This weekend the wheat was ready. When the wheat, oats, corn or hay is ready everything else takes a back seat. It doesn’t matter what it is… it’s that simple. After 16 years of marriage I’m finally getting it.

I love this time of year when the wheat turns gold and the oats are that lovely blue-green. The strips of color in the fields always draw my eye. Every year the colors change due to the crop rotation to keep the soil healthy. I’ll never tire of painting and studying this place.

Farmboy enjoyed his day spent in the air-conditioned combine listening to the radio… long enough to hear the same songs start playing all over again. It must be a nice contrast to his 9 to 5 office job with computers.

The rows of straw left behind the combine will be baled this week and stored to make a soft bedding for the horses. Word has it I will be running the baler tomorrow. I hope that I won’t feel that magnetic pull towards another large object that I sometimes do while driving a tractor. Houses, barns and other tractors… beware.

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Whew.

May was a whirlwind of activity.

Will one of you sweethearts remind me of this next year?

All of those snow-filled days last winter amounted to one very pent up gardener who was ready to dig up the entire yard this Spring just to enjoy being warm, outside and being active.

I now understand why Farmboy loves the winter so much. It represents rest. As soon as the soil wakes in the Spring the rush for planting begins. The crops getting in are the biggest priority for the month of May. Farmboy comes in from his IT job, changes clothes, grabs and bite to eat and then heads out. Numerous nights during the month we would meet in bed at midnight- exhausted from deadlines, orders and planting.

Just as we breathe a big sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks that the crops are finally in… albeit late, it’s time to cut hay, cultivate, mow as well as pack the trailer for my next show (Allentown Art Festival this weekend) and do three nights a week of lacrosse practices.

The potager layout… before.

This year I decided to splurge and purchased one of those handy Mantis garden tillers for the vegetable garden. It is very light-weight and its narrow width works well in the small beds of my potager. Speaking of which, the potager is almost completely planted… I’m thrilled! I think this year it will be a delight for the eyes and the tastebuds.

Getting started with planting.

I always “plan” to put a “plan” on paper before I start planting… but I never do. It feels like painting when I am out there planting on the fly- thinking about lines, shape, color and repetition. At least this year I do have rows marked and I plan to do an “after” drawing of what is there for next year’s reference. I have threatened everyone that they will “rue the day” if they touch my plant markers as this is the first year that I am actually using them to keep track of which varieties grow/taste better than others.

The Mr and Mrs.

I’m thrilled this year to have an Eastern Bluebird family in a nesting box right under the studio windows on our rose arbor!  It has been such a joy watching the coming and going of those busy parents. The male will come right out to the potager when I am there and perch on the pea trellises or tomato stakes. After years of never even seeing a glimpse of the elusive New York State Bird… its wonderful to have a family of them living here next to the garden.

Outside the studio window.

So friends, thanks for stopping by. I will soon be posting some recent paintings that I’ve been working on, a great list of vegetable gardening references, potager progress, and a fun French-themed dinner menu you will not want to miss. Now let’s all get to work on enjoying the upcoming LAZY days of summer as demonstrated by Pongo the cat.

Pongo taking his afternoon nap.

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Today I have found the MOST Fabulous Friday Find ever. Ever, I tell you. OK, so it’s not jewelry or high fashion… but it could be supernatural.

Some of you may remember a post that I wrote last year titled: Chickens, Gypsy Wagons and Marriage. That is where it all begins. It tells the story of a charming wife’s (me) desire to talk her charming husband (Farmboy) into getting some charming chickens. He does not want to- to put it lightly. Somehow she manages to convince him that if they could buy this old gypsy wagon looking thing that she’s seen for years sitting out in a pasture it would make the perfect mobile hen house. Alas, when they went to look at it, it was gone and so were her dreams of chicken ownership. (The story is actually much more interesting and funny than this summary.)

But… today. Someone tweeted me a link. Do you see the irony? T w e e t e d me a link to a picture. It’s the best link I’ve ever been tweeted.  I nearly fainted when I saw the picture. I thought it was impossible. There may need to be some modifications… but what do you think?

