Whew!! It was really close this year! We had snow earlier in the month but last week, a day of rain washed most of the snow away. It did, however, melt the snow and bumpy ice on the pond, so beneath this new snow is a very smooth skating rink. In another week or two of cold weather I'll shovel the snow off and be skating for the first time this year. If you're a believer in Santa, I hope he brings you a gift of wonder.
The elves came early this year to build a gingerbread house...actually it was Bev and Cooper who built it. I just monitored the progress and indexed the sweets as they were added. Sadly, it is the tradition to wait until after Christmas to start nibbling on it, so it's a waiting game now.
Happy Holidays from Alewive Farm! As winter gains a foothold, and the water buckets start to fill with ice overnight, we settle into a more reflective frame of mind--that's code for sitting near the wood stove with a warm drink and a good book :-) The ice skates are ready for the pond to freeze and the x-country skis are on the front porch waiting the first snow.
Wishing you all the very best for the holidays and Hope for the New Year!
The first snow this year arrived on December 2, which felt early, although I recall recent tears we've had snow on Halloween. It didn't last long, within a day or two. There is nothing in the forecast to suggest it will me melting any time soon. time to get out the skis and throw more wood in the stove!
The Fall colors this year are subdued. We've experienced an extended drought which meant watering the garden every day. It's also meant spectacular weather for the later half of the summer. In the Spring we had what seemed like a dozen Saturdays in a row when it rained :-)
One of the late summer chores this rear became scooping fibrous algae our of the pond. As the water level got lower and the sun shone, the algae bloomed at such a rapid pace that it began to form mats on the surface of the pond. I'd fill a large plastic storage box in the center of the canoe with algae skimmed out of the pond with a rake, and after several days of drying on the shore, would take it to the compost pile. I lost track of how may trips out and back I made!
Free-ranging our hens is more difficult than I first imagined. Much of the summer we've had at least one hawk in the area. Periodically we watched the crows get together, harass the hawk, and then escort if out of the ari space around the barn. We have lost hens, in the past to both hawks and a fox. they can be relentless and on alert.
As a result, the hens are in a stall in the evening roosting in the barn. During the day, they are most often in a pen behind the barn that has a small house and a run of about 30 feet. When we bring them in, in the evening, we often let them roam for several minutes in the barnyard before moving them to their stall. Does this qualify as free range?
Early Fall brings its own special chores. Loading hay into the hayloft makes for great pics of farm life but it is a chore loading it in. In recent years, we've tried picking it up ourselves at a local farm in the pickup. I noted on several occasions that when we loaded the truck we got about 22 bails of hay stacked in. Then, after it was strapped in place it looked like a spider web around the truck. When the "real" farmers at the hay field loaded it, we got about 10 more bales stacked in, and it was so neat and tidy we barely had to tie it to keep it in place! Thank goodness for the conveyer belt!
Once upon a time, in a garden far, far away... Bev's daughter decided last Spring to plant loofah's. Since the loofah is native to a southern climate and we are in Maine, these were all started indoors, in March--all 50 plants. By transplanting time, of course, she was overrun with loofahs in her home. We planted about 10 in our garden with a trellis to support them. It was slow going, until it wasn't. At some point in early August they took off, climbing over the trellis and hanging down from the top.
Just before the first frost they were harvested and the skin and sees removed leaving a skeleton of fiber that can be used as a scrubby. A small slice of loofah was added to a soap mold and liquid soap poured over top to make a perfect bar of soap for cleaning up after gardening!
The Barn Swallows arrive later than the Red-winged Blackbirds, and come swooping into the barn the first week of May. They quicky clean out one of the existing nests in the rafters and get to work. Their nests are made of mud and grass stalks. Once hatched the chicks will stay in the nest waiting for insects their parents bring to them in an endless stream from dawn until dusk. The barn comes to life with the new chicks eagerly chattering about the incoming meals.
It is truly amazing to watch the first flights--there is sometimes one chick that's the dawdler and needs to be coaxed out by parents. They will all gather exhausted after that first flight on a beam or piece of equipment. They will return to the nest for the next couple days, by that time, barely fitting in the cramped space. Within days, the chicks are performing the amazing acrobatics the adult birds do as they catch their meals in flight, intersecting flying insects around the pond and in the barn. Shortly after, they are off for the next week or two and will return periodically. Once in awhile, the parents will opt for a second brood, and I wonder what becomes of the first brood?
