Goats,Chickens,and Leaves,Oh My!

Well,whatever the issue was that I had with Blogger,it's been fixed,and I can now download photos again :)

Here are some pics taken over the week:

First up,the adorable little Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats at Tiny Hill Farm!

All three of us fell in love with this sweet little beige guy. He was so cute,and had such a "please take me home look!" 

They were so very friendly,and enjoyed chomping on our sweatshirts. They especially liked Zach's. I was so glad that we were able to arrange our visit during his school vacation week.

I took this pic to show how small the babies are. Rick is 6'1". The little beige guy really liked him. Larissa,one of the owners of the farm,is on the right of the pic. She was wonderful and very helpful.

Friday our 30 broilers came in. Zach had to pick a few up because they are so cute...but he knows they are food,not pets.

I know...how could we think of eating such cute little things?

Spring has finally sprung in NH! We have leaves popping out on trees....

And the maples will soon follow suit. It seems like the green takes a long time to take over,but then,one day,we wake up and all the leaves are out.

The Girls have been enjoying some free range time,now that the weather is nice. They take care of the bugs and ticks...

....and some of the weeds that I haven't pulled out of my garden boxes yet.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Lots Going On!!!!

For some reason,I can't post any photos today. Either Blogger or my computer is being ornery.

Let's see...I guess the first thing is that I have been laid low lately. I tripped going up our bedroom stairs and fell on the edge of the top step,landing just below my left wrist. It hurt so much that I was sick to my stomach,and couldn't talk when Rick came running to me because he heard me cry out. I sat there for a few minutes until the nausea wore off. My wrist stung,and I thought I had scraped it,but no. The next morning,it was a whole assortment of colors,and terribly swollen. I put an ice pack on it,but that didn't help,and I had pain going up my arm. Rick insisted on taking me to the ER for some xrays,because he thought I had fractured it. The Dr in the ER took a look,and his first assessment was that I had indeed broken it,but the xrays determined that I didn't,I just have a big old nasty hematoma. I have a bandage wrap for my lower arm,been alternating ice and heat on it,and been taking 800 mg of ibuprofen every six hours. This was last Saturday. The bruise is now a yellowish purple color,but it still hurts. It doesn't help that I also have tendinitis in my left elbow,and actually had to go to the Drs for that few weeks ago. Sigh. Needless to say,my activities have been somewhat curtailed.

The weather here in NH has finally started to feel like Spring. The leaves are coming out on the trees,and the weather has been nice. This week the temps are suppose to be in the 60's to the low 70's. Yesterday I sat out on the deck after I took the hay off our garlic and strawberry plants. They are coming up nicely.

The Girls enjoyed the afternoon free ranging around the backyard and ate lots of bugs. They also dug up some of the weeds in my garden boxes.This week I must weed the boxes and get fresh compost in them. I have some Rutgers tomato seedlings that I have started. I am not starting my cukes and pumpkins yet,they sprout so quickly that I don't see the necessity.

One thing awesome thing we did last week during Zach's Spring vacation was visit Tiny Hill Farm in Milton Mills,which is just a couple of towns over from us. Rick got their business card from our local feed store,Longmeadow. We are looking to get Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats,and Tiny Hill sells them. I got in contact with one of the owners,Larissa,and we went for a visit.One of the things that she said that impressed me was that she was willing to work with new goat owners,and that she didn't care if we called at 2:00 AM with a question. She also said they bred their goats for milk quality,and that they are all registered and vaccinated. Also,the fact that the farm is local was an added bonus for us. She was so kind and wonderful,and was quite pleased that we had actually done some research on the goats,so we understood most of what she was talking about! We chatted for an hour. We saw the adult goats,and the babies. We have three does ordered for next Spring.

Rick and I have been working on a plan to move our little farm forward,in stages. More about that later :) My arm hurts,so I am going to end this now.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Fresh,Cold Air

 Yesterday Zach's Boy Scout Troop took part in the Abnaki District's annual Klondike Derby. The boys have to tow/push a "Klondike" sled that that they have made themselves from station to station.Stations have such activities as fire building,first aid, obstacle  course,etc. Our sled consists of an old shopping cart that is attached to two old skis.The day culminates with the boys havin  a race with these sleds. The boys did well,earning two third place awards. The only down side was that we lost most of our snow from the warm temperatures and  heavy rain earlier in the week. It was a day long event,and it felt good to be out in the fresh,cold air,since I don't go out much in the winter,with the exception of gathering eggs,chores,etc. I don't do any outdoor winter sports,so I tend to stay in my warm little house. It was nice spending the day with Rick and chatting with other adults,and watching the boys work together on their stations.Our scoutmaster,Ray,brought seafood chowder,moose,and venison meat for the adults for lunch,which was good. The boys had beef stew and grilled cheese sandwiches.

