Summer Beauty....

Hello, Friends!  Hope you are enjoying your summer as we head into July.  I've got friends all over the country from Alaska to Texas to Virginia.  My in-laws visited Maine and I have friends and family who spend time on the Cheasepeake Bay.  I LOVE to see everyone's photos! 


 I have a few June photos of my own to share.  We haven't gone anyplace exciting, yet, this summer, but some of us went down to Lancaster County, PA for a few days.... and we'll be going there, again, very soon. (Yippee!)

Plus, we are having some friends from PA visit us in July! 

Hoping to do some more hiking, now that I'm healed from my surgery, as there is so much natural beauty in CNY.   I will definitely share photos from those experiences!

Brilliant colors brighten our days here at Westbrook Farm this summer.  When I arrived home from my 4-day trip, I was delighted to find these and others blooming.

And, our daily walks through the sugarbush reveal bright orange mushrooms and gorgeous wild blooms like these:

 

                                                      The farmer who makes hay on the property next to ours is a bit behind schedule this year, so our favorite field on the hilltop, full of canary grass, clover, and orchard grass, has bloomed! 

It is so tall and thick that it provides perfect cover for lots of critters.  Yesterday, 3 wild turkeys flew up and scattered just four feet in front of me!  Surprised, I fumbled to get my camera up.  I captured this one, at least:

Ah...the beauty of June.....

 

Awhile back, I mentioned sharing maple syrup recipes with you. We've been experimenting and taste-testing for the past couple of months, and I've found some real winners! Stay tuned for some delicious recipes.  Maple syrup is definitely not just for pancakes and waffles!!

We're Growing 'Round Here!

Only one-fourth of the tires we cleaned up!

As I mentioned before, we believe, when God blesses you with ownership of property, it is very important to be good stewards of that gift.  Whomever lived here before us, clearly did not live by the same philosophy, so we've had to do MUCH clean up! (Thankfully, the house was mostly refurbished before we bought it.) 

This has meant lots of trash removal, finding a new home or use for many tires, numerous trips to the scrapyard over the past 20 months, and clearing and burning lots of brush and dead trees.  It will probably take another 3 years of clean up, but....

 


I finally feel like we're getting somewhere, Praise God!  And, we're growing in so many ways, both figuratively-speaking and literally.

Our flowers are growing beautifully.....

Found this peony in an overgrown, long un-tended flowerbed, barely alive, last spring!

 Our veggies are growing nicely.....            
 

Our spring chickies are maturing....

Even our pup, Tig, has nearly doubled in size (and attention-span) over the last month!





Our little agri-business is growing, too....


Many months ago, when our landscape was white and the temperatures were frigid, Don bought..... a sawmill.  "What in the world are you thinkin'?!!", was my response at that time.



With boyish excitement, he explained, "Honey, we're going to build our own barn and a new sugar shack and whatever else you want.... like a picnic table or hardwood floors!"  

Oh....umm.....great.....maybe.

Well, we'll need to thin out our timber, anyway, to give the best maples more space to flourish.....and we do have an abundance of beautiful hardwoods, so.....hmmm....

The "thing" sat at the edge of the pasture, under a bright blue tarp....all...winter...long.  Then, our spring was too wet, plus, Don was really busy, so it sat, still and silent, some more.....

Finally, this week......

HOORAY!!

The wood we're milling right now will be for personal use....

Cherry... I think.  But we'll mill oak, ash and maple, too.

This small, but growing, stack will eventually be part of my hardwood flooring throughout the downstairs of the house. (We're not fond of the wall-to-wall carpeting!)







Once Don and the boys feel really confident running it, (which won't take long with my guys) we'll mill for other folks' custom wood-working projects, and maybe even attach this baby to a trailer to offer "custom milling on your own property"!

Indeed, the possibilities are endless....especially with my husband!  If my guys find they like this kind of work, who knows where it will go....right?

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us, with our teens going different directions, so I'll catch up with you, right here, when I can.  In the meantime, enjoy summer, and stop by for some maple syrup and entertainment!

I Love Herbs!

Herbs!  I enjoy using them in my cooking, especially when they are fresh.  I enjoy smelling them, and now that I have a sunny location with great soil, I enjoy growing them!  I actually don't know much about using them, other than in my cooking, but that is one of those things I'd like to learn....I'd like to study some medicinal uses.

Last year, when we were building beds around the house, I envisioned this location, just off the corner of the porch, for herbs.

May 2013

 It is coming along very nicely!

June 2014

One Saturday in early-July 2013, Will, Grace and I traversed up route 90 to visit several yard sales.

A small, family fruit and veggie stand we happened upon had perennials and herbs for sale....dirt cheap!

Now, they looked pretty pathetic, clearly needing more space and water than the tiny plastic pots could provide.

I wasn't even sure they'd make it a week, but I decided it was worth a few bucks to find out.

