Street Festival...

Tonight in Belfast, a little coastal town not far from where we live, there was a street festival. I've heard about it before, but had never attended.
We don't go out in the evening very often, but the weather was so fine, and the lure of street food and live music was so tempting, that as soon as we were done with work and chores we headed out.



Belfast is a cute little town, with fun shops and a few decent restaurants. There is a lovely harbor and a nice sense of community. The street festival was colorful, with some uniquely Maine accents.



There was music, and people were dancing in the streets...



And street food...


It was a pleasant little diversion, finished off with a scoop of locally made coconut cream ice cream that was superb. A sweet little evening.

Fowl things...

The little coop for the Silkie chickens has had a bit of a face lift.



I tried to love its beautifully weathered wood, but I just kept thinking how nice it would look stained white! Our daughters boyfriend kindly offered to take on that project. He did a fabulous job. Today we attached the sweet little antique tool carrier "window box." The local Agway had all their plants on sale, super cheap. For $3.00 I was able to fill the little box with bright color. The Silkies love their new home. They only laid one egg between April and July, but since they moved to their new place I've had 5 eggs!

Other fowl around here are trouble. Those DUCKS! The first year I had them they stayed right in the large (almost 2 acres) fenced pasture. Then early this spring I brought home two little hen ducks from the animal auction. I only paid $5 for them and thought I had gotten the deal of the century. They'd been here about 2 minutes before they taught the original ducks how to scoot out the fence and explore the neighborhood. I cannot keep them confined, it is maddening. They traipse about like they own the road, and annoy passersby to no end. I will admit that they look charming lounging about in the front yard, but I do wish they would stay where they belong.

Changes...

Late summer is when the millions of spiders that live on our property really show themselves. Especially the orb web spinning spiders. On a dewy morning the yard is festooned with their night time art work.



The flower gardens have passed the "new" stage and are in their glory.



I brought home the rooster for the Silkie hens. They were so excited to see him that they hooted like monkeys for a long time. It was most amusing. They are a happy foursome, pottering about and looking like creatures drawn by Disney artists.



I ordered 12 new layer chicks earlier this summer. This meant I had to do something with my existing flock... an aging group of lovely ladies that have slowed down egg production. I really didn't think it through well. I'm attached to those hens. I didn't want to put them in the pot. I didn't want to send them off to a home where they wouldn't be well cared for. Now the new chicks are 9 weeks old ready to move out of their "nursery" and into the coop, but that would make the coop way too crowded. I put an ad out on the local livestock Facebook page and, to my total surprise, was inundated with offers to take the girls off my hands and give them a nice retirement. A lovely lady came this evening and took them to her place. She said I could come visit them any time. They will have a large coop and room to roam. For the first time in 7 years my coop is devoid of birds. This weekend I will clean it out thoroughly and get it ready for the new flock. I am sad to have my old friends go, but am also excited to have a new flock to get to know. I'll post pictures of the new girls when they get settled into their new digs.




The hustle of spring and early summer is over, August will be a little less hectic here as far as farm chores go. Things change here at a rapid rate. I'm glad I keep this blog to look back at and remember.

Sister mischief...

My sister Deb comes to visit me pretty often. I hardly ever visit her, because it is hard to leave home when one has so many little faces to care for. If I am not here to look after chickens, ducks, goats, dogs and horse, things could go badly. And finding a house sitter that will milk goats is ... well, it's a challenge. Anyway, I love it when Deb visits. She always says, "I'm going to come see you and we are not going to do a THING. We are just going to relax." That NEVER happens. Her brain is always on overdrive, planning how to take something good and make it better. I just sit and wait to see what direction she'll head. Then, the obedient little sister, I follow along. We always manage to have fun, and I am left with end results that are delightful.

