God's artwork

This was the view we had tonite from our living room......

As a rule, I am off teaching dog classes in the evening... but tonite I was home and got to enjoy this wonderful "show"....

Well, the "holiday season" can't be too far off.... look at what is in the grocery stores once again....

"golden egg nog"!!!!!!

ceilings...

A perfect word to describe the day.... COLD!!!! Old man winter wants us to know he isn't that far away, because the wind was whistling and the snow (yes you read correctly....) was falling. OK..so it was just "flurries".. but it was snow just the same, and I so hope not the hint of what winter will be like this year.

However, the guys continued in their work and we now have ceilings!!! the odd thing about a timber frame, is it doesn't go together like a regular house does... usually ceilings wouldn't go in until the house had walls, but not the case with a timber...

We will mostly have wood ceilings, except for in the kitchen and the pantry and bathroom. I felt that those rooms would be handling moisture, "greases" from cooking things like that, so I wanted a ceiling that I would be able to paint and keep clean....so we opted with sheetrock in those rooms....

It gives the house a whole different feel seeing those ceilings in place...I like it...

This is the kitchen looking up to it from the back yard.

AND... if there is any doubt about how cold the day was..... Ed went and found his "silly" hat... this is certainly a "winter item"...

Oh.. I hope the weather will give us one or two warm spells before getting serious......

jury duty!!!!

IS ALL DONE!!!! and not that is was ALL that bad, because the five cases that were presented, I was never chosen for any of them. But I am so very glad that I won't have to remember to "call in" anymore, nor schedule my day with the thoughts that "this could all change".....and today, as I sit and think "what will I get done today"... I know that I really can.....

whew!!!!

guinea hen wrangling....

These silly guinea hens!!!!! this afternoon, Ed and I had an errand to run down in Dover. I had a feeling that we wouldn't be home before dark, and decided to bring the guinea hens in before we left. Well.... nothing doing, the afternoon was bright, sunny and warm, and those little birdies said "no way are you closing us in now".... I chased them around the barnyard and gave up when they went into the woods!!! Hoping for the best that Mr. Fox, Hawk or whom ever he was.. wouldn't show up again tonite before we got back.

Well, as thought it was pretty dark when we returned to the barn. I first checked their stall and no birdies... great..... I have this funny sound I make which they often call back to, and was very happy to hear them when I "called"... there they were, in the paddock with Mocha... all..... FIVE of them!!!! One was missing, "oh no".. and not only was one missing.... it was MaMa bird who was missing!!! The babies seemed a bit lost without her, and I had a pretty hard time herding them into the stall. Usually they just follow MaMa bird, so if you herd her in the right direction...they follow. Any ways, I got the babies in and Ed came out to the barn and said..how ya doing... I told him the Mama bird was missing... just then, we could hear her... somewhere out in the woods. I was worried that maybe something had started to get her and she was hurt out there. But listening carefully, we found her... in the top of a small pine tree... she had roosted for the night, and left the "kids" to themselves!!!!!

Ed got a long pole and we more or less knocked her out of the tree, I thought she would run right into the barn.... but...NO..... she decided to take a walk out thru the pasture, over the manure pile, into the woods... anywhere but into the barn. Here is Ed and I ..in the dark, with flashlights... rakes, etc.. trying to herd this silly bird in!!!! Because of the rain we had last night, there were puddles and mud all over the place and we gave up trying to get around them and head Mama bird in the right direction!!!! Finally... she co-operated and calling to her kids, went inside!!!!

Ed and I looked at each other... covered in mud (our shoes are a mess).. running around for who knows how long... all after a silly bird who would have been perfectly happy sleeping out in a pine tree.... but, it's just my thing... I need to know that when the night falls, all my animals are tucked into their beds safe and sound (it drives me nuts that the barn kitty doesn't stay in all night and I can only assume she is ok because her food is gone each night!!!!) I don't know, a "real" farmer would have said "good night, good luck Miss guinea hen"... so I have my doubts about ever being a "real" farmer..... and for tonite anyways.. Mr. "whoever ate the other baby". won't have a free meal. I will be able to sleep and good thing, as I report for jury duty tomorrow....

