A Little Bit of Everything

A random smattering of photos, starting with The Queen selling her wares at the farmer's market.

The only comment this photo received on the market's page was that Guinness is no longer good for you, that they use crappy ingredients. I paraphrase... but yeah. Missing the point. Not selling Guinness. Move along.

Another neighbor dog. Looks a little cross-eyed but he's a sweet kid.

The Queen has begun to emulate her great-great grandmother in joining community groups. So far I am part of only two. I have a long way to go.

The point of that is to say that I attended a meeting where someone wanted a picture of our town sign with the trees behind it. So, being the shutterbug that I am, I snapped this photo today.

My only regret is that the power line could not be omitted without cutting off the top of the trees.

Here's another version. Not as pretty, but more focus on the sign.

While I was snapping photos, I thought this was a nice barn pic. All that's missing is one piece of equipment in the last bay to make it perfect silhouette.

And these trees that are just beautiful.

In the Queen's imaginary world those trees are moving toward the house and are ready to devour it. Just me?

And the cows that were also posing in a nice little vignette.

We had another little visitor today. A bird I have not seen before, the coloring reminds me of one of the chickens I want to own eventually. The King says it is a starling.

I think it's darling. 

The Queen just flexed her poetry muscle.

It's a nice Halloweenie photo.

The bluejays are hard to capture because they like the perimeter of the yard. That makes most pics fuzzy. But they're too pretty not to try.

I love fall for all the colors... the yellow, orange and red of the trees. The reds and blues of the birds. Such a beautiful time of year.

Just so pretty.

  
You can't be unhappy with that in your face all day.

Color Me Happy

This is the most beautiful fall we've had since we moved here.

So much color that it's overwhelming. But in a good way.

The cows seem to enjoy the weather. It's grey and a little drizzly, but I love it.

The sky makes the colors pop.

The creek is amazing!

Even the monochromatics are pretty.

Wish it could stay like this forever.

Putting Things Away

Today I realized that, as far as Mother Nature is concerned, fall is a time to put things away.

The sap goes down and the trees change colors. The barn is never more gorgeous than when surrounded by these sapless trees. I want to learn to paint just so that I can paint this scene.

Seriously, it's unreal - this is our barn!

And this is the realm's most gorgeous tree. Perhaps the most gorgeous in all the world. Mother Nature will be taking its leaves soon.

It's kind of like a phoenix... it grows more vibrant then bursts into flame (figuratively speaking), then it rises from the ashes again and again.

The rest of the tobacco has been harvested.  

The corn field has died off and is in the process of being cut.

And the kernels are being stored.

The hay has been rolled and stacked for the winter.

And once everything has been cleared, the view is spectacular.

Beauty is everywhere.

After gazing upon her kingdom, the Queen prepared for her weekly trip to the Farmer's Market. It may not look like much but it took about six hours to get it all done.

Roasted Jalapeno and Garlic Feta Dip. So simple but so flavorful.

Manicotti (pictured) and garlic bread (not pictured). Delicious.

Zuppa Toscana with breadsticks. Very tasty. A nice treat if you can't get the real thing, and it's very, very close.

So now the Queen is ready to relax and unwind before bed so she can be fresh as a daisy for tomorrow.

Note that I said "daisy" and not "Daisy"... because daisies smell good and Daisys... well... not so much!

Farm Tour

The Queen was treated to a farm tour today! There is a beautiful 250 acre biodynamic farm in our little town, owned by the same man who lets us sell at his farmer's market on Saturdays.

Can you imagine? Two-hunert-an-fitty-acrez!

We were greeted by this smiling moo cow...

...who for some reason looks like a blue cow. She's pretty.

They have one bull. I'm not sure this is it though, because there were a few that had horns.

Interesting fact that I learned from watching Dr. Pol: All cows have horns. Most of the time they are removed. It's a bloody business and it looks painful.

If reincarnation exists, I do not want to be a moo cow.

This was the first plot we visited. A gorgeous field of greens... kale, tatsoi, spinach, arugula, mizuna and mustard greens. It was like heaven for the Queen.

There is a marked difference in the taste and size of greens from this farm and what they sell at grocery stores.

The really amazing part is that they don't use chemicals. Organic farms can still use chemicals, but biodynamic farms don't.

And you know what? I saw no bugs on the plants and little evidence that there ever were bugs. It's because there is biodiversity, if there are no plants around that draw predators, one kind of bug will swarm the crop and enjoy the buffet.

This is the heart shaped pond.

This is a moo cow that was kind enough to pose for tolerate me.

"Do I have something in my teeth?"

The outhouses on the property. They have an equinox festival every year so instead of port-a-potties they use these.

This is the swimmin' pond. Pretty nice huh? The water was so clear. 

This is my tour guide, Kristina, who is also very nice. She has the greatest job ever.

This is a transplanted building that was moved to the farm. It's the first post office our town ever had. How neat!

You can't really see it, but at the bottom of the picture, below the rock ledge, there is a natural spring. They have run tubing into the spring and are using it for their outdoor kitchen, to drink and to water the cattle.

This is another swimmin' hole in the form of a creek. Very pretty.

Look the other way and it's also gorgeous.

These caught the Queen's eye. We have this same kind of rock in our creek. Very porous and photogenic.

A cool piece of slate.

A map of the farm that shows how large it is and how everything is laid out. The orange spots are where the crops are planted. Light green is pasture and dark green is forest. Blue... blue is water.

We had some homemade bread and Amish butter. Chatted a bit with Jeff, and then we rode to another field.

A gorgeous view of a barn and one of the fields.

And then the tour was over. The Queen helped unload a bunch of sweet potatoes, picked up some potatoes for herself, and headed home with her loot: turnips, celery, tatsoi, arugula, mizuna, kale, daikon radishes, potatoes and October beans. YUM!

The beautiful thing is, we not only ate the beans, I saved some to dry for planting next year. I am determined that we are going to put seeds in the ground. I've read and watched videos about gardening and the only way to know if I can do it is to just do it.

I've started to collect seeds when we eat peppers, tomato, squash, etc. that were grown locally because obviously those varieties thrive out here. I have other seeds too, but I'm trying to set myself up for success.

All in all a lovely day. Bright, sunny, cool and me surrounded by nature. Would love to get that going on the royal grounds, and we're going to. No reason not to, no excuses!