Oct 2, The Foliage is a Changing!

Water Beech

Pond Red

Rock Color

Hancock Autumn

The autumn colors are slowly changing, the swamp maples are a brilliant red, the sugar maples are starting to turn gold, and the gardens are just glowing. The swan song of summer if how I look at it. The weather has been unusually warm and wet. We have had a number of stunning days, warm and sunny, but they get forgotten about when they get sandwiched between days of rain.

I have been toying with cutting out two of the apple trees in the vegetable garden, I need more light and space in there, especially this time of year when the light is getting so low in the sky, so the other day I pulled on my chapps, grabbed the chainsaw and “timber!” . Well it wasn’t quite a timber because the vegetable garden fence caught them and because the trees were good size, ( having been in the ground for the last ten years) it was quite a job to get them over the fence. I didn’t want to limb them up because of our friends that use them as sculptural pieces in their shop. We hauled a tree up to the goat pasture for them to work their magic, and it didn’t take them long to totally strip off all the foliage and bark. The trees will now start to get the beautiful sun bleached look, (that is if the sun ever comes out again)

I had a bumper crop of peach’s this year and am glad to see the last of them. I have been freezing and drying them like crazy, now I am drying grapes and apples to be used in my oatmeal this winter. The most of the beans have been harvested, and now I mostly just have the plants left that I am keeping for seed, I have pulled all the tomatoes except those in the little greenhouse, they are still producing quite well, and the garden is looking as though it is really at the end of its season. Yes, I still have salad greens, pumpkins, Brussel sprouts, turnips, carrots growing well, but that deep lushness of summer is gone.

Just got the five day forecast, yeah, showers for the next few days, the a week of high pressure, with the possibility of frost at the end of the week. That will certainly put a kibosh on the gardens.

I know I know, it has been awhile for a post! Honestly, I don't know how bloggers get a posting out a day and with photos. It is all we can get out what we can.

I'm very glad Steve is back from his photo trip to Ireland. Farm chores just automatically double in time when one has to do them on one's own. Of course the goats all knew that the substitute was in and they did everything possible to bollox things up.

The gardens have been producing like crazy, I've been freezing beans, edamame and tomato sauce, as well drying grapes, peaches and cherry tomatoes and just about everything else. yesterday the meat birds went to winter camp, in other words, the freezer. We processed 34 chickens all up in a matter of two hours, we have it down to a system now, and so our 18 chickens are all resting comfortably at camp. What a relief to have one less task in the morning and evening. The majority of them dressed out to between four and five lbs. perfect!

The last peach tree to be harvested is just laden with fruit. I check them a few times a day hoping that I will get them harvested before the racoons fine them. The tree has already been hit by a porcupine and looks worse for wear. It has survived Hurricane Irene that blew through last weekend so I am hoping for a bountiful harvest. The grapes are coming on now, the first two vines I have harvested, some were eaten and most were dried for museli making this winter.

Speaking of hurricane Irene, we fared much better than expected and are very grateful for that. We got a total of 6 3/4 inches of rain, but didn't suffer from flooding or loss of power. Vermont and northern NH took the brunt of the storm in New England with major flooding, roads and bridges washed out. And just think, another storm has formed and could be headed our way again. Joy.

A number of years ago a client gave me a piece of her waterlily which I planted down at the pond. I hadn't seen it since then, but the other day I was down talking to the goats Fred and Jack and noticed I had waterlilies blooming. they are beautiful!

The days are getting shorter and the trees are beginning to show color along the ponds. I better enjoy the good days while they last.

Farewell Ireland

Geokaun Dawn

Valencia Island Light

A Lonely House

St. Finian's Church

Gougane Barra Sunrise

It has been an amazing ten day journey through the southwest corner of Ireland. 3238 photographs later (and the majority of those fair to middlin' and not worth printing), I have come away with a much different take on this country than I had previously. For all its economic woes, Ireland is vibrant, upbeat, and full of genuinely friendly people.

