Saturday, March 5, 2011

A Week in Photos

It has been a week of unusual sights.

My truck is on its last leg.

It worries me when my wonderful old truck ends up on a lift with a ladder next to it and several mechanics shaking their heads and not wanting to deal with it.




Lucky for my truck that the wisest of the mechanics took on the challenge....... for 4 hours.

My truck is now glued together for another 2 months. 




I am in serious denial....but it is time for a newer vehicle in my life.
Anyone in Vermont have a good truck for sale?


Another farm that has been in the same family for 150 years was sold this week.

I am a little sad......but excited to meet the 40 cows that will be arriving soon.

Cows are better than condos.





I had a very very dear friend come up to visit me in the dead of winter in a snowstorm last weekend.
It is so nice to see a friendly face from my old hometown.
She fed the herd crackers and they were on their best behavior
They had never met her before, or seen pink, and they all came right over to check her out.     Good Cows.





Better yet, she brought me fresh bagels from Panera!

And CREAM CHEESE in TWO FLAVORS!!!!!

In case you don't know--there are three major items I can not get in Vermont:
1. Good clam or fish chowder. (with the beach sand)
2. Really Fresh bagels
3. Real Mashed potatoes at a drive thru.

So 4 of us had a big bagel party at 8 am in snowy Vermont.
Priceless!




Moore Great news:

I won the lottery this week.

In the form of 6 rare shell beans, each with 5 bean seeds inside.

The 97 year old  retired village doctor is known for his rare heritage shell beans.

I saw him walking and struggling downtown (he walks to the post office every day ) to walk up a very icy hill to get back to his house so I ditched my truck and went and "accompanied" him, arm and arm, his shopping bag in my free hand, all the way to his house.  He presented me with the rare shell bean seeds and told me to go find 6 foot cedar posts to put in the middle of the bean hill when I plant them.  These beans are just fabulous in succotash!

He also urged me to save some seeds at the end of the growing season.

These seeds have been in his family over 120 years and you can not buy them anywhere on the face of the earth.    Priceless.

Thanks Doc!




The snow is very very deep here and the deer are having a difficult time walking across fields in a speedy manner.

The coyotes are following the herds and grabbing the slow ones.

Tracks tell the story.

Thats what happened yesterday:




Today on my way to water and cracker the herd I noticed an unusual bird sitting in a dead tree, near the dead doe, waiting for me to drive past:





These birds build nests in January and have a well defined territory.
Food is in short supply this winter with rabbits, mice, moles, voles and other small mammels still under the very deep snow. Owls and other raptors are starving this winter.  I am sure this deer was a welcomed meal for the eagle.
There wasn't much left to the deer by this afternoon.  Many were fed from that doe.





The sun was out yesterday for a short time and my cows enjoyed every minute of it.



 
 
They snoozed in the sunshine.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I caught one of the Mean cows giving the ancient Jersey cow, Susan, a bath.
 
 
 
 
 
Just before our annual town meeting started,  I purchased 6 raffle tickets for this beautiful handmade heavy quilt made by a 90 year old woman on oxygen. The sewing of this quilt with such small squares of material is a labor of love.

There are 2 cows on it.  Can you find them?

 
 


That was my week, how was yours?

7 comments:

  1. Not as interesting as yours, that's for sure!

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  2. the bean story was excellent...very interesting about the six foot cedar posts...

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  3. That is a lot of news! Yay an yay! and dang.. yep I just had to fix up our work truck too. we think we are good for a while.

    I absolutely love it that you show so much kindness and respect to the old timers. A rare gift indeed - especially in these days. Their heritage skills are our countries biggest treasure. Great work!

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  4. So glad to see your week in pictures. I am so impressed with your heirloom seeds. When I was a girl my great grandmother came for a visit and she brought Hollyhock seeds that had been in her family for generations. They were a triple hollyhock as she called it and they look more like a Peony. My Mom was thrilled because she was always collecting seeds with history.

    Then as thing happen she died and I was to young to notice as my Dad remarried someone who wasn't interested in seeds, So they were ripped out and to this day I still wish I had kept some.I have never found them in a catalog either.
    Hang onto you seeds, they are like gold.

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  5. Thanks for sharing. That was an interesting week. It would be nice to have that quilt. What a labor of love!
    How sad that they sold their farm. Wow, you scored on those beans! Interesting about planting at the bottom of six foot posts. I don't think you can get real mashed potatoes at any drive thrus anywhere. Nice capture of the eagle.

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  6. Wow! What a week! The bean story is just awesome, and he looks like such a sweet man. I love the picture of the eagle and all the cow pictures are just awesome. How wonderful to have a friend some visit - and bring bagels!!!! Did you win the quilt? I can't imagine how much work she put into that - each tiny square hand stitched. I found the black and white cow face on the red square, but didn't find the other. Whoever won that quilt got a beautiful gift that is sure to become a family heirloom.

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  7. I can hardly tell you how much I have bennefited from your blog. It's awesome and I love your observations of the cattle. We tend so many and have to travel so many miles to see them all that it doesn't afford me the chance to gain the insights you do by spending the time you do with your cattle. I really admire your care and understanding of the lowly cow that I have a great admiration for as well. That, and you make me love Vermont.I swear I'm putting: "Visit Vermont" on my bucket list.
    Oh, and Gwen is famous now, sort of, I drew her and used her as the poster girl (logo) for a little business I started. You can check it out at onecowwebdesign.blogspot.com. In appreciation, if you would like, I could do something similar for Tailgate Farm. Let me know, my email is there.

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