I think I may have Farmboy on the run. This morning I instant messaged him and told him to sit down, take a deep breath and click on the link. His response was  “wow, just wow!” “It’s exactly what you thought of!” He’s on the run I tell you. The bargaining has begun… stay tuned. Happy Fabulous Find Friday!

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I love the way this little guy came out so I HAD to share! The design was a fun surprise for my snow-loving, snowmobiling Hubby. It completely cracked him up. Is there a favorite design that you would like to see on a coffee mug? Let me know! I want to hear about it. We all need to start the morning off drinking our coffee/tea from something that makes us smile!

New products and designs are on the way!

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It’s a rainy day here in Central New York. Plan on pouring some tea and heading up to the studio to work on a Bearded Collie design. Will post soon!

Have a day full of peace, joy and wonder! : )

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Did someone say “walk”?

Come on… let’s go! How can you resist this face? It’s been a long of week of getting settled after the Clothesline Festival in Rochester (highlights to come). I have slowly been unpacking my trailer and getting reorganized. I needed an energetic walk this morning with my bouncy dogs. So why not join me?

First, on our way out we have to stop at the barn to feed the Hungry Hippos, the barn kitties and sing a morning song to Ruby the Rabbit.

Now, on to our walk.

Down the trail.

Gracie scrambles to catch up to Olie.

The corn is starting to turn that lovely color of light yellow ochre.

The leaves are starting to turn!

Catching their breath.

My favorite tree on these 300 acres. An old Sugar Maple that lights up the landscape in the Fall.

The gorge with a Fall trickle of water from the fields.

Heading back.

Horses turned out.

Couldn’t resist photographing this lovely Pee Gee Hydrangea by the front steps.

Thanks for joining me! Come again!

: ) Michelle

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Today a shiny gigantic tractor trailer pulled into the farm with a Massey-Ferguson tractor strapped down on the trailer. Farmboy and Farmer Russ were all smiles. The tractor isn’t new per se’ but it is new to us and is in great condition. Isn’t it a beauty?

It drives me crazy when Farmboy and Farmer Russ are shopping for equipment. It seems as though they always have to drive to another state to find what they are looking for. This tractor was found down in Southern Pennsylvania and Farmboy has been anxiously awaiting its arrival so that it can be used for Fall harvesting/planting. The enclosed heated cab is also going to be very cozy when snowblowing the driveway this winter.

Every now and then I have to get into one of the tractors and move it or help with something. I have this innate fear of running into a building when I am behind the wheel. You know, a mental lapse… which one is the clutch?… which one is the brake?… oh no, that’s the gas!…. CRASH! It happens every time I drive a tractor. Not the actual crashing into something… just the overwhelming fear that I will.

The fellow who delivered the tractor was an interesting guy. Originally from Oklahoma now living in PA. Apparently he is like the Jesse James of tractor trailers. His “rig” was all tricked out. A chopper version of an 18 wheeler. Who knew? You could tell he took great pride in fixing up the 20 yr old truck. I was a little concerned about whether or not he could see over the dash board.

Just another day at the farm… ; )

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End of summer… LaLa is dying to get on that school bus for her first day of First Grade. The Bean knows what is coming and doesn’t mind the days dragging on.

Farmboy and I thought that a corn stand would be great for The Bean this year. His cousins who are older were also interested.  The boys made a table in June in anticipation of holding this year’s harvest.

It’s hard for me not to have visions of a giant festival of corn when a “corn stand” is mentioned. I think big. Why not? I like a spectacle, don’t you? Farmboy often wonders “why does everything you do have be a spectacle?”  I tried to stay out of it… really, I did.

I helped set up my art festival tent at the end of our driveway. The boys took the golf cart down into the field and loaded it with corn. I painted a couple of signs, put some tablecloths out and the boys were good to go. It was an interesting experience. Friday I found out that earlier in the morning one of the kids accidently picked field corn instead of sweet corn. Eeegads. Embarrassing. Especially when Farmboy encouraged his friends at work to stop in for some of the best sweet corn they will ever taste. Ooops. We had a discussion about “quality control” and how important it is to double check what they are selling for its quality. We weren’t sure how much had been sold. Farmboy made a few calls to let people know.