Much to my surprise, most of them did!  As of today, I'd say they look really healthy!

















We've been mulching this week, which dresses it up a bit.

So far, I have a few "non-herb" perennials, plus thyme, lavender, rosemary, basil, oregano, chives and 3 types of mint in my little garden. Some are too small to use, yet, but I have been using the thyme and the mint.

Have you ever heard of meadow tea?  It's a "Lancaster County" specialty.   Basically, it is iced tea made with fresh mint and sugar.  There's no real recipe - it's uniquely made by each of my Lancaster County friends!  I chose 3 types of mint to grow so I could "jazz up" my meadow tea this summer.  Tasty and refreshing on a hot day....if we ever get one of those this year in CNY!

Last summer, my friend, Cathy, gave me a bunch of plants that she had separated from her beds - most of them came back for me as well, despite the hard winter.  I love the iris blooms!

Well, so far so good with the veggie garden.... All the plants have made it through the first 10 days!   We added a row of sweet potatoes.....  Here's hoping for a great growing season in CNY.

We'll be making more improvements to Westbrook Farm as we head into summer, so stay tuned!

The Story Behind Our New Addition....

Story time!

Some of you probably know that we have a new canine in our family.

Tig, 8 weeks old, May 26, 2014

"Why on earth would you do that?  Don't you already have 2 dogs?"

Why, yes, we do.  Ginger and Mac.  Ages 10 and almost 4. Both yellow labs.  They are super!

"The new pup looks different."

Yup.  Let me explain......

About 4 years ago, I met a woman, a fellow horsewoman, from whom I was considering buying a horse.  She always had with her this sweet, very attentive, fiercely loyal,  white with gray-black speckles (called "merle") dog with the softest fur.  All the young woman had to do was give a quiet voice command or hand signal and the dog knew exactly what to do.  And she was so athletic!  I was impressed. Very impressed.
"What kind of dog is that?" I asked.
"An Australian Shepherd", she replied.  "She's 5 years old. Been my best dog.  Travels everywhere with me, and I rarely need a leash."



At the time, I had recently lost my German shepherd and wasn't even thinking we'd adopt another dog anytime soon, so I cataloged this information in my brain for future reference.  A few months later, Don chose Mac as his new hunting partner, and I totally forgot about that Aussie shepherd.

Then, we moved to New York and met this great family with whom we shared much in common:  homeschooling, our faith, horse ownership, a passion for animals.  They had this sweet, petite, tri-colored dog, named Daly.  When her owner shared, "She's an Aussie shepherd!",  the memory of that horsewoman's dog came back to me. This pup was colored totally differently, but I could see all the other traits.

Shortly after this, through the recommendation of these new friends, we had our new equine dentist out to the farm for the first time.  Guess what she had with her??

Not Rozy.  Just a nice free image from the web.

An Aussie Shepherd!!  In fact, her dog looked very much like the first one I'd met.  AND, she was the mama of our new friends' young dog!  Well, I fell in love with Rozy on that first visit  and still look forward to each time the horses need their teeth floated, although I'm quite sure Lexie and LJ don't!



What I appreciate about Rozy is also what makes her quite different from the labs.  Don't get me wrong - I adore the nature of labrador retrievers - But, this dog, though quite friendly, is much more reserved. I like how she gives people space.  She is always very attentive to her owner, staying within a few feet and watching her most of the time, but she also knows when to move away from the horses.  Her intelligence was obvious in that first meeting.  Her owner barely said anything, the dog was so attuned to her body language.  Brianne, who clearly loves to talk about her terrific dog, shared everything she could with me about this breed, and her experiences with Rozy.  And, she told me what a great travel partner Rozy is because of her petite size and cleanliness, as well as her nature.  At just 45 pounds, she is half the size of my labs!

I told Don when he picked Mac (obviously the biggest pup in the litter!), I want a smaller dog next time!

That did it.  Now I wanted an Aussie of my own.  I did some more research on the breed and cataloged everything in my brain until the time was right.......

Then, Brianne sent me a  message in March:  Rozy is bred....her second and probably her last litter....was I still interested?

YES!!!!




I decided a male would be best for us, for Mac and Ginger.
He's named after the dog in my favorite cowboy movie, Open Range....."Tig".

I am hoping to do some things with him that I have not been able to do with my past dogs, like take an organized obedience class with others, try out dog agility, try some herding (he's already experimenting on our chickens!), as well as exploring more hiking trails here in CNY.

Puppy Love!! (Tig, 9 weeks old)

For now, though, we're working on basic obedience, lots of cuddling, adventures in the Westbrook Sugarbush, car rides, and visits to fun places, like TSC and the local farm market for rides in the shopping cart!

Aren't puppies fun?!  I will certainly be sharing more photos and puppy antics as Tig grows and matures over the next year - so keep following us at Westbrook Farm!