Best Friends and Blueberries

This morning I went on a little expedition with two of my best friends, Liz and Nancy. We set out at 8:30 a.m., or what Olivia calls the "buttcrack of dawn," and headed south to The Blueberry Patch to purchase some of the most luscious blueberries you have ever seen. We had a short brunch, browsed the little shop and greenhouse,  purchased our berries and were home by noon. I know that Nancy was going to make a batch of jam and although I hadn't planned to I decided to cook up a batch, too.

 

I prepared a couple of quarts for the freezer and set the rest in the fridge. I'll make another batch tomorrow afternoon after I've taken Rich's truck for an oil change and had lunch with two of my teacher friends, Debbie and the other Linda. This summer has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to "feel" retired yet.

 

Saturday afternoon, after he had hung the last gate in the new pasture we turned Mango and Leezza loose in the new grass. At first they were a bit hesitant to venture forth; probably because they hadn't seen grass that long since last fall when they arrived. I had read that if the grass gets too long the alpacas get a little skittish because they are afraid that something might be lurking in there to hurt them. But Mango ducked her fuzzy little head down into the grass, sniffed and came up with a mouthful of new grass and what looked to me like a big satisfied smile. Leezza poked her nose down into the pasture and promptly kushed and rolled over onto her side, waving her legs into the air. Heavenly!

 

 

 

Led by Mango, they both romped around the perimeter of the new pasture a couple of times; investigated their new little "condo" and settled into the field for a little munch time before retiring for a nap.

 

 

Later that afternoon three of my former students made a special trip out to our "cornfield" home for a visit. Tori, Brianna and Allie, three beautiful young women, are sisters that I have known since they were little tykes. It was a privilege for me to be their seventh grade English teacher and I am so glad that they still want to keep in touch. All three girls are not only beautiful but they are extremely intelligent and talented.

 

It is always fun for me to see friends interacting with our animal girls and this day was especially amusing. We harnessed up Mango and Leezza and attempted to take them for a walk in the pasture. Mango, who is usually the most eager to walk, was having none of it this day. First she kushed in the barn and refused to move. After a little prodding and rump tapping she got up and walked as far as the alley way into the pasture where she kushed again. Leezza did a little better for Brianna; but she stopped too when she saw Mango kush in the alley. So we were forced to pet and talk to the alpacas where they stood. Tori did snap some lovely pictures for me, though!

 

Brianna with Leezza at a standstill!

 

 

Allie gets eye-to-eye with Mango...and she still wouldn't get up!

 









Fourth of July Week in Review

This past week since the Fourth of July has  slipped by like summer days always do. With the traditional third of July party here at the farm and another on Saturday at my nephew's home an hour away I haven't sat down to write with any regularity. For the record, I have been imaginary blogging constantly. It just hasn't made it to the computer page.

Pressley came out last Saturday and again Tuesday afternoon to work with the girls. The weather has been either raining or so hot and humid that I drip sweat just standing still. Neither is good for working with alpacas since they are high mountain animals. They don't do rain because it soaks into their fleece and weighs them down and too much heat and humidity stresses them. I sympathize because I am not a hot weather being either. On Saturday when Pres came out we put them through a small obstacle course similar to one they will encounter in the fair competition. Both Mango and Leezza are getting better at responding to her commands. After we called it quits, I left Pressley alone with the girls to do whatever she wanted. Rachel, her mother, and I were sitting on the front porch of the weaving studio when I heard my name called from the barn. I rushed back to the barn to investigate and found Pressley inside with her arms around the necks of both animals. She had cornered and captured them alone! She obviously feels more comfortable with them and they with her.

She was pretty proud of herself!

Then on Tuesday her grandma, Cheryl, brought her out to work with the girls. That was undoubtedly the most unbearably hot and humid day of the summer so we cut our workout short and Pressley collected feed data and snapped pictures of the pasture and barn for her 4-H project while Cheryl, an old friend of mine, and I sat inside the air conditioned studio for a friendly chat.

I did carve out time over the holiday to make a batch of jam. My saintly, wonderful mother-in-law, Delores gave me some cherries from the trees at her girlhood home. They were  pitted and prepped for the freezer which task alone makes her saintly, if she hadn't already successfully raised five sons! I whipped up a batch of cherry-almond-bourbon jam. That very same evening, Rich brought back some ice-cream from the  local soft-serve stand so that he could concoct sundaes. Heavenly!

