Pumpkin Pups

Every day I am getting a bumper crop of pumpkins and squash.

The squash vines have made a long path through tall grass and over the little stream.

The colors in the garden are just fabulous.    Every vegetable contributing their own unique color to the food rainbow.

Mavis likes to lay down where ever I start stacking the garden harvest for the day.

Lots of swiss chard, green and yellow sweet peppers, red hot peppers and carrots are still producing well.

The trees in the neighborhood are also starting to "fire up" as well.

The herd continues to enjoy the bounties from the garden and from friend's apple trees.

Happy Cows eat Vermont garden snacks.

~ Life is Good

Trees of Color & Covered Bridges

Today was a great day for exploring the northern parts of Vermont.   Many of the roads have been repaired from Irene, and are ready for eager explorers.
I grabbed my Kleenex ( I have a killer cold) and headed for the remote areas that have the most colors and hidden treasures.

Lots of John Deere traffic greeted me as I got off the highway.  Its always a pleasure to see farmers headed to their fields early in the morning.

I found an old covered bridge, undamaged from the storm, on a rural road.

Identical to the bridge in Bartonsville that vanished in the flood.

I had to walk around this beautiful historical structure.

Found the waterfall, the cold pools and amazing rocks.

The river is 4 times the width it was before the flooding 3 weeks ago.

Hundreds of trees were swept away from this area near the bridge, giant boulders tumbled into new places and formed this new waterfall.

My photos don't do it justice.

With all the trees and top soil gone, all the boulders are now exposed. Probably the way it was a few hundred years ago.

Its still beautiful.

 

This is the quiet little area under the bridge, with cold crystal clear water, and where baby trout dart around in the shadows of the bridge.

Mavis and I did some rock hunting, trout watching and leaf peeping

Some folks were fly casting in the pools down stream.

We are all desperate to find some big trout.   Irene washed most everything out and sent it downstream all the way to other states.

Lots of color everywhere. The fog and cooler nights are making the hills and valleys a photographers dream.

The sunset tonight was just as spectacular as the colors on the mountains.

Fall in Vermont is breathtaking.  Come enjoy it.

Treats from Irene

As folks clean up their yards of broken branches and destroyed gardens from the winds and rains of Hurricane Irene, my cows are reaping the benefits.
Neighbors are giving me their giant squash and other veggies as they start the process of putting their gardens to bed for the season, just a little bit early.

Its alot less expensive to give the herd these treats as opposed to buying their favored cinnimon graham crackers in bulk.
I use a big ice chopper to slice the squash into smaller pieces for the girls.  They like them "bite sized."

There is much slobbering and crunching every evening as I prepare the treats.

 

Even the bull has aquired a taste for the veggies and apples.

I am getting wheelbarrels full of Macintosh apples that were blown down from Irene.

This is my local "apple fairy" filling my buckets so I can go make my herd happy.

I also grab a few for myself for lunch.

I am also experiencing a bumper crop of carrots too.

The calves are learning how to eat all these different treats.

They now run over to me when they see me chopping stuff up on the road.

 

In the morning when they hear my truck coming down the road the herd runs to the fence hoping for an apple breckfast.

If you have an abundance of veggies or fruit bring them to your local farmer for the cows, pigs, goats, chickens, sheep, etc.

Every little bit helps.

Silent Sunday

Yesterday was such a solemn day that even the sunflowers bowed their mighty heads.

My tradition for the past 10 years is to spend this day on the water or in the woods surrounded by nature.

Yesterday I headed to a secluded lake and explored its treasures.

There were no other boats in sight, the lake was all mine.

I saw huge fish in the crystal clear waters and watched giant snails leave snail trails in the mud.

The only sound was the breeze through the trees and the splashing of turtles as they dove off their logs and rocks.

The sun peaked out of the clouds and helped reveal beautiful colors on the sunbathers.

As I kayaked up the lake I saw, in the distance, a solo water bird.  I could not believe my luck!

In a few minutes the soloist was swimming parallel to me.   Handsome and very quiet.

It was a thrill to be on a beautiful lake with a bachelor Loon.

As I drove home I heard a very familiar sound coming towards me.

Canada geese honking as they head South, as the sun set on a day we will never forget.

9/11/11

The Aftermath

Seems like months since August 28th.

Irene's damage has impacted everyone.

So many dairy cattle, beef cows, pigs, sheep, poultry and goats were swept away in the flash floods.

Many vegetable, fruit and hay farmers are out of business now because their once fertile fields now have new rivers that changed course and are now permanent fixtures on their destroyed property.  Green fields have been replaced with millions of river rocks per square yard of land.  All the topsoil washed away. 

Many homes, businesses and historic covered bridges are gone.

Irene must of been a relative of Katrina...

Some rebuilding will take years, other rebuilding will take decades.  Most farmers who are victims of the floods will never live to ever see another crop on their rock covered, baren land.

And now fall is arriving.   Quietly.   Unnoticed.  

So many volunteers are helping the flood victims.

Many fund raisers are being held to help the victims.    Lots of people helping people.  Every day here.

Noone has noticed the leaves are falling, the colors are changing, the air is getting cooler......

Too much to do.  Change is in the air.

~