30th class reunion

Last night was the "class of 78" high school reunion. I simply can not believe that I have been "out of school" for 30 years!!! Where in the world has that time gone!!! We are all a bit wiser (aka "older") and in most cases... grayer!!! But it was so much fun to reconnect with friends, and feel like the years have hardly passed at all. My two class mates, Cindy and Marty obviously spent a great deal of time organizing, searching and planning and their efforts more than paid off. We had a very good turnout and almost everyone in the class was "found" (amazing thing this Internet!!!)

For the most part, I would say that I recognized everyone, and if it "did take me a second".. it was mostly because I hadn't seen that person since graduation. I think, too, that just about everyone looks the "same".Naturally there were a few special people that I was looking for. A few were there, and a couple were not, but because of all their work, Cindy and Marty put together a small booklet containing email address ... so, hopefully, I can to a little connecting on my own.

I was very happy to meet up with Chuck!!! who, by the way, was my senior prom date!!! Chuck is such fun, and is the kind of person who everyone liked and was everyone's friend. It's kind of funny how we ended up going to the prom together and actually it was his sister's doing. I was dating another guy who had already graduated from high school, and when I asked him if he would take me to my senior prom.. he promptly said "no way am I going back there"...so I figured that I would just have to skip out on it (Ed told me years later that I should have asked him to take me... he would have gone!!!!) But either way, I was pretty sure that I would miss out on my senior prom. Well, Chuck's sister Mary was in a few of my classes, and when she heard that I didn't have a date, she said... you should go with Chuck..he doesn't have a date either!!!! I guess she must have said the same thing to him, because he did ask me to go.... and much to the dismay of my "then" boyfriend, I said yes that I would love to go.... I really didn't want to miss out on my last prom.

To be honest, I don't remember much about the senior prom... but I do recall we had a fun time together and I was always grateful to Chuck for taking me!!!! We saw each other ten years ago at our 20th reunion, and found that we were both on the "same time line" with life... married, raising kids, paying a mortgage and enjoying life. Last night, we "compared" notes again and find we are still on the same track... still married to our wonderful spouses... kids mostly out of the house (Chuck and Cindy kids at college) and talking about retirement and what we have done and where we are going!!! I now have his email (and promise to send him the blog address.... Hello Chuck, if you have gotten around to reading this!!!) and I am in hopes that it isn't going to be another 10 years before we can visit again!!!

As "typical" with life, some of us still live fairly close (people were "shocked" to know that Ed and I have left town!!!) some have moved very fair away. Some are still with their first spouses and other's aren't... kids range in ages from very little (2 and 3 year olds) to college/married/grandchildren age!!!! But all in all, we were very happy to be together again for a special evening of good food, visiting and dancing. For the most lot, I would say we are all very happy and doing well......and it was certainly a fun evening and one to put into the "memory book".

this week's progress

Despite having a day of rain, the guys got alot done on the house this week. And the framing on the first floor is now complete. It's fussy work, Ken, Eric and Buzz are very particular about how it all goes together. It's fun to get a real idea of the size, and I think it will be about perfect. I have been worried (abit) about it being "too big"... but, it's not much bigger than "the old house".. just laid out in a different fashion. I am very excited about having a dinning room, and hope to have many family dinners and get togethers!!!!

This view is the (facing) right front corner, which will be my "quilting/craft room"....





Here is a view from the back yard... which shows (from left to right) the living room, kitchen, pantry and first floor bathroom....

And this is the view from the driveway.. which folks will see as the pull up... the garage is the closest... then the mudroom and continuing across the front, the dinning room, front hallway and the quilting room...

Next comes the ceiling boards, on top of that comes a "chase way" for plumbing and electrical, and then the framing goes up for the second floor... you can now see the house from the road, and today in church, we received a number of compliments and got to meet a few more of our neighbors....guess folks are beginning to notice that "we are really here"...

thank you kind driver....