I take pictures of all of my batches of jams, not necessarily because I am overly proud of my jam making skills, but because of the beautiful, gem-like quality of a jar of fresh berry jam. Well, OK. Maybe I am proud of the jam. It is something that also makes me smile when I see it, partly because the bulk of my jam this year was created with my beautiful granddaughter. That's enough to make any grandma smile!

Two days ago, on Wednesday afternoon, a series of rather violent storms blew through  the area causing some extreme wind damage to trees and crops in the area. The storm brought with it at least 3" of rain here (according to our rain gauge) and blew off a shutter from the west side of the house. North of here, about 20 miles, where Rich works a tornado blasted the town where he works, blowing out two, forty-foot sections of the warehouse. Corn crops in the area were flattened, large trees were blown right out of the ground or snapped off, and many areas are still under water.

Yesterday, my girlfriends, the WINOS (see an earlier post for an explanation) and I made our annual pilgrimage up to Marble Head and Port Clinton on Lake Erie. We always have lunch and a great time shopping and discussing literature, among other things! We made a stop at one of my favorite yarn shops, Just For Ewe, where they have some of the most beautiful and unusual yarns. Christi Schirtzinger Soski also offers classes in spinning, dyeing, weaving, felting and knitting. You can even book an all day class with a bunch of like minded girlfriends and sleep over in one of their air-conditioned cabins.

It's been a full week and the upcoming week promises to be just at busy. A couple of my friends and I have scheduled a trip to The Blueberry Patch later in the week which means blueberry jam making next!

Gettysburg Trip, Part II

After the luminary at the cemetery we walked back to our B&B and popped open a bottle of the wine that we had purchased at the Adams County Winery on our way into town that afternoon. As we sat out on the front porch watching the crowd go by a young couple who were staying in the suite next to ours stopped to talk. They were into living history and were dressed for the part, and I must say made an authentically adorable couple. They graciously allowed me to snap a picture for my blog.



The second day of our trip to Gettysburg didn't go exactly as we had planned it. Rich and I got up early as usual. He took his morning constitutional to downtown Gettysburg to pick up coffee at the Ragged Edge. While he was gone I got myself together and when he returned with my coffee I just had to finish off my hair and we went across the parking lot of the Dobbin House to get our breakfast.

We had aimed to be done with breakfast and drive over to the visitor center by 9a.m., which we did. However, here's where the plan deviated from expected. ALL of the near parking lots were filled; the drive ways were jammed with cars trying to find parking and the attendants were directing everyone to the far lots where we would be shuttled back to the visitor center. We got out of the lot and onto the main road where we were at a standstill in traffic when we started discussing plan B. Rich and I didn't have a plan B but since we had seen the visitor's center many, many times before we both agreed that we did not want to fight the crowd. Suddenly, Rich turned down a side street and muttered," Amish country."

We headed out to the Bird-in-Hand/Lancaster County area. It was a bit of a drive but ended up well worth it. Once there, we stopped at a local meat market since the farmer's market was closed on Monday, and picked up some local cheese. It was getting closer to lunch time when Rich remembered an auction site that we had passed so he backtracked to that farm and pulled in between the buggies, trucks, cars and other vehicles.

I have no pictures since signs were clearly posted requesting that visitors not take photos. This was an authentic Amish event. It was a dinner and fund raising auction for the disabled Amish children. The fascinating part was that the chicken and rib dinners were being grilled and boxed right there under the big tent. There were also industrial sized deep fryers set up and Amish women were turning out fry pies, donuts and other sweet goodies. All around us barefoot Amish children were chattering away in their particular Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. As Rich paid for our chicken dinners I could feel curious eyes watching me. I glanced down and there behind the counter was a rosy cheeked little face steadily peering up at me with a huge smile. I couldn't help smiling back. I had to resist the urge to pick up that little blond pig-tailed doll and hug her.

On the way back to the freeway I glimpsed a sign, Labadie Looms, and urged Rich to turn back and stop at the charming little shop. There I discovered a treasure trove of hand-dyed rovings and yarns and Donna Beaver the owner. She creates some of the most beautiful yarns from locally sourced fibers that I have ever seen. As an experienced spinner and weaver she patiently answered my questions. Although I had promised Rich that I wouldn't buy any more yarn on this trip I have a strong feeling that I will be visiting her website in the future to make a purchase after I have run my own stash down a bit.