Each year, 6-10 pair of Red-winged Blackbirds return to our pond (or should I say we live on their pond?). These are the great grandchildren of birds that have been coming here, long before we lived here. This year it was March 2nd and the pond was still frozen and a snowstorm arrived a day or two after they landed to pick out their nesting spots among the cat tails. Before nesting, they spend their time in the pine trees or the maples, alert to all the movements around the farm. The call goes out when the cat leaves the house and becomes a collective network as long as he is out. The same is true when humans venture near the pond--the males leave the nest and head to a higher lookout and alert the others on the pond. It is always a delight when they arrive, because Spring is following them up from the Southern States where they spend the winter. And, it is always a sad day in late summer when I realize I no longer hear them and the last one leaves the pond.
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| Piper checking out her new digs shortly after arriving at Alewive Pond Farm in 2012 |
Piper, and her long-time friend, Simone were the first two goats at our farm. Several years ago, Piper, was bred and had three stillborn kids. We placed the kids in the hay beside her and she licked and nudged their still bodies, encouraging them to come to life. As time passed and none of them moved she became concerned, looked at us, returned to the kids, and made encouraging sounds.
At the same time we had a young doe who had just given birth to two kids and had no interest or understanding of how to care for them, which we learned, sometimes happens. She was unwilling to stand still for them to nurse, wandered away from them, did not clean them or nuzzle them, and showed no signs of bonding. We were concerned we would have to bottle feed and care for these kids ourselves.
I suggested we put these kids in with Piper who seemed distraught when we removed the lifeless kids from her stall. We carried the kids ignored by the young goat ro Piper's stall and laid them gently in the hay. Piper immediately went to the kids and began licking them, nuzzling them, and encouraging them to stand and nurse. With her encouragement, the kids began to nurse and immediately bonded. At one point, Bev remembers, Piper came over to her, as she watched from the door, and began licking her hand, as if to say, "Thanks."
Piper was so attentive as these kids developed. The doeling, Fanny remained a part of our herd, and she and Piper were always close, often eating together and sleeping next to each other in the stall. Piper watched out for Fanny, even as an adult goat, whether they were in the barn or out in the pasture.
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| Piper with her daughter Fanny grazing several weeks before her death this summer |
As one of the larger Alpine goats in our herd, Piper was “2nd in Command,” for most of her life in the herd to the herd queen, Simone. Both goats came from farmers Joel and Ann, who made goat cheese to sell at the local farmer's market. Both were only a year or two when we first saw them at their farm. When we first walked into their barn, Piper greeted us by lopping one of her front legs over the top fence, as if to shake our hands.
Saying goodbye to both goats in the past year signaled a change in both the herd, and where we are with our goat adventure. Six goats remain, all smaller goats. Two of the goats, a brother and sister, Manly and Half-Pint we acquired shortly after they were weaned, within weeks of getting Simone and Piper. They have spent their whole lives at Alewive Pond Farm, and are affectionately called the Bunions, for their ability to keep us on our toes. . The remaining four goats came from other farms over the years.
Looking through the pictures over the years to find these of Piper, was like looking through the history of the farm and brought back some wonderful moments with the goats we’ve had and some of the different, often funny, silly, or contemplative moments.
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| Always curious, Piper kept an inquisitive eye on all the barn happenings |
Well Piper, when you catch up with Simone, say hello from all of us on the farm! You’ve been a wonderful friend, a great mother, and we will dearly miss you on the farm!
Every spring the barn swallows arrive, often it is two pair, and this year it was three. Two had nests in the barn, and this nest was in the outside overhang. Once the chicks hatch the parents are constantly flying in and out from dawn until dusk feeding their chicks with insects they seem to catch in mid-air.
When Homey the cat ventures out, especially when the chicks approach their first flight, the parents often dive-bomb the cat, dropping out of the sky straight for him, only to pull up inches above his head. This high-stakes game goes on through the summer months.
