mr. smith

i don't know if i've mentioned it before, but my sweetie is a photographer. it completely fascinates me how a good photographer can take a photo of the simplest thing, and it just looks so much better than when i do it. richard sent me this collection of images from a visit to the farm a few weekends ago, and i think they capture the essence beautifully!

**sorry if the photos weren't loading for you before, i think i fixed them!**

picked my own

we are surrounded by 'pick your own' farms so yesterday gertie and i and our friend jenn went blueberry and black raspberry picking. hallelujah! you may recall that i'm a big fan of the blueberry picking. really, i can't recommend it highly enough if you get the chance. we discovered a volunteer patch of black raspberries here on the farm but it's hard to get enough at once to do anything but pop them right in your mouth. we have red raspberries too in the garden, as well as peas, collards, broccoli, and plenty of lettuce. the radishes are done and the carrots are still growing.

in other news, gert and i both have a nasty case of poison ivy! disgusting stuff; i had no idea it was this bad. i kind of want to show you a photo but i think you don't really want to see it. trust me.

if they could just stay little...

my little chicken friends have grown so fast! it's been quite amazing to watch them transform. the red ones have lost most of their yellow fuzz (a few little tufts remain) and the little black one is now white and black (that's her in the solo pic above). i've been joking that the speckled one (top left photo) is actually a chicken HAWK because she just doesn't look like a chicken! i have to look up what breed she is. the guinea hens want nothing to do with me and will be released soon to run free and roost in the trees like their older cousins, but the chickens are becoming really friendly with me and seem to enjoy the 'chicken massages' i've been giving them in the mornings. i want them to be as cuddly as these ladies were!

forty new babies

yesterday i had 31 passengers in my car. one was wearing a blue polka-dot sweater, and the other thirty were safely and snugly tucked in a cardboard box:



they are three-day-old baby guinea hens and just about the tiniest and sweetest things ever. i got them settled into their new home, and they seem to like it so far... they sleep in a mass of entangled necks and legs, keeping warm under the heat lamp. it was very cold last night (36 degrees!) and i was rather worried, but they were all doing fine this morning.

for now they are in a separate box from the ten baby chicks that came to the farm last week, a motley crew of assorted size and color:



i can't wait to watch them all grow up!

meanwhile, back at the ranch

i had a glorious week in the city-- i love my new status of 'visitor'-- the classes were all super fun and everything was blooming (photos tomorrow). now i'm back on the farm; my farmer friends are back and i am now a farmhand which sounds great to me! i'll be moving into the Airstream this weekend and will show you pics once i'm settled in!

i missed all these guys and am so happy to be back upstate. i may even get to RIDE which i haven't done in about 25 years! i had a pony and then a horse when i was young but just haven't had the opportunity since.

gertie v. guinea

gertie's favorite sport is to chase the guinea hens here on the farm, but the funny part is that as soon as she turns around, they follow her! it's a cat and mouse game, but it's a little unclear who's who. and it seems entirely possible to me that a dozen mice could outsmart a cat if they worked as a team...

the farm adventure begins

so, it occurs to me that i haven't really explained where the hell i am, or what on earth i'm doing exactly. let me fill you in! for the next three months, i am care-taking an incredible farm owned by some dear friends of mine. a few years ago, these dear friends realized that running a farm in winter in the Catskills is HARD WORK and, though there are aspects that are completely amazing, they might rather enjoy packing up a few ponies and wintering in Florida. they asked me two years ago if i would be interested in farm-sitting for the winter, but at that time, it wasn't an option for me. this past summer though, when the idea was again presented, i slowly began to realize that this could be the ideal situation to catapult me into my new life upstate.





well, here i am! i've given up all of my jobs and my apartment in the city, and the adventure begins. i am caring for 5 horses, 12 guinea hens, and 2 cats here on the farm. snow management is now a major part of life, not to mention fence repair and water-pipe-freezing prevention. i rise by 7:30 to feed, water, clean stalls and check that everything is in working order...




... then it's back into the house to get the fire going and make breakfast. above you see my first fried eggs cooked on the woodstove! gertie spends most of her time curled up right in front of it, as it's our primary heat source as well as my preferred cooking appliance. i love that i can keep the tea kettle going all day, without using any extra energy.