The sun shone until just after noontime,when the clouds started rolling in a some snow started to fly.  It was somewhere between the upper teens to mid twenties,and there was a slight wind that would blow on occasion,but we were bundled up so it wasn't that bad. I did use hand and feet warmers,which made a big difference.There was a warming tent for those who got too cold,and a nice big campfire that we could stand in front of. ( We didn't use the tent,but we did use the fire).

Needless to say,being in cold fresh air all day makes one sleepy. Zach fell asleep on the way home. Rick and I were both in bed by eight. We were beat,but it was a good kind of beat. 

Today,here in the US is Super Bowl Sunday.  On one hand,I would like to see San Francisco win because Baltimore beat the Pats,but on the other, I would like to see Baltimore win because they are from the East Coast. I guess it doesn't really matter either way. The commercials themselves are well worth watching. We have some coupons for Pizza Hut so we are going to to get pizza and Buffalo Chicken wings to nibble on during the game.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Christmas Of Old

The one story that sticks out in my mind when Christmas rolls around is the one that my Dad told me about his Christmases as a child.

My Dad was born in 1914 in Somersworth,NH. He was the third child of 10,from my  Pepere ( pronounced Pep-pay) Lessard's first marriage. My father's mother died in 1929 from pneumonia.We always call them the " first batch".

My Pepere Lessard worked,but didn't make a lot of money. He worked at the mill,then worked at the pumping station. My Memere ( pronounced Mem-may) Lessard didn't work,because she stayed home to take care of her children. They were very poor. They got clothes from the church. There were no extras.What they lacked in money,they more than made up for with family. My Memere Lessard  had her parents ( the Magnans) and brothers and sisters nearby,and they were always part of their lives. Some of my Dad's most favorite memories was going over to his Memere and Pepere Magnan's house on Saturdays for dinner and standing around the piano,singing.

Christmas was wonderful for my Dad. Though they didn't get much for gifts,they would wake up on Christmas morning and have a beautifully decorated tree. Memere and Pepere  would put it up while the children were asleep. There were pies,cakes,and all kinds of wonderful things to eat that they normally would not have. The relatives would come over and they would sing,eat,and make merry. My Dad never dwelled on what they didn't  have,it was what they DID have,and because it was not something that was everyday,it made it more special.

When this time of the year rolls around, I am always brought back to this story,and it gives me great pause. Today,we see people trampling each other in stores  to save a few bucks. Stores are now open on Thanksgiving,and to me,it's very sad and wrong. I think of my Dad as a little boy with a pair of mittens and a pretty tree as a gift with plenty of good things to eat being surrounded by a loving family. I also can hear the happiness in his voice when he would tell me about those days. It was enough for him.

This photo is dated around 1919. From left to right: Luminda Magnan ( my great grandmother),my Memere Magnan Lessard,my great Aunt Eva Magnan, my great Aunt Bella Magnan,and my Dad.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Growing Like A Weed

Yesterday,since Zach did not have school,we had a family outing day and went to see the latest James Bond movie,"Skyfall." We don't get to the movies very often,maybe once a year,because it's so expensive,and when we go,we go to the matinee because it's cheaper.  Many moons ago,it was the Pirates of the Caribbean .Then it was the Harry Potter movies. Rick rarely ever went with us,but he is now to the point where he can go to the movies,and we actually did not sit in the last row with our backs to the wall this time. (BTW,the movie was excellent--it held your attention throughout). I am willing to wait until "Lincoln" comes out On Demand,which I really want to see.The sacrifices we make for our children-LOL! I enjoy James Bond just as much,and Daniel Craig isn't too shabby to look at. Sean Connery will,of course, always be THE smooth, debonair Bond,but I must admit that Daniel Craig is the Bond who is the most bad ass. We also found out that it was 50 years ago that the first Bond movie came out,Nov 1962. Since Rick was born in August 1962,Zach took delight in telling him he was older than the movie franchise....so he was OLD!