This year, the chicks took their first flights July 6, gathering at one point on the fence, out of the cat's reach, appearing exhausted. By the following day they have taken their practice to the nearby trees, returning only at night to the nest. By week's end the abandoned the nest, and seemed to be taking excursions further afield, to return as acrobats flying circles around and through the barn.
Some years, this year included a pair will have a second nest of chicks, but most often, they leave by mid-July and we eagerly await they return again the following spring, and wonder if these are the parents returning, or their offspring who return for generations to the same barn at Alewive Pond Farm?
New to the website is the shameless Goat Note and Barn Cards shopping page featuring blank note cards that are great for any occasion. As Bev so often says, "Nothing says 'love' like a goat." Most of the cards feature some of the many characters who live at Alewive Farm, and there are even a couple scenes from around Maine. All the photos are taken by Steve and copyright Steve Kelley.
Speaking of love, the photo above is Half-Pint, a Nigerian Dwarf goat. She and her brother Manley arrived at Alewive Farm only a few weeks old. They have been inseparable since we call them the :Bunions,: because of their curiosity and ability to find something to get into.
Hope you enjoy the cards! If you don't use PayPal, shuffle over to the Alewive Farm Shop on Etsy where you can use your plastic.
Bojangles, the retired barn cat peeking out from beneath some wrapping paper Christmas morning after getting more than his fair share of catnip made the perfect picture for the count down to the New Year, "Is it over yet?"
Here's to smoother sailing and a steady breeze in 2021.
©2020
Two planets separated by thousands of miles in a rare convergence in the night sky over Bethlehem inspired the hope that with this meeting comes greater light.
Even though the first significant snowfall this year didn't come until mid December, it felt to me, early, too soon, burdensome, like something more that needed to be added to the morning schedule. It wasn't until later, after the storm had passed, the wind subsided, and the snow blower put away that the season seemed to settle in. Sometimes in the late spring and summer, we go from project to project, in the fall, trying to wrap the projects up. It isn't until the winter that the outdoor projects slow down and things grow quiet.
I walked into the barn one evening after this snowfall, in the late afternoon twilight, and could nearly feel the spirit of the Nativity scene, with the light in the barn. the smell of hay and animals, the trumpeting of hens with feathers in a flurry as they pecked at grain, the goats munching on hay, and the cat seeking refuge from the snow, sitting on a bale of hay. It was like a harbor of food, light and life in the midst of the approaching winter evening of frost and cold.
It is a time to pause from the projects of the warmer weather and long days of daylight, to think about the world sleeping, with the daylight of spring on the other side. A moment to look at the moon suspended in the night sky, and the snow covering all of the busy-ness and the hustle and bustle.
Simone, the matriarch of our small herd of goats passed unexpectedly on Friday, November 20. It is like reaching the last couple of sentences in a favorite chapter. We will turn the page, but go back often to this chapter, with its pictures, notes in the margins, dog-eared pages, and warmth.
Simone was one of our first goats, and came originally from Joel and Ann, who are "real farmers," who raised goats for both cheese-making and meat. She was the first of our goats to give birth to kids, was the best mother to those kids, and kept us supplied in milk and cheese as we got our hobby farm underway. The stories are endless, and often funny--
Like Simone's first date with Jack, the Buck. Often heart-warming, in the way she tended to her newborn kids--
As sad as it was to say good-bye, it was comforting to have her mates gathered around, aware that she was ailing, offering their support--Scout sounding the "alarm" when Simone was unable to get up, Piper and Fanny checking in and reaching out with a hoof as we sat with her waiting for the vet to arrive.
Yes Simone, it has been a wonderful chapter, one will cherish and continue to share for years to come. You will be sorely missed on the farm, and your spirit will continue to enrich the chapters yet to come!
©2020
This is the year many of us have been feeling dressed up for Halloween, just to go to the corner store. Very early in the pandemic I felt very self-conscious walking into a store with a ball cap and a face mask on, thinking that at any other time I would be mistaken for someone trying to rob the store, or some other misdeed for which I wanted to hide my identity.
One of our Jack-O-Lanterns this year reflected the theme of wearing a mask to ward off the evil COVID spirits. So far we have been very fortunate or our Jack-o-Lanterns were effective!
©2020
