Summer Projects

Well, we arrived home from North Carolina. What a beautiful state. I thought I would have a nervous breakdown going through Washington and New York !!! I live a sheltered life. My house is located where maybe 10 cars a day go by! Once out of Maine everything seemed very, very busy. I survived though and made it home in one piece. There truly is no place like home. Our children stayed behind with my mom to keep the farm going. That was a first for my husband and I. We enjoyed being able to talk and finish an entire conversation, yet missed the children.

So, I left my camera at home and couldn't take any pictures of the lovely trip. I did get some pictures onto our new computer of our summer projects that we accomplished this year.

The lush green grass is our new food plot. My husband, our brother in law, and the boys planted this so we could enjoy watching the deer, moose, and turkeys. That has not happened and I think I know why.............Coyotes!!

This is our new goat/pheasant barn. This was a big project, and we did it under some pressure. I think the structure was up in 3 days and then they built the stalls and installed the door in another day. They were actually still working on it when our goats arrived that afternoon! We still have to insulate it and get some last minute things done before winter.

This is my garden (50X75) a giant undertaking for someone who knows nothing about gardening. It did really well for having horrible soil. My beans came good and my peas. Everything else was very short. The corn.............a foot high, Tomatoes.............a foot high, Peppers................5 inches high, they are all struggling to produce fruit. Next year is another year to try again. :) I allowed the turkeys in they ate some of the beans that had gotten too big to eat. They had fun and took a good dust bath. Ok so I have already said I don't have a green thumb, but I grew this straw flower from seed that I started in my cellar in March!!!! WOW that is a big accomplishment for me. I am very happy with it! It really is an amazing little flower, it feels just like straw. This is our new pasture. We did this in the spring, and what a huge job. Thankfully there were excavators and bulldozers involved. I don't know how they did it in the old days with just oxen! It must have taken a long time. It is growing very nicely and hopefully if the Lord allows, I will see cows out there next year.I just had to post a picture of Dean and "Big Boy". He is a beautiful turkey. ( I mean "Big Boy") :) Dean has raised these turkey's and lost only three. He has done an amazing job. Turkey's are very hard to raise. I am very proud of him.

So that is what has been going on here all summer long. Now its time to get ready for winter on the farm. A barn to insulate, Apples to turn into applesauce, A garden to till and hopefully nourish the soil, A flower garden to cut back and mulch, Turkey's to process and freeze, and wood to pile for those chilly Maine winter days and nights.

School has been going great! I have read Acelia alot of books lately on the famous artist and some others that are just great picture books, here's a list:

• The Boy Who Loved To Draw ~ Barbara Brenner
• Camille and the Sunflowers ~ Laurence Anholt
• The First Starry Night ~ Joan Shaddox Isom
• Hannah in the Time of the Tulips ~ Deborah Noyes
• Henri Matisse: Drawing With scissors
• Katie Meets the Impressionists ~ James Mayhew
• Abbie Against The Storm ~ Marcia Vaughan (A true story about a young girl on the coast of Maine)
• Cocoa Ice ~ Diana Appelbaum ( A story of two small children that live in two very different climates, one lives in Maine)
• Miss Rumphius ~ Barbara Cooney (A Maine story)

Enjoy!!