It was an amazing fall afternoon, so after a morning of dog training, it was time to get Tonka back into harness and do some "driving" with him.... I can't believe it's Friday and this is the first time I have had him out all week. We "drove" around the field for a bit and since it was all looking so good, we headed out to the road. A few cars passed us... no big deal. Then I saw an oil truck pulling onto the road... Oh well, I thought, we got to learn to pass these things as well. The truck noticed us right away and slowed down, approaching us with respect and caution... Tonka plodded along... "this looks good", I thought... and then all of a sudden, he jumps into the center of the road (sort of in front of the truck) and begins to pitch a fit!!!! Surprisingly, I was not one bit nervous, and just kept talking to him calmly and asking him to get back to work. He began to settle down, when the truck (due to the way it works) let out a sharp "hiss" of air, and that was that. Tonka was no way... about to co-operate. So, I walked him into our neighbor's back yard, just to get him off the street, and give him a minute to pull his head together. The truck, seeing a good opportunity to get out of our way, passed quickly. It took me a few minutes to pull Tonka back together, and then we were back on the street, and working again. He was still a bit jumpy, but at least he was listening, and I was pretty happy to be on foot behind him and not in a cart!!!! We "played" along the road for a while and then headed back home. Guess I found out a weak spot in our training, and that means... more road work for sure. But I am very grateful to a smart and kind driver, and though I doubt I will ever know "who he was"... may I say thank you for helping me out with my horse!!!!

Welcome baby, Maya

This is little Maya, who arrived on the earth on Wednesday (22) at 3:10 pm. Her parents are Mandi and Patrick, they are dear friends of Kas and Nate. Patrick is in the Marine corps and heads for Iraq in January..... Mandi was Kassy's "rock" when she lived in NC and was going thru all the deployments with Nate, and the back and forth trips to Maine. I know that both Kas and Nate miss their friends and were certainly very sad not to have been in NC for the special event. Either way, Maya can count on us as "extended family" and it is in the plan that she and Mommy Mandi will come to Maine next summer for a visit while Daddy is away!!!! Blessings to you Maya, and welcome to the world. You have amazing parents!!!!!!

one of those kind...

Lucky me, Monday turned out to be "one of those days".. you know them, we all have them.. when everything you touch goes a muck, or requires "a million more steps" than normal. And try as I might, the more I did, the "worse" it got. I ran out of time on everything and it seemed at the end of the day... nothing was accomplished. Which really isn't true... I got the laundry done, did barn chores, met with a private student and taught two dog classes, but I was done by the end of the day.

THEN to top it all off... we have had a sadness to deal with... we have "lost" one of our little guinea hens.. one of the little white ones to be exact. And I feel pretty bad about this.. for someone "who really didn't care about birds".. I have grown pretty fond of these guys and loosing one makes me very sad. It was a beautiful day, so I let the birdies out early. At noontime I needed to travel to York to meet with my client and then to teach, I hated the idea of locking them in so "early" in the day, even though I knew we wouldn't be home until well after dark. But, they have been excellent about coming in on their own as the sun begins to set, so I was pretty sure they would head for the barn when it got dark. Well, when we went to button things up after we got home, there were the guinea hens in the barn... but only 6 of them... one was missing. I took a flash light out to the trees, just to see if "she" had roosted somewhere ..but no sign. The next morning, I looked around again... nothing. Yesterday afternoon, as Ed and I were increasing the size of the pasture (again) we found the tell tale signs.... a spot in the middle of the field covered in white feathers, and then another small spot with more white feathers.... "someone" got her for sure. My "gut" feeling is a hawk, we have some pretty big ones here and if it were big enough, it could have picked her up.... and the fact that the "crime" scenes were way out in the field, I wonder if he caught her and then had to land and re=group before taking off again. Either way, "she" is gone and I will be keeping a very careful eye on the rest of the group, and won't leave them out again if I have to be gone for a long time. I knew it was a "risk" allowing them to free range, but, I can't keep them locked up in the stall forever. it's not fair to them.

So,by the time Monday was over, I was pretty happy to say goodbye to that day...... and so far, the rest of the days this week have gone pretty well...

guess it was just "one of those days".....

behind the Belgians...

This past weekend was Harvestfest in our old home town... so, nothing doing, we had to go and spend some time there. We went down yesterday for a few hours to enjoy some of the food and see the crafts. So many beautiful items and workmanship, but a bit on the pricey side. We got to see many of our friends, and chat with them, all curious about the progress of the new house and if we are happy "up on the farm".. (which of course we are!!!).

