Full swing

So much to share, so little time seems to be the mantra these days (for me at least)! We are planting flowers every weekend and they seem to be growing, along with the weeds! The coming week's forecast promises to be pure bliss - 80's in the daytime, 50/60's at night. The pool will be open in time for mother's day weekend and I think some of the peonies will be blooming by then too.  

Right now there are several stunning lilacs in full glory - The smell is intoxicating and I can't help but send every visitor to the farm away with an armful.

Last week the tulips peaked and the week before, all of the fruit trees were in full bloom...

Mom calls all the hens 'Gertrude' - We tried to come up with a bunch of girl names that start with G and welcome your suggestions! They are growing like weeds (pretty much the story about everything around here!!) 

This is Gimmick -- Our almost famous half blind "bonus chick" - You might recall this was the cute yellow chick they sent us 11 weeks ago (back in February 2015...)

Our handsome rooster!!

The sheep are ready to be shorn...

5:00 pm on the farm is my fave.

Dino doing his thing...

Belle doing hers...

time flies...

There is so much going on around here, it's hard to keep up with these updates!!!

Today we moved the chickies to my workshop. They stink. They have grown SO FAST - so much faster than any of us could have guessed! Here are some pixx from the past few weeks...

Gimmick (aka goldilocks), 2/21

One of the 25 Brahma's, 2/21

Gimmick, 3/15

One of the Brahmas, 3/15

Bulldozed junk trees waiting for a burn next winter! Our view has changed drastically since September!!!

...and at long last, let me introduce you to Moe, Larry and Curly.

The 3 rams  came from Trial and Error and are Bluefaced Leicester and they have a super cool wiry fleece with very interesting texture. They will be sheared in late April / May. The pups and the sheep are like long lost friends...brothers from another mother...These 3 guys arrived on a Sunday afternoon and by Monday night all were sleeping in the upper pasture together. Moe is definitely the leader of the flock - he is the most talkative and leads the other two up to the fence at any possibility of getting some feed. It is seriously funny to see sheep run.

yo yo yo.

My girl Belle. She is the best.

Dino, the handsome devil

around here in february

Around here, we are anxiously awaiting SPRING

Around here, mom and dad are getting more and more settled into the farmhouse

Around here, we are out of firewood

Around here, we are growing lots of seedlings (some of us, with the help of a disco ball)

Around here, the chicks are growing super fast, chirping up a storm, getting their adult feathers, eating grit (it's a thing), and pecking on little goldilocks (gimmick). I hope she makes it!

Around here, we are planning our kitchen garden and dreaming of caprese salads, fresh pesto, and pickling

Around here, we are learning the difference between straw and hay

Around here, we are realizing that 10 cubic feet of compost is, like, nowhere near how much we are going to need

Around here, we are learning to prune:

Around here, we are wondering when the sheep are going to roll in (and how the dogs will deal)

Around here, we are thankful for the beauty of this place, even in the dead of winter

the chicks

The (26) chicks are here! And all seem to be thriving. Mom is a great caretaker. 25 brahmas (one of which is a rooster) who I understand lay very uniform, large brown eggs. You can read more about them here.  They are so hard to photograph but here are a couple of pixx (they are quite photogenic when they are full grown :) They came in an incredibly small box (including a pic next to an average size apple, for context). They all hatched on 2.15.15 (I keep thinking of the age old question -- Which came first?!) and are growing quick.

Special delivery! 

Meep meep! The brahmas look like this gal.

This is the one "non-brahma" chick we got and since she is the only one we can differentiate, I have about 25 nicknames for her :)

Belle Blooms Farm in February...

January was a cold, gray month at the farm! We were inside more than out -- Mourning the end of the NFL season, unpacking boxes galore, watching a major bathroom renovation take shape, and occasionally getting out with the pups to explore and play. They are growing fast and have distinct personalities. I sure do love those dogs!

Belle, dirty and wet and unable to climb the steep barn stairs

Mom and dad sold their house in Havre De Grace last week. It is kind of shocking how much has changed in the last 12 months, but all of this change, for the most part, is for good so we live in the present and occasionally look toward the future and in the meantime are so thankful for how things have worked out.

hi.

Dino, stalking Belle...

Belle

I am hoping to write here once a week in February - I hope you'll help keep me accountable!

Field of Dreams...

This might be a boring, LONG post...to some. To me, it's one of the most exciting things about the last 2 years of my life! For so long I've been such a dreamer. Always dreaming up a new dream...A bakery? Maybe a B & B? A move to Maine (...or Paris?) A weekend home or at least a move to the country where I would have room for a garden and a pup? A common question, much to my parents dismay, was 'What am I doing with my life?' A common prayer request, was, simply 'for direction.'

