an answer. Matt thought it might be the warm winter, and I thought it might be the wet spring, but it looks like we can blame acorns! Who knew? What I do know is they should be mostly gone by July, and I can lose my vigilante persona. If you can't get enough of this subject, I've mentioned ticks in my letters - here and here.


Acorns, Not Weather, To Blame for More Ticks
National Pest Management Association explains why 2010's crop puts people at risk for tick-borne disease

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is forecasting a heavier tick season than in previous years, but it's not due to the unseasonably mild winter as one might expect. Rather, acorns can be blamed for the predicted surge in tick populations this year, particularly in the Northeastern U.S.

Oak trees produced an extremely large acorn crop in 2010, which led to a boom in the white-footed mouse population last year. As a result, the blacklegged (deer) tick population also increased because the ticks had an abundance of mice to feed on when they hatched. However, this spring those same ticks will be looking for their second meal as nymphs, but a decline in the mice population may force them to find new warm-blooded host - humans.

Experts are concerned about an increase in human cases of tick-borne disease. "Many of these nymphal ticks may have contracted Lyme disease from feeding on infected mice as larvae," said Jim Fredericks, technical services director for NPMA. "These hungry ticks will soon be looking for another blood meal, which puts people at risk as they head outside to enjoy the weather."

NPMA offers the following tick tips:

• Use tick repellent when outdoors and wear long sleeved shirts and pants, preferably light in color, so ticks are easier to detect.

• Use preventative medicine on pets, as prescribed by your veterinarian.

• Once indoors, inspect clothing and your entire body. Check family members and pets that have been outdoors.

• Keep grass cut low, including around fences, sheds, trees, shrubs and swing sets. Remove weeds, woodpiles and other debris from the yard.

• If you find a tick on your body, remove it with a slow, steady pull so as not to break off the mouthparts and leave them in the skin. Then, wash hands and bite site thoroughly with soap and water.  Ticks should be flushed down a toilet or wrapped in tissue before disposing in a closed receptacle.

• If you suspect a tick bite, seek medical attention.

For more information on ticks, please visit www.pestworld.org.

Quote du jour/Samuel Taylor Coleridge

'Tis a month before the month of May, and the spring comes slowly up this way.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge




Coleridge's words are apt as I look out my front door this afternoon.

We've lost some snow since the last snowstorm, but it is coming down strong and steady today. Michael lives an hour south of us and they got 8 inches overnight. March has been consistently cold with intermittent snowfalls and a blizzard mid-month. Those red-winged blackbirds haven't come back. There is no sight or sound of robins or woodcocks. We've had some sunshine but the wind has been cold. Three deer come by each evening for their daily meal. The usual winter birds are still eating heartily at the feeders.

But this won't last. A few warm, sunny days and we will have forgotten all about snow!

Four and Twenty...

Blackbirds! The red-winged blackbirds came today when we'd just had a big snowstorm. They ate from the feeders, and the food spread on the ground. 

These aren't the world's best pictures because I had the zoom on and they were taken through the front door windows, but you get the idea. I counted two or three times and got 24. What do you think? Do they travel in groups of 24? Why does the old rhyme say 24?