Then after we did that, we went with Kas and Nate to see the puppies (yesterday's blog)

And today, I just had to go back down again, because our good friends, Becky and Butch were there giving rides with their team of Belgians... Bill and Ben. So, the day was spent visiting with them and enjoying the "backside of the Belgians. The world looks so different from the height of a wagon and the sound of those feet on the pavement... just an amazing time!!!!

These are gentle giants and at roughly 1600 lbs apiece... it's a good thing that they are. Butch is a true horseman and his team trusts him. It is such fun to watch the relationship that they have, which is why they can be so calm in the midst of the crowds, cars and who knows what else comes down the road. But what amazes me is how people are around horses, they really don't have a clue sometimes, and will run out in front of them, or stand and watch them walk up to them, or just not even think before they do something, I guess people aren't used to being around horses and maybe think of them as a dog!!!

One really neat thing about knowing Becky and Butch, is we get "front seat rides"... (and as many as we want)... we can also get rides for friends... (right Betty???) and if "they" are very good, there can even be a ride for a dog... (hey Kato)... Sadie and Matt enjoyed their ride thru the town....

Here Becky gives the "boys" some hugs and pats, just letting them know they are doing a good job!!!!

The day was cold and quite windy... but the sun was bright, and it was a grand time...

now, I need to get Tonka back to work!!!!!

puppy visits....

Amoung a few things today (more in another blog) was a visit to see "my grand-dog"... aka: Kas and Nate's new baby, Banjo. He is four weeks old now, and in just another four weeks, they will be able to bring him home.

Mary, Ed and Rosie are doing the most wonderful job raising this litter... all the puppies are thriving and it really would be hard to pick just one as a favorite. Mary told us today, that almost the whole litter has been spoken for and she is very excited about the homes that they will all be heading off to.

We arrived for our visit at nap time, so poor little Banjo (and his sister and brothers) weren't too excited about having company. He is a real little cuddle bug!!!

"Can I please go back to bed???"

And speaking of visits... we have a few guests staying with us. Two Labradoodle puppies (and yes, they have been with us before)... they love walking with the cockers, and it's quite a "crew" that I take out each day. Here we have... (left to right) Tazzy, Camille, Hunter and Trevor (there are two black dogs there) and Rosie's Boy and Cherry Pie. Moxie and Cole didn't do the walk, their slower pace makes it hard to walk the "younger" dogs with them... so they get their own special time....I think the neighborhood is getting used to me walking by... instead of staring they now just wave and smile......

pictures of the day...

A new use for pumpkins..... paper weights......
A joint ready to be put together......

Eric touches up.....

Buzz getting all the pieces in place

Ken and Buzz making certain everything is perfect.....
And the progress that was made this week.... it's really looking like "something"

And a little cocker spaniel who has had a very busy day....... Miss Moxie!!!!!!

a week of trucks...

It's been a "week of trucks" around here again. I like "trucks" as they mean "progress" in a strange sort of way... though, I am very glad NOT to see dump trucks anymore!!! I truly understand "dirt poor" as each dump truck that brought us "fill" arrived. It got so, any time I would see one pull up the drive I would say "not another one".. and Ed would make that "cha-ching" sound!!!

But, the dump trucks are done (and paid for) so that part is behind us. This truck that arrived brought the panels for the house. I think I know how this all works, but, instead of explaining all of that in the blog, I will just keep you up to date in the days ahead. The only "sad" thing about panels, is from the outside they will cover up all those beautiful beams... too bad you can build a timber frame in plexi glass!!! (course you would have to be careful getting out of the shower in a house built from plexi glass!!! :-p ). These panels are super warm and give us some amazing "R" factor (another thing I am not schooled in except that I know "it's a good thing"...) and it will still be a little while before they are in place.

The next truck that showed up this week was our friend Rick... and yes, it's a dump truck... but it brings "better things" than dirt...

It brings WOOD.... our winter heat...

