So where do i begin??

Okay. . . . i accept that i haven't spent any time updating anyone lately. i have been owned by my job (that i absolutely love), and just trying to keep up with the eternal pandemonium that is my house and home.

As for my dream of becoming a farmer. . . it is a flame burning bright. i am more motivated now than ever. To spend days (even cold, yucky, wet) outside in the dirt and the crops is so refreshing to my soul.

i admit that our "farm" here has fallen into a bit of neglect, but we are catching up. Good thing too, seeing as it is August now. Our chicken flock is on the mend after "removing" one aggressive fox from the planet. The sheep. . . they are tanks, and Amy has begun experimenting with their wool. The veggie patch more resembles the lawn at the moment, but the corn, beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, and radishes are looking amazing. . . if you can find them. The turkeys are sitting and actually hatching some eggs, but so far no luck. The chicks have not been able to survive the weather.

The kids are doing phenomenally. In spite of the rain they continue to find new ways to have fun. Sissy is just about potty trained. Owen is on his two wheeler now. James. . . well, James has become our "world traveler". i don't think that i have seen him more than two weeks this summer.

We are talking about starting a small 8 person CSA next year out of the yard, to help me keep up with the garden. It is a pretty exciting prospect. But for now, we are just trying to stay ahead of the rain.

i will try to get some updated photos up in the next couple of days - next week is busy at work. . . again!

Grow happy!

Some fun on the pharm

Those of you who follow this may remember my ranting and raving earlier this spring about being unable to calibrate our incubator. Well, nature surprised me and our turkeys started getting broody. As it turned out our "first time" mom's hadn't the patience to sit out the full 28+/- days that are required. Maybe ADHD runs across species! The hens that were sitting would make it up to the last week and then would abandon the nest.
The last several weeks have been absolutely frenetic around here. With job changes and endless rain, three kids, invasion of the army of foxes, flooding basements and trying to make farming work, we really hadn't had a lot of time to think excessively about many of the critters.
The end result of the great fox invasion was that we put the surviving chickens in the turkey paddock to protect them. Maybe that was an error. . .

Yesterday when i went out to water the birds i found the delicate little remains of two baby turkeys in the paddock. It made me sad. . . and excited. Those wacky birds are brooding again, and this time, they are following through. Maybe it is less ADHD and more a matter of climate change. With the wet spring, maybe the hens knew something that we didn't, and they waited till the weather was improving before deciding to brood.

The end result was more my fault than theirs. Had i known that they were brooding (they do this UNDER the coop of all places) i would have either separated them somehow. my suspicion is that they wee littl' ones were trampled by the other big clumsy birds. Lesson learned, and now we are watching very intently the two birds that are burrowed underneath the coop!!!!

Creative pause

Things around the pharm (and the farm) have been absolutely frenetic! The world is spinning at twice the speed of normal and it has no intention of reversing to let us relive moments past.

Did you notice that the peepers have long past? What about the fireflies? They are out. The rain has stopped and the stars are in their full glory again.

When we were at Bellvale one of the most sound pieces of advise was, "Don't forget to take moments of creative pause."

Moments to be floored by nature, to watch the children play, listen to yourself breathe. It seems harder and harder these days. . .

Think about that for awhile. . .

Blogger ate my posts. . .

Okay, weird!! i have been searching and searching. . . i have posted twice since the photo bit. Oddly, there are no signs of the posts after that anywhere.

Well. . . we went to Bellvale and were absolutely recharged and inspired, possibly more than ever before. It was our first summer visit, and was everything more than we could have imagined! Beautiful and warm (yes, with sun too). One of the many highlights of our stay was our visit with our imaginary friends and their beautiful allegedly new infant. But due to their participation in the International Witness Protection Program, we can not actually confirm that they really exist. It might be that they are just voices in my head!!

Here on the farm everything seems to have survived but the house. Sadly, it hasn't burned down yet, but there is water in the basement, the plumbing wants to quit, the furnace is acting up (yup, it governs the hot water too), and the sheep have no interest in staying in their enclosure. But everything is alive and well. In fact my weedy excuse for a garden is flourishing, while we struggle with blight, stunting and flooding on Pearson's Town.

Pictures to follow. . . except for non-governmentally sanctioned photos of things like Aliens, Bigfoot, Elvis, and our imaginary friends!!!!

Maine. . . the way life should be.