Zach is growing so very fast. It's hard to believe that he was ever little sometimes.The other day he came to me and told me he only had two pairs of pants that fit-out of about 10 pairs. I just bought him three pairs this fall for school,and only one pair of those fit-which is strange,since they are all the same size-28/28,slim straights. However,he modeled them for me and yep,they are a bit too small. The other jeans were old ones he wear to "bang around",a term my Mom used when I was growing up.Not only were most of his pants too small in the waist,the length was too short,even for banging around. After the movie,we went Kohl's and picked up three new pairs of pants,30/30's. He made a pile of all the clothes that don't fit him and came up with roughly 8 pairs of pants,10 shirts,and a pair of hiking boots-that we just bought this past Spring! The clothes were donated to the local clothing drop off,and Uncle B now owns a new pair of hiking boots. Zach is getting to be tall,he's probably about 5 inches shorter that Rick (Rick is 6'1"). He loves reminding me that I am the shortest person in the house :)

It's hard to believe that this young man  posing with his hunting rifle..................

....is the same little boy who posed for this pic in April 2006. Rick had been back home for only a couple of weeks when we went to our Cub Scout Fish and Run. Zach won the trophy for smallest fish.

Time marches on....

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!!

Gearing Up For Halloween...And Sandy

Yesterday we had a whole dump truck full of little rocks and sand delivered. It's the kind of stuff that you can compact and it will stay compact and not create mud. We are using it in the chicken coop,the driveway,and on part of Avon Lane,which is dirt. It's a Class Six road,so the town does not maintain it at all. There are some good size rocks that are sticking up due to wear and tear. Neighbor Kelly is going to grade the road and use some of our "fill".

Rick scraped down the chicken yard area yesterday,to get the stinky top layers off as best as he could. We have come to the conclusion that our soil must contain some clay,because the damn chicken yard took forever to dry. Rick used our tractor to pour the mix into the coop yard,and Brother B spread it out,then used a rented compactor to tamp it down. Bye bye stink! When Rick went to the business we got the mix and the compactor from to see if we could rent it for one more day,they said that we could keep it until Monday for a one day rental price since they were not open on Saturdays. Not a bad deal!!!

Since Halloween is next week,that meant some decorating. Zach was carving a pumpkin....

Rick decided to get in on it as well......

...And they have their place of honor outside. Molly Bruce apparently is too busy eating to appreciate the Halloween display!

A couple of skeletons guard our yard!

 My neighbor let me use her pumpkin costume and her orange sweatshirt for this part of the display:

 A Mama and Baby spider seem to be liking our trees! Can you see the Mama on the right,and the baby near the center?

Look like we are headed for what the weather forecasters are calling a "Frankenstorm." Apparently Hurricane Sandy is going to collide with some cold weather,and it will be a hybrid Hurricane/Nor'easter. The word is that this is going to make 1991's "Perfect Storm" look like a breeze.There are several paths that Sandy can take,but we have 80% that we will get it in some way,shape,or form,and it's effects will be felt all the way to Nova Scotia. It's pretty big. We are gearing up with extra water,batteries,making sure we have propane to cook on our grill or cook on our double propane burners if we lose power,as well as gas for the generator. We have plenty of candles and paraffin oil for light.  We are all set. Last year,we had a snowstorm. This year,a hybrid storm. Life is not boring!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet! 

Fall Day in NH

 It's my favorite time of the year-Fall in NH. To me,Fall is the quintessential New England season. The leaves turn color,the air turns chilly, pumpkins and apples are ready for picking,and we keep trying to put off starting the wood stove for as long as possible. Gray days are lantern lighting days,and I have to have Pumpkin Spice candles going to make the house smell fabulous and help make it cozy.

The weather this past week has not been the best-we have had rain and overcast days,with just a few glimpses of sun in between. Saturday we took a chance,since the forecast said the rain was going to hold off until later in the day,and we drove up to Fryeburg,ME for the annual Fryeburg Fair. We love the Fryeburg Fair because it's mostly an agricultural fair.  We looked at the goats,sheep,poultry,oxen,horses,and cows. I fell even more in love with goats and sheep. We are trying to decide if we want to get some dairy goats,and perhaps a sheep or two. The sheep would be for making yarn. It's amazing at how thick their wool is-they felt like one of those tempurpedic mattresses! The Fiber Barn was very interesting-knitted goods,yarn skeins,and bulk wool were for sale,and ladies were demonstrating how to spin your own yarn. I wanted to buy a  homemade skein of yarn-until I saw that all the skeins were 4 oz and cost $26. That's a tad out of my price range. In the Specialty Food barn,Zach's eagle eye found Moxie Jelly. Moxie is a New England soda that has been around for about a hundred years. It's not sweet,and it's called Moxie because you have to have moxie to drink it! Zach loves Moxie,and we have never seen Moxie jelly,so of course we had to buy a couple of jars. I got some potpourri -Maine Christmas and Pumpkin Fall. They smell fabulous!