It is also confusing for non-Irish speaking visitors. To promote the language, all signs (with the exception of STOP signs) are in Irish, a form of gaelic, with english subtitles below. Thankfully, Peter Cox, our tour leader, is fluent and was able to navigate quite easily through this word maze.

The weather has been far wetter than normal for this time of year, but as there was not much we could do about it, we forged ahead. Only three out of ten days were sunny, whereas it should have been the reverse. At least everything was green as expected.

It was an interesting group, quite amiable and amicable, with two glaring exceptions, a couple from Los Angeles (actually the wife really wasn't too bad) who, as Peter so politely put it "some people are simply self-absorbed." Demanding, oblivious to all needs but their own, and indeed blind to much of the scenery passing by the bus as we traveled from one beautiful destination to another, they were highly unpleasant. Oh well, the rest of us got on famously!

So back to my wonderful wife and the comforts of home. I'm sorry to not have posted more images, however high speed internet has been quite rare and getting a slew of photos out was more than the system usually could bear.

Cheers,

Steve

Greetings from Portmagee

Portmagee

The Skelligs (Michael is the one on the right)

Torc Falls, Killarney

Lough Leane Twilight

View from the Lake Hotel

Hi Everyone!

I'm in Portmagee, down on the southwest coast and it is 4:12 am. I woke up a bit early for a dawn shoot and decided to use the time efficiently instead of trying to get back to sleep only to be woken in a few minutes by the alarm.

We haven't had much in the way of blue skies, perhaps 6 hours total, in the last week, but there IS a reason Ireland is so green and there has been plenty of that. We were scheduled to take the ferry out to Skellig Michael, this massive rock with an 8th century monastery ruin on top 9 miles out to sea, but the swells are too big so we are going to see other wild and wooly bits of Ireland.

Here's a few images to date. Enjoy!

More from Ireland

Great Blasket Island Vista

View towards Dun Quinn

Blasket Island Ruin (for sale!)

Dingle Fishing Boat Abstract

Hi folks!

The weather has been a bit hard for photography but that doesn't stop us, so here's some more for you to enjoy. We are in Killarney for a couple of days and today it is very low overcast with rain. Hopefully tomorrow will be more advantageous for seeing this countryside.

Cheers,

Steve

Greetings from Ireland

Minard Castle

Blasket Island Trio

Hi everyone!

I am here in Dingle, Ireland (down in the southwest corner of the country) enjoying a bit of photography in this wild country. Yes, Ireland is far wilder than most folks realize, seeing as how most of them stay close to meticulously groomed golf courses or Dublin.

Allie is tending the farm and dealing with all the critters, along with her gardening clients, who sometimes are more challenging than the animals.

So without further ado, here are some photos for you. Sorry they are small but the availability of internet is a bit limited so I had to keep the file size down.

Bonnie off for greener Pastures

Bonnie

Shelburne Window scene

Adirondacks from Lake Champlain

Shelburne Barn

Summer is here full tilt and we have been flat out in the gardens harvesting beans, cucumbers, beans and yet more beans. The raspberries have finished up and the currants are also done. Phew. Now I can concentrate a little bit more on putting up the vegetables, at least until the peaches and apples start up.

Yesterday we drove to Shelburne VT to go to the Shelburne Museum. It was a beautiful clear day and Lake Champlain was just beautiful and the Adirondack Mountains in NY were clear in the distance. If nothing else, it was a beautiful day for a drive across the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Champlain Valley. The Shelburne Museum has 37 historic structures that all house Electra Webb's eclectic collection, and lets just say that it was one very fascinating eclectic collection.

It was a sad night last night when our old faithful pygmy goat passed away. Bonnie was at least 13 years old and the leader of the herd dispite her size. Nothing phased 'ole Bonnie, no matter how much snow was on the ground, she was always the first goat out into the paddock, she had an infallible internal clock that would go off at 6:30 each night telling us that it was time to go in for the evening. She will be sorely missed. Truffle will have very big shoes to fill.