This weekend we had planned to maybe take a harbor cruise, or go kayaking. Something that involved water. However, the weather was rather gray and chilly, so plans changed. Yesterday we explored Belfast, had a little lunch, did a bit of shopping, and then tried out a new recipe for strawberry pie once we got home. Afterwards there was a nice dinner at the picnic table, with a flames sparking in the fire ring, and lively conversation. Today we got up, had a yummy breakfast and then she said, "The way your front room is arranged isn't quite right." Well, SHE was quite right, the front room has been vexing me. "It needs more seating, and to be cozier." I agreed with her. Before I knew it the room was emptied of furniture. Then we took advantage of the empty space and washed and waxed the wood floor. Next we did what our mother would have called, (with a happy gleam in her eye) "robbing Peter to pay Paul." We moved a loveseat from up in my husbands office down stairs. We moved a table out to the garage. We moved the chair that had been in the front room to the kitchen. Each step of the way involved cleaning and polishing and general tidying. Deb went "shopping" in the pantry, and pulled out unused decorative bits. We took things off the walls and replaced them with new things. We moved plants. And all the while we were invoking the spirit of our mother, who died several years ago on this very day. She would have delighted in our project. I am pretty sure she was with us in spirit. When we moved this piece of furniture we had a good chuckle...



This little chest belonged to my paternal grandmother, and then my mother. She used to keep it in the living room, with a tray on it that always had a lamp, and usually a decorative item. A potted plant would be on one side to fill the empty space. She kept the tray in place by balancing it on a paint can, and the plant normally perched on a coffee can. Deb and I had a chuckle when we moved this chest from the front room to the dining room. I had a tray, balanced on a paint can, and my plant is bolstered by a Mason jar. Like mother, like daughter!

Here is how the front room, (which we call "the snuggery,") looks, freshly spiffed up and redecorated.


We checked out a favorite antique store this weekend and I found this table cloth. I have a passion for crows, and this cloth is vintage and so unique!





It is much cozier now. We moved the wicker chair from the front room to the kitchen...


I can envision a friend sitting and chatting while I cook us supper, or me sitting to pour over a favorite cook book. Or a dog sitting and staring at me hard until I fill it's bowl. Yeah. That is probably what it will be used for most of all!

The dining room has a FABULOUS new chandelier from Windsor Chairmakers in Lincolnville, ME. It goes beautifully with my table from the same place.



So, in my sisters wake my house looks cozier and more tidy. Sister mischief is always such a treat.

"I could never..."

When people find out that we raise some of our own meat they look troubled. "I could never eat something I raised," they tell me.
And I understand, because I once felt exactly the same way.

Every year we raise 25 or so broiler chickens. These birds are bred specifically to grow fast and produce a large amount of meat in ratio to bone. When they arrive in the mail they are 2 days old, and the cutest little balls of fluff imaginable. After a few days they lose their cute appearance as the baby fluff falls away and they begin to grow sparse, white feathers. They gain body mass at an astonishing rate, and are ready to process in just 8 weeks. The dressed birds will weigh 5 pounds or more.



They are eating and drinking machines, spending much of their day hovering around the food dispenser and water fount. The flock of 23 broilers and 15 or so new layer chicks drink in excess of two gallons of water a day, along with 2 quarts of fresh goat milk. And they handily go through 50 pounds of food in a week once they are 5 or 6 weeks old.



These birds are like Sumo chickens. When they see me coming with more food, they rush me,waddling as fast as they can and trampling my shoes with their over-sized yellow feet.

Look at the size difference of the white meat birds and the darker layer chicks. They are the exact same age.



Because the broilers all look alike, and have very little obvious personality, and because they are rather uninteresting blob creatures that produce copious quantities of bad smelling manure, it is easy not to become attached to them. The pullets that will become my new laying flock are far more fascinating. They are animated in their actions, curious and clever, chasing bugs, exploring their surroundings and roaming about. The broilers mostly sit and grow. However, they are out on grass and in the fresh air and sunshine, and I believe they have a much better life than most chickens that are raised for the table. And I am here to tell you, home raised chicken tastes much better than store bought. I have to believe it is better for us, too.

These are the things I'd like to tell the folks who say, "I could never..." to me. But I just smile and nod and say, "I understand."

Interesting people...

My day today was riddled with interesting people. Here at my little grooming studio, many people stay while I work on their pet. And we chat. Most of them are terribly nice, and some are incredibly interesting. It's a bit of a gift, these folks who come here, and share a little of their life with me before they leave again. They weave ribbons of color into the tapestry of my life.