Sunday the weather was slightly overcast,but no rain hit until last night,so I puttered around the yard for while checking things out. I still haven't closed up my garden because  things are still growing and we haven't had a hard frost yet,though I know we are due for one anytime.  I have been paying attention to the weather forecast daily.

Since we gave our apple tree quite the trimming last Spring,we figured that we probably shocked the tree and we wouldn't get many apples,if any,this year. Last year we had over 60. This year,we did squeak out two:

Poor lonely apples! Our apple tree has dropped the majority of their leaves. The wind has helped the all the trees around us shed their leaves.Up Avon Lane,it looked almost like carpet:

Our grapes have been coming along. I have been tasting them every other day to see when they are ready to pick. I wasn't sure how to tell when they were ready,but everything I have read says it's all in how the taste.They are not quite sweet yet,but they are getting there:

I was surprised to still see white blossoms in my strawberry patch. There are still strawberries in various states of  growth. I will have to cover them up soon:

This is one of my favorite maple trees. Each year,this branch starts turning color in such a brilliant way-light green,to yellow,to orange,to red. It's like a foliage rainbow! I can see it from my bedroom window. I wish the sun was shining so that you could really see how bright and lovely it is:

One of our goals to is try and get our chicken yard to the point where it drains better. Whenever it rains,it becomes a muddy mess,and it REEKS until it dries out. Plus,the poor Girls are walking around in muck. Chicken poo that is wet smells even worse than dry poop. It's horrible. It makes me gag,and we are mindful that we have a responsibility to our neighbors to keep the area as stink free as possible.We are going to try some gravel mix to cover it. Anyone have any other suggestions?

 We still have tomatoes growing,though you can't seem too well in this photo,because they are green. I will probably have to pick them and make fried green tomatoes before the frost hits:

You can see in this photo how we have lost leaves from our trees. The foliage still isn't at it's peak here,but up in the Great North Woods,it's already past:

Our potatoes are still going strong,though some of the plants are seeing a bit of brown on their edges. I wasn't sure when to pick potatoes,because last year,Brother B picked them before they were ready ( our neighbor told him to pick them in Sept-too early!) Usually they are picked in Oct,when the plants are dead. I did decide to check around the hills to see if anything was ready to pick,however:

I came up with these taters!! These are Kennebec potatoes from Maine. I also had some green beans that were ready to pick,too.

Today we are going apple picking and pumpkin picking. Our favorite farm,Butternut,is closed for the season,but another local farm is still open so we will be going there. I am still bummed that my pumpkin seedlings did NOTHING this year. Sigh. I hate to have to buy pumpkins,but I have to get some sugar ones to make my puree,as well bigger ones for decoration. Our neighbor can get hay bales for only $2.00 a bale from a friend of hers,so that will be savings!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Trip Back In Time-Finale

It took us a little over two hours to tour all the homes. Rick and I realized it was almost 1:00 PM and we were starving,but we had one more house to check out. Tickets at Strawberry Banke are good for two days,so if you want to split up your tour into two days,you can do so.  Portsmouth also has a Black History Trail and the Harbor Trail tours. The even have a horse and carriage ride tour. There was slavery in Portsmouth,and a few years ago,the town was doing some street repair and discovered a 300 year old slave cemetery buried under the road-only the second discovered in the northeast. They estimated that there was up to 200 slaves buried there. Portsmouth also has the John Paul Jones House ( "I have not yet begun to fight" ),where he stayed when his ship USS,Ranger,was being built at the Shipyard. Portsmouth is chock full of history.

Our last house is the Sherburne House. This house is not refurbished. It was built around 1695,making it one of the oldest homes in NH. Right where I am standing to take the photo below  is where the tidal inlet would come in.

A bit of Sherburne House history.

All the new pieces are painted in red. Everything else is original. 

This section of stairs was original to the house.

There were many posters explaining the architecture of the period. Folks were not allowed to touch the walls because the sensitive nature of the materials.

A peek out of one of the windows.

Fabulous shot of the roof construction. You could still see the marks that axes made when they hewed out the posts.

A view of some of the homes and a picnic area.

More views of homes. I am standing in the tidal inlet area again. It was hard to imagine how much fill it must have taken to create the area. One would never guess the ocean came up to this area naturally.