 

The whole day was like an unexpected gift. On the way back to Chambersburg where we planned to spend the night before heading home we learned that the speed limits on Pennsylvania freeways must be just "suggested" speed limits. At one point Rich pulled into the left lane to allow people on the entrance ramp to merge. Traffic was so heavy that he couldn't immediately get back into the right lane and although  he was already going over the posted limit, the couple in the rather run down Jeep Cherokee behind us were rather obviously "chewing us out." When he was finally able to merge right again they sped past us and gave us what must be a "Pennsylvania welcome sign" while continuing to chatter at us. So I just smiled, waved and wished them a nice day. Fortunately our day had been so pleasant that we did not let this little incident ruin it for us. We'll be back again next year because Pennsylvanians are, for the most part, warm hearted and gracious people.

Gettysburg 150th Commemoration

Rich became interested in the Battle of Gettysburg about twenty years ago and has been a member of the Friends of Gettysburg ever since. He makes at least one pilgrimage every year and sometimes two. To that end he made reservations at our favorite B&B, The Dobbin House-Gettystown Inn, last November for the 150th anniversary of the battle. Sunday evening we attended the commemoration program and I must say it was inspiring. As part of the large crowd we walked across the cemetery on our way to the site of the program and discovered that park rangers and volunteers had placed an American flag on each of the soldiers' graves. As we passed the Ohio section we noticed that there were also Ohio flags placed next to "Old Glory." This made us very proud to be from Ohio.

The United States Military Academy band played for the first half hour before the program. The music was a combination of songs from the North and the South mixed with a hymn or two. Their soloist, whose name I never caught, had a beautiful voice. By the time she was finished there wasn't a dry eye in our section. Country singer, Trace Adkins, sang the national anthem. One of my favorite speakers/authors, presidential historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, gave the keynote address. The theme of the program was, A New Birth of Freedom, and she spoke about the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and the progress of freedom for different groups throughout our history. The most moving part of the program, however, was the "Voices of History"; a series of readings from historical letters and diaries of the period surrounding the battle. To hear the actual words of the soldiers and citizens reminds me of how the war disrupted and changed the lives of people who were living in the area.

We had been given candles on our way into the area and after the program there was a candlelit procession over to the cemetery where all of the graves had luminaries placed upon them. Rich and I were towards the head of the procession and were able to get a view of the Army's Old Guard marching in formation. As we looked back over our shoulder the view was an overwhelming sea of reverent candlelit faces.  In front of us, the cemetery was a sea of luminaries; showing the overwhelming number of soldiers were buried there..

Toddlers in the Sprinkler

Today the temperature soared to over 90 degrees and I am definitely not a hot weather person. Like alpacas, I am more inclined to be active when it's a lot cooler. I do stop short of sleeping outside as the snow falls like the girls did last winter. In the warmer weather you can usually find the alpaca girls resting in front of the large barn fan which is where they could be found this afternoon. We had observed on our research expeditions last summer that while alpacas don't particularly like rain because it soaks into their fleece, they do like to have a little water sprinkled onto their legs and under belly in really hot weather.  Rich got a bright idea and dug the old circular lawn sprinkler out of the cellar, hooked it up to the hose and placed it in the pasture and turned it on low spray.

Since Took and Firenze have been visiting the boys at Amy J's Homestead , Leezza and Mango have been a bit more timid than usual. They watched him from a distance until he left the pasture and then their natural curiosity took over. They slowly wandered away from the fan in the barn doorway and crossed over into the second pasture. Circling the sprinkler, Mango leaned her nose down into the gentle spray and jerked back. She repeated this a couple of times as Leezza circled around to the other side of the sprinkler letting the spray graze her side.

As soon as they realized that the sprinkler wasn't going to jump up and attack them they both jockeyed for position, kneeling into the spray and kushing in the small puddle.

Each girl would lay in the puddle, letting the spray barely touch their face before jumping up, doing a little happy dance (that my "trigger finger" wasn't fast enough to snap) and then trading places.

Mango and Leezza were like two toddlers, who have now grown into teenagers,  and who  used to play in the sprinkler when they visited grandma. Like those two toddlers, they were so darn cute!

You Know You're a Country Girl When...

I still don't garden and I hate getting my hands dirty, but increasingly it is becoming clear to me that I am a country girl. It's times like last evening after dinner I found myself driving the tractor...ok, ok it was the riding lawnmower...slowly across the grass while Rich walked behind operating the sprayer. We were preparing the new pasture for the "girls" by eradicating the weeds that would be harmful for alpacas. I cruised along at approximately two miles per hour while Rich was shouting at me over the drone of the engine to "stop" then "go" as he tried to spray right and left while simultaneously trying to keep up with me. It's no wonder I got a bit bored and started snapping pictures as I drove.