First off this morning was a woman who I always enjoy visiting with. She is a lady in her early 80's. She taught music at a local college for many years, and is fascinating to talk to. She is a true Maine salt-of-the-earth character. She is smart, talented, funny and terribly capable. Today she told me about a trip she recently took to a foreign country. She was in a very rural area, and told me of a woman she met who lives on a school bus in the summer and in a small shack in the winter. She was fascinated that this person gave birth to 8 children then gave each one away. She went with a friend of hers who is in her early 90's. This particular friend helps her to stack wood every year, calling her on the phone and saying, "Don't you stack without me!" I love the image of these two strong women, of a certain age, piling wood high to keep the winter chill away.

Next was a lady who told me of a local group of Amish craft people who build barns and out buildings. She is having an artists studio built, and has recently visited where it will be made. I need to go see this place, it sounds fascinating.



Later this couple arrived with their little dog. I asked if they were planning to stay or were planning to run an errand. The wife replied that they might sit in their car. She had brought a good book and he had his Penny Whistle. The day was fine, and a cool breeze blew in the windows. I said, "I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more than to hear you play the Penny Whistle. Would you consider sitting here and playing while I work?" His lips switched upwards a bit and he went to the car and returned with his whistle. For the next hour he played me hymns and ancient songs and the sun shone and the birds sang and I groomed their dog and I was just so happy. The wife said, "This is so peaceful here." She was right.

The next lady brought two larger, hairy, dogs in. She has recently been quite sick, still does not feel great, and told me she didn't want to drive home and back and would stay while I groomed her pets. We chatted for a long time while I worked. She told me that she is a healer, and told me stories of healings she has performed. She told me how when she is near someone who needs help her hands get hot. She said she has been in line at the grocery store and her hands have begun to burn, and she knows someone near her needs help.

Fascinating. All of it. These people who bring me their pets and share slices of their lives with me. The ribbons of color they leave me with are so bright.

Nagged..!

Several people have gently "nagged" me to put up a new post. Summer is a busy time, and sometimes I run out of steam before I find the energy to post a blog.

Here are a few things that are happening lately.

Chanel the horse has been at my friends house for a while. Her horse was lonely and my pasture needed a break from the constant eating that Chanel does. In exchange, I had my friends ram lamb here for a bit, until she had a proper pasture for him to stay in. Yesterday we had what she dubbed, "the hostage exchange." We brought Chanel home and she took "Ramchop" and a companion boy goat to her house.

Chanel tends to be a bit chunky. (Ok, she is fat. My vet fusses at me horribly. My neighbor says, "That is a HAPPY pony.") Her time at my friends house was sort of like a fat farm. She came home trim and fit and... I can even see her RIBS! She looks amazing!



That Hannible Lecter thing on her face? That is called a "grazing muzzle." It allows her to eat, but drastically limits how much food she gets with each bite. She doesn't love it, but it helps keep her looking fit. I am determined to keep it on her so she continues to look so nice. I need one for me, too!

Yesterday we also loaded the pigs up and took them to the butcher. I felt rather sad, I liked these pigs. They did tend to try to nibble on us, and those teeth were sharp, but all in all they were benevolent members of the farm. They had a nice little life here, though... plenty of food and good goat milk, (which they loved!), a big pasture to play in, a nice mud wallow, cozy shelter and plentiful fresh water. I think their days were happy.

We took down the hot wire that enclosed their area, and tonight I took the goats over and showed them...



Though the pigs had rooted up much of their pasture, a lot of browse was growing there, along the line where the electric fence was, and also along the wire fence. The goatie girls had an excellent time exploring the space and eating all the food they previously could not reach.

The flower gardens are pretty this year. I especially like this petunia plant.



Tonight my husband, daughter and I were watching television in our living room. My daughter calmly stated, "There's a bat in the house." I looked in the direction she was staring. Sure enough, a little bat hung from one of the stairs that go to the bedroom area. She approached to catch it and it nimbly lifted off. It began to circle through the living and dining rooms, flying lower and lower. It swept inches from our heads.


Finally it landed on the footstool, tried to escape, then launched itself airborne. After a few long moments it landed on the floor, frightened and exhausted. It climbed to the top of the baseboard heater (which, after seeing this picture, I realize needs a good wipe down!) Our daughter caught it gently in a soft piece of fabric, and let it out the front door. We find a bat or two zipping about the house at least once every summer. I like them a lot, but prefer they stay outside.