An overnight stay at the farm

I've got more Adirondack photos to share but thought I'd break it up with some pictures of the farm. As is my usual pattern, I drove up there Sunday morning and came home on Monday midday. It's a 4 hour drive, so that's not much time to spend at the farm but it's all I can do at the moment. I had hours of lawn mowing to do this weekend, so that took most of my time. The picture above is before mowing. You can see a short legged Jersey cow browsing on grass in the photo. Oops, that's Wren. She loves to eat and that includes eating grass.

Fergus, Seamus and Wren on the lawn beneath the apple and pear trees. Yep, Wren is grazing again as indicated by that rather bovine tilt of the head.

I continue to have local farmers stop by asking to buy my standing hay. Alas, I've already promised it to the previous owner's son who, I've since learned, cannot mow it himself but found another farmer to do it so he can take a cut of the proceeds. A large cut, I'll reckon. Well, next year I'll know better.

I was riding my lawn tractor on Sunday afternoon when an old guy stopped by to offer to buy my hay. He began telling me about a nearby farm where the sons just weren't farming as well as their father did. Trying to be agreeable, I said "Yep, that's the way it often is." He seemed to get offended and told me his pa had just passed away and he was doing just fine running HIS farm. I tried to say I was sure he was doing a great job but he began telling me that "there is only one god and we were all going to have to die and the country is in terrible shape, just terrible, and he didn't know why some people think they're better than other people - it just ain't right." I tried to be polite but said I had to get back to my mowing. Kind of reminded me of an episode of Green Acres.

I suppose it's terrible of me to brag, but I was so amazed by the results I got pulling weeds in the gardens around the house that I had to post this photo. Dandelions pulled out tap root and all with one pull. Don't hate me because I've got sandy soil.

The purple and yellow iris above are in a tiny garden next to the door which seems to have a different flower in bloom at every few weeks. To the left of that I've planted cold hardy roses and columbines.

A friend from my days at the animal shelter gave me ferns and lily-of-the-valley to plant. The picture above is what rode in the back of the car with the dogs all the way from Albany. They perfumed the air with that chlorophyll smell so typical of ferns and the car smelled like a wooded glen on a misty day. Usually it smells like 6 dogs crowded together in a small car.

I found a spot just perfect for ferns and lily-of-the-valley. In fact, I discovered that lilies are already growing there so now there's more of them.

In the farm house kitchen, Rick has straightened out the cabinets and painted them inside and out. He moved the stove out of its dark cubbyhole and built new shelves where it used to be.

I spent most of the weekend mowing lawn. I saw no more jumping mice. I suppose they've moved into the hayfield for better food and cover. That's Wally in the above photo. He's near the waterfall and pond which the previous owners set up.

The lilacs and flowering crabs are finished blooming except in the Adirondacks where lilacs are now in full bloom. But old fashioned spirea bushes are common on farms all around mine.

This is a close up view of the spirea blossoms. It was a great overnight stay at the farm. And still another farmer stopped by on Monday just as I was leaving. He also asked about buying my hay. This guy was more friendly and more talkative, though, and promised to stop by again some time just to be neighborly. Now, that's more like it.