 

I tried emulating my granddaughter, Olivia, by taking a "selfie" with the camera but a shadow was the best I could achieve. Teenagers look so much better than grandmas in those distorted self portraits! Rich was getting a bit impatient with me as my path deviated off the straight and narrow while I snapped pictures of me (see above) and him and the surrounding scenery.

 



When he first noticed what I was doing I got such a "look" from him. Fortunately he is used to my quirky ways so he just shook his head and kept spraying! He has a well developed sense of humor and loves me very much. That's a good thing.

Rich is also very patriotic. He puts the red-white-and blue up on Memorial Day and it stays up until Labor Day weekend, so we look very festive all summer long. I like it because we do a lot of outdoor entertaining during the summer and I don't have to decorate! The little red alpaca barn is visible on the right. The girls kindly allow me to have the larger front section for my weaving studio.

The fence posts are set, the new portable shelter is in place and the grass has been conditioned. All that remains is for the fencing to be stretched into place and the pasture will be ready for the herd rotation. Our alpaca girls really appreciate a fresh new growth pasture and have been looking longingly across the fence. They provide us with endless amusement  as they frolic and graze in the lush grass.

You Made Me Love You!

One of my goals for the summer was to write more frequent posts to my blog. I make a "to do" list every day, but somehow blogging always seems to get left in the dust. Every day seems to be filled with activity; spinning, weaving, knitting, visiting friends and family. The time seems to fly by. This entry will have to cover everything that has happened in the last 18 days.

On Sunday, just two days after my official last day of teaching seventh grade, Pressley came out to put Mango and Leezza through their paces, practicing for the fair. She brought her cousin, Gavin, another student of mine. Gavin is a city boy and not exactly an old hand with animals like Pressley. We put him to work anyway, walking Leezza, who was sometimes less than cooperative!

 

Both Leezza and Mango did well on their first obstacle course.

 

 

My good friend, Nancy, took me to lunch on my first Monday of retirement. She has been retired for a "few" years and is one of the busiest retirees that I know. She has set the bar pretty high for me. I only hope I can keep my energy level up as high as she has.

I also taught the fourth annual basket making class for my group of six close girlfriends, including Nancy. We call ourselves the WINOS (Women In Need Of Spirits!) We make a day of it and do a potluck lunch. Lots of laughing and camaraderie and love.

This past weekend my daughter and son-in-law and two of my beautiful grand kids took me to see the musical, Wicked in Columbus. I loved it and had a wonderful evening. My son-in-law, Steve, made his famous fettuccine Alfredo for supper before the play. Yum!  A lovely retirement celebration.

My lovely granddaughter, Olivia, came home with me on Sunday. We gave grandpa Rich his father's day gift and went to a family cook out down the road at my brother-in-law's. After that Olivia and I made strawberry jam with the berries we picked from our patch.

This has become an annual event that I look forward to very much. I am so thrilled that a high school sophomore still wants to help her grandma make jam! Last year we even created our own jam making "company" called the Strawberry Lamb Jam Company. So named because of a poem she wrote and published when she was in third grade.

And finally, two weeks ago we had Took and Firenze ultra sounded to be sure that they were still pregnant. Firenze seemed too thin to be pregnant and in fact, she wasn't. Took's ultrasound also produced inconclusive results. So today we took them back to Amy J's Homestead where we purchased them. Joseph, the farm manager, is going to put them with a male for the "spit off" test and depending upon the result of that will do a blood test. Firenze will definitely be re bred. We will miss our big girls, but they will return in a few weeks.

While we were there we went out to one of the pastures to visit the  young males. We had been tossing around the possibility of purchasing a male for the fiber and the guardian potential. Mostly we thought we might buy a gelded male and not bother with breeding.

While we were looking this little guy, Nikko, came up to check us out. He is a handsome young macho with a beautiful top-knot. Very eye-catching. Nikko was as curious about us as we were about him and his fellow pasture-mates. While we were talking to Joseph and asking general questions about alpaca care, little Nikko kept sniffing around us, and at one point coming right up and inserting his head between my camera and my face. Just curious, nothing threatening. He just wanted to know more about these strangers visiting his pasture.

He was curious about the cat...

 

Rich's shorts...

 

 

and my camera!

 

He was determined to be noticed by us and how could we not notice him? When an alpaca you've only just met pokes his nose into yours, it's a difficult thing to ignore. It seems that a "mutual admiration society" (to quote a very old song) quickly developed between Nikko, Rich and I. As Rich and I pulled out of the driveway to head for home another old song kept running through my mind..."You made me love you. I didn't wanna do it. I didn't wanna do it."