Then, in 2013, I did some work to try and figure "it" out - A fave story is that I took a test (the Strong's Inventory) and I was certain the results would tell me to go back to school to become a nurse. Imagine my surprise when I learned I should be a florist, horticulturist, or...bartender. Let's just say I filed that one away for about 6 months! 

I was a swimmer most of my life. A pool rat. We spent so many hours at Glenwood, RMSC, MAC...Then one summer (age 9) I had serious surgery which meant a good 2 months out of the water. I remember so so vividly jumping into the pool for the first time after that break - I jumped off the diving board and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. I was little, and had been swimming since I was 18 months old, no joke, and I remember just working SO hard to get to the surface (so dramatic - it was literally 12 feet deep with a lifeguard right there). Anyway, I always imagine that is what "diving in head first" will feel like - swimming against the current, going so deep, being unsure of what is on the other side, not sure how to breathe...Maybe that memory is why I am fearful? But I am also SO SO excited about what I am going to learn, what the garden will look like, thankful for finally facing these fears and taking a RISK! Thankful for my parents who, miraculously, decided to come along for this ride. 

This dream will be an evolution over my lifetime which is super fun to think about. Farming and dreaming about flowers and what the fields will look like, what to grow (WHAT TO GROW!!), who will buy these flowers, how I will manage working a full time job simultaneously, what mistakes we will make, how we will fend off the groundhogs and deer that think they run the show...I could go on. I, and we, are so excited and hope that this will be a place to log the progress not just of our 1/4 acre field of dreams (such a small sliver out of 28 acres!) but also the progress as we do so much work around here. There is so much wildlife. We are getting sheep in January (blackie below is one of ours!!)

SO photogenic!!!

Here are some "before" shots of the field of dreams...Stay tuned for the afters!

overgrown with Johnson Grass taller than me!

Back before we had a bush hog (or as dad likes to call it, a ground hog)

"After" - Dad cut back all of the Johnson grass this fall and we removed about 20 junk trees + overgrown stakes, electric fencing, etc.

The "Orchard" - 4 trees remain and they are so thankful for having some room to breathe! We are excited to see if we can get them to produce anything in the next couple of years!

I owe a "winter" shot of the garden - Dad tilled it which is super exciting, we are hoping that bringing the Johnson grass tubers to the surface and subjecting it to the harsh winter will kill most of it off, and we will be growing in landscape fabric which should help kill off more of it along with other weeds...

To Be Continued!

Merry Christmas!!!

The last 3 months have sure been a whirlwind! We are on the go, learning lots, and enjoying so much about this new lifestyle -- the views, the fresh air, the walks with the pups, the sunsets, the dreaming...we discover something new every week! We are enjoying sneaking out for ice cream, watching the Ravens on Sundays with a nice roaring fire (there is still hope for the playoffs!!!) and spending lots of time together. It is fun to see the fruits of our labor as we work to get the farm ready for some animal action beginning in January!

We are starting to plan our garden for 2015 - So exciting to see the field of dreams become reality! 

We wish you a most Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the light of the world! We hope that you will visit us in 2015 - The farm is very close to D.C. and we love visitors - be prepared to be put to work :)

Settling in...

November has flown by! We are all settling into a groove. The days are short and we try to pack as much in on the weekends as possible. Saturday mornings I love getting out into the fields first thing, pups in tow, stirring up the birds, checking out the fruits of mom and especially dad's labor...He is always excited to show me what he has been working on, new discoveries etc....

The cattle farmers who had been storing their hay in the barn came and got it over the past two days (107 bails!!! They supposedly weight 1 ton each!) and I cannot wait to get in there and dream up a super fun barn party :) 

We are excited to start a new tradition this Thanksgiving after spending the last 5 at the beach with our dear friends. This year we will be with them at their farm in Woodsboro and then will spend the long weekend at Belle Blooms - Mending fences, playing with Belle and Dino (who've doubled their weight in 4 weeks!!! They are growing so fast!) and making lists of what to work on next. There is always something...

Here are some shots from this past weekend...

These ice crystals on the fence rails were so pretty and sparkly! 

We borrowed a friend's truck to get some hauling work done... 

If you come to visit us on the farm, you will most definitely be encouraged to stop by Rocky Point Creamery. We somehow manage to "fit it in" every weekend...

Belle -- She is a smart, intense, protective pup who is always one step ahead of us

The barn

Possibly the largest fox hole in the State of Maryland

In the lower pasture looking back up towards the house

Sunset on the farm... Winter sunsets = so colorful

We do indeed have so much to be thankful for. May God bless you and keep you this Thanksgiving and always!