More views. I'm not sure if the gentleman at the picnic table appreciated being in the photo or not :) 

On the way out,we stopped at the gift shop and picked up some old fashioned candy for Zach. Rick asked if they still carried spruce gum. The gentleman behind the counter said they have tried to get it,but can no longer find it. Rick was a bit bummed. His grandfather McQuilkin used to get spruce gum  and give it to Rick.

We drove over to the the parking garage and walked to the Dolphin Striker,which is a nice restaurant on the waterfront. We jokingly refer to it as the "Porpoise Beater." Rick was a chef here back when he was in high school.Like much of downtown Portsmouth,the building that houses it is quite old. I love the atmosphere of it.

I had a nice view of the Piscataqua River (pronounced  PISS-CAT-AH-QUAH).The river is the home to one of the fastest currents in North America and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Like the names of many rivers,etc in NH,it's a Native American name. It was home to the first sawmill in the US in 1623,as well as being one of the best harbors in the US .

Rick had a hard time deciding what he wanted to have for lunch!

Our appetizers look quite delish,don't they? Rick had raw oysters,and I had an arugula,pistachio,and goat cheese salad. They threw in some cherries to boot. Rick had broiled haddock,shrimp and scallops with rice and asparagus for the main course,and I had beef wellington with a truffle sauce and English peas. It was divine.

I hope that you enjoyed our visit to Strawberry Banke! If you ever make it to NH,you must check out Portsmouth. It's a wonderful place to explore US and NH history.

Have  fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

A Trip Back In Time Part 2

We were at the Chase Mansion last. Now we go next door to the Aldrich House. The Aldrich House was the home to Thomas Bailey Aldrich,a Victorian novelist,poet,and editor.He is most famous for his book "The Story of A Bad Boy." He was born in Portsmouth on Nov 11,1836. He lived with his grandparents,who had friends in various literary  and acting circles. His "grandmother", Mrs Aldrich,was sitting outside the house and told us of how she  met her husband at a party held by the famous actor Edwin Booth (brother to John Wilkes) and informed us that she didn't like Mark Twain,because he was always inebriated and spoke very unkindly about her. The house was built in  1797. 

Coming into the kitchen,the "Good Morning"staircase was to the left. A "Good Morning" staircase is a set of stairs that connect an upstairs bedroom right to the kitchen. They reminded me of my Memere's old house when I was little. The stairs were very steep,and she forbade me to go up them without her (they weren't Good Morning stairs,though).

                              

 This is a fabulous fireplace to cook some food!

                                   Lovely bright sitting room

                                   I loved the pendant chandelier

                                   

                                      The parlor

     

                              I absolutely adore Mrs Aldrich's dress

                                    Such a pretty bedroom!

                           View out the window on the second landing

                          Another bedroom. I loved the various canopy styles

                            A more masculine looking bedroom

The next stop was at the Shapiro House. The Shapiro's a Russian-Jewish immigrant family,lived here in the early 1900's. It was built in  1795. The best room in the house was the kitchen.

                                      Love that old wood cooking stove!

We had just missed "Mrs Shapiro"demonstrating how to bake bread.She had stepped out for a moment. The bread smelled wonderful baking in the oven.

The Pitt Tavern was next. It was built in 1766 . There were several rooms with fireplaces and tables set up.

Some of the distinguished visitors to the Pitt Tavern include George Washington,John Hancock,and the Marquis de Lafayette.

                   A bit of the history of the tavern.

  This house is the Yeaton House. It's in the process of renovation. It was built in 1795. Thales Yeaton,a shopkeeper and tobacconist,lived here in the late 18th century.

This is the Marden-Abbott house and store. It was a neighborhood store during WWII. The building itself was built in 1720.

                                The store was exactly as it was kept during the war

  t was interesting to see how many old labels we could recognize that were still around when we were kids,but are now no longer available.

Behind the store and house there as the Marden-Abbott Garage,which had been converted into a small WWII museum. I loved the various posters.

 Back then,everyone chipped in to help the war effort. They grew victory gardens,had ration stamps,and recycled cans to be made into bullets.

                            I bet most kept the pledge!

By the entrance there was book with the names of civilian defense volunteers. We discovered that Rick's grandfather,Ray Shaw,was an Air Raid Warden. How cool is that? It was so random...there his name was. We poured through the other pages to see if any other family members were listed. I am not sure if Edwin or Oren are related :)

This was my favorite poster. It promoted working for the war effort,saving rubber by walking and not driving,conserving what you have,and buying war bonds.

Our last installment will show one of the oldest homes left in NH-built in 1695.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!