Rick wasn't kidding when he called and said, "I have a nice load of wood for you"... it is grand!!! and yes, I do see beauty in woodpiles!!!

We do not depend entirely on wood to heat the camp... we do have an oil furnace here, but, even though the prices are dropping alittle, we hope to use a good portion of wood and besides... it's a "better heat" if you want my opinion....

Ed's comment to me.........................."Look honey..... now you have something to do!!!!"

Sweetgrass Farm and Kennel

My friend, Dale, is learning how to fly... she went over the farm yesterday afternoon and got this photo for us... it looks amazing from the air!!!! the red roof is the barn and the spot to the right is where the house is going in..... thank you for the great photo, Dale!!!!!

blessed........

When I look back on it now, I can see (sort of) the path that things have taken. I was raised knowing the Good Lord, so when things seem to be going "a muck"... I am happy to have the faith that says... "it will be alright and everything happens with a purpose". So, as we were looking at timber frame company after company, and builder after builder, and it was getting discouraging, I would say.. well.. guess this isn't the right one, and we would move onto another. And, because of all of that, we found Ken and Eric and Buzz.... who are now in the process of building our new home, and suddenly it doesn't seem like it took very long to get to this point.



(this is Ken at the top.. Ed on the side and Buzz on the ground)

We liked Ken the moment we met him, and when we looked at the paperwork of the company... (Timberpeg).. that he represented, we liked that right away as well. And then, all the pieces, time frames, and everything "fell" into place, and we knew that we were on the right track. Ken is just a great guy and his son Eric and co-worker Buzz are just as great. They enjoy their work, and we enjoy having them on the farm.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought it might be fun to have an open house and show off the timbers of the house before they were all closed in. When I said this to Ken, he was a bit unsure that any of the timbers would be in place in time for the party... but he would do what he could to have some up. It didn't really matter to me... the idea of having a party was to give all our friends and family an "excuse" to come to the farm and check it out. So, I decided to go ahead with it anyways.

Then along came some rainy days.. this put the guys behind in their game plan. Aside from assembling the house, Ken and crew also sand all the timbers, put a lite coat of stain on them, and then a protective oil. So.. before any timber can go into place, all that work must be done. On Thursday, they were still sanding and staining... it didn't look like any timbers would be in place.. but again, that was OK with me. On Friday, Ken said... "we will be back tomorrow" (Saturday on a three day weekend no less)... "we should be able to get some beam up for your party." I told him this was not necessary.. but nothing doing.. the three of them had planned that they would work and get a few in place. I hardly knew how to say thank you, but their minds were made up and that's the way it was going to be.

(Buzz double checking the fit of the joints)

I should have been busy doing "get ready for party things" yesterday, but I found myself just sitting and watching the men work. Ed was thrilled to be able to help out... the three of them obviously work well together (they have done it for years) but having that one extra set of hands can make a difference.

The original game plan was to work just a half day, but they ended up putting in a full day's work, and got a quarter of the first floor beams in place. Certainly enough of them that you could easily see where rooms would be, and a good look at the beautiful beams in place. Ken kept saying that they were happy to do the work, the weather was just perfect and he felt like "it caught them back up".. but I know he had done this for me because he wanted me to have "something to show" at the party.

How do you say thank you for such a kind gesture.....

and so .. it was a party.

The "open house" was today (Sunday) of Columbus Day weekend. I wasn't sure how many folks would be able to come, as this is typically a good weekend to "get away".. but, I invited everyone I could think of and knew that some folks would have the time to pop in.

I was so very pleased to see how many of my dear friends and family were able to come!!!! I wish now that I had thought to have a guest book for folks to sign in, because even though I made sure to see and talk with everyone, it will be hard to keep in my mind the number of friends that were there. I didn't even really get any good pictures, because I was too busy (HAPPY) talking with everyone!!!!!

We even had a number of "four footed guests" as well (which are ALWAYS welcomed on the farm!!!!)

Not wanting to miss out on anything either... the horses "demanded" a certain amount of attention from our guests as well......

And my friend Kim brought along a special little fall treat.... a pumpkin with our names engraved on it.....

The day flew by in a flash... and all too soon, folks were needing to head for home... but, I am thinking that we will make this an "annual event"... and next year... we will have a "real house" to show them. But I saw one thing for certain today, I am so very blessed with such wonderful people in my life, and this farm needs to come up with a special purpose in life... it's too big a gift to be "wasted".....

birdies on the loose!!!

Well, today was a big day for the guineas... I let them out this afternoon into the big world. The keets are fully feathered now and nearly the size of their Mom... they have been flying for weeks (well flying as best they can in the stall) and with the weather so perfect, I just couldn't bear to have them miss out on it.

Naturally, they were a bit cautious, especially Mama bird, but with a bit of coxing they headed out the back doors of the barn. They were pretty excited when they felt the sun and found they could roll around in the dirt and look for buggies and such.

Mama bird was pretty watchful over her babies, and kept them close to her. They are so good, and when she calls, they do exactly what she asks them to do. I kept a close eye myself, after letting the barn kitties out and not ever seeing the big gray boy, Sammy, again... I am a bit gun shy about letting these guys loose. But, it would be hard for them to do "bug duty" cooped up in the barn forever, I got them to patrol the barnyard.. and that means, being loose.

They didn't travel too far from the barn, they went into the woods a bit, but didn't stay long. They made their way out to the manure pile, and into the pasture (Tonka had fun chasing them out of the paddock) looking for bugs and scratching around. They loved eating the "greens" and just seemed so happy to be out in the world.

Before I left I did herd them back into their "house" which was all nice and clean and had a big bowl of food waiting for them. They had a nice meal and then began to bed down for a rest after a day of exploring. So, the guinea hens are on the loose..... look out bugs, they're coming after you!!!!!

the neighbor's view

One on my big hopes with moving into a "new" neighborhood... is that we would be very good neighbors to have. We have told Mike (who is our closest neighbor) that if any of our animals, or whatever is bothersome to his family, he needs to tell us about it. I popped over to visit with him a minute the other day, and his sister is visiting from Florida... she told me she got a nice picture of Tonka thru the trees... and sent me this copy of it.... it pleases me to know that the neighbors are enjoying their new "view".....

docks and beams

Living in the heart of apple country (we have several large orchards in the neighborhood) the signs of fall are very easy to see. I think I have eaten more apples this fall than I have in my entire life, but they are so good, and being able to run down the road and get them fresh off the tree.... amazing!!!

I haven't picked out my fall pumpkins yet, but will do that within a day or two. I need a few for the party on Sunday, and what is the fall without a nice batch of roasted pumpkin seeds. Course, this year with "no kids" around, I will have to clean the pumpkins myself, but the seeds will be worth the work.... googy as it is!!!

And all too soon, it's time for the docks to be taken out of the lake. Two summers ago, Ed decided to go with the "light weight aluminium docks"... well, they are better than water heavy wooden docks, but there isn't much that is light about even these. Fortunately, ever faithful Dave and Nate came to brave the waters and help Ed get the docks up on dry land. I always tell Ed that he should pull the docks on Labor Day weekend, when the water is still warm.. but he can never bring himself to do it "that early"... so, here it is October and the water certainly isn't warm!!! I suppose it's better than the year they were pulled in November!!! And Ed seems to think that the wet suits do help a little, but I am not so sure that Nate would agree with that idea. Charlie of course, had the last doggie swim.. he couldn't help but get one more jump in the lake before the season comes to the end.

Bundle by bundle the beams are being unwrapped. Ken sands them all by hand, and will then apply a light stain and oil before they go into place. He says its easier to do them on the ground, and it will protect them as they go into place, but what a job this is. Every beam is handled with care, and the sanders have been running for the past two days. Fortunately, with the "walk out cellar", the beams that have been done are tucked away out of the weather. The cellar looks like a workshop!!!

I can't decide if there are enough to make a house or not. There seems to be a lot of them, but when I think.. "that's my whole house" it doesn't look like there are enough. I am sure, after sanding them all... Ken and Eric know that there are more than enough!!!!

In some ways it's sad to think that all this beautiful work is just going to be covered over when the beams go together. I noticed, too, that they are all numbered, so this certainly will go together like a big kit.

can't wait to see it...................