It was painful to watch as they counted change back to customers. The Bean made it clear that they were perfectly fine without me there. I took advantage of the situation to spend a little time in the studio to prepare for an upcoming show. La La and I spent the entire day on Friday making cupcakes for her cupcake stand. On Saturday the 1st Annunal “Windswept Farm Sweet Corn Extravaganza” took place. There was sweet corn, of course, lemonade, cupcakes and brownies, not to mention some tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden. Farmboy, Aunt Kim and I moved the stand further down on the farm across the street from the community recycling station – its gets alot of traffic on a Saturday morning.

The kids earned some money, ate alot of cupcakes and brownies and drank alot of lemonade. This year we have decided to let them bask in the money that they have earned. They have a taste of economics and we will hit them with the full picture next year when they have to think about how much a bag of corn seed costs and how much fuel is required to plant that seed. They are all ready talking about how they will make next year better and I am encouraged by their enthusiasm. There were a couple of hiccups- the field corn and a woman came back because she had only 4 ears when she purchased 6. Gasp. Blush. Embarassement. But they were apologetic and generous giving her extra because of their mistake. I wish that I had been taught the principles of business when I was young. I look forward to teaching the kids.

Next year all of those balloons are going to have to be put into their budget. How have you encouraged the entreprenuerial spirit in your children? Any creative ideas?

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Not long ago a stray cat started making an appearance at the barn. Three older kittens live there to keep the mice in check. They have all been spayed and neutered. The little orange, peanut butter stray is quiet and skittish but has warmed up over the past couple of months.

I am an animal lover- always have been. I’ve never known life without some sort of pet/family member. Growing up we always had a cat, dog and/or horses at some time or another. Both of my horses came off the local racetrack in the Finger Lakes. My gelding was a pitiful sack of bones. It took some time to put on some weight on his frame and get the steriods out of his system. He lives high on the hog now and his less than stellar racing career is a distant memory. Oh how he loves to run but that is another story… another post.

This post is about the whispy peanut butter cat that started to become very round over the past month. I told Farmboy “That is a Momma Kitty, she is getting ready to have kittens.” Oh dear. There are already three at the barn and we have three in our home. I feel responsible for this poor cat who was probably dropped off out here in the country. Our three house/garden cats all were adopted. Little Helen Chapel is sleeping beside me as I type. (Farmboy and I are “Wings” fans… what can I say? Didn’t you love Helen, those Hackett brothers and Lowell??)

I consider myself a responsible, conscientious pet owner. Somehow I think we have adopted this little orange peanut butter cat or she adopted us. We’d better get ready for the vet bills- as if 3 cats, 2 dogs and 3 horses aren’t enough. LaLa has been thrilled at the idea of more kittens. She is some sort of bizarre savant cat-whisperer. Our rough and tumble Pongo is a tremendous hunter- a very serious cat yet he sits outside of LaLa’s door at night and cries until someone opens the door and he can go cuddle up in bed with her. He watches TV with her and tolerates her packing him around on her hip like a purse. She is the only one of us that he seeks to be with. Toonces sleeps every night with The Bean. When he hears a story being read he is there purring in stereo. Little Helen Chapel sleeps with me and Farmboy at night and doesn’t stir until we head to the kitchen for coffee in the morning. Numerous days I’ve woken up with a “Helen scarf” wrapped around my neck.  We have our companions and all is right in the world at night.

I’ve kept a close eye on Momma Kitty the past week then two days ago I saw her- skinnier. I knew she had her kittens but there was no telling where they were. The next day we saw her take a kitten into one of the horses’ stall. We tried to keep her out but she would only run back in. After we brought the horses in that evening Farmboy saw her take a kitten in through a stall window.

She was determined to nest in the straw in the corner of my mare Paley’s stall. The other morning when I went to feed to my surprise there were four kittens. She was snuggled up with them in the corner of the stall. It cracks me up to think of my spooky Paley with a mother cat and nest of kittens in her stall under her nervous and watchful eye.

So far all is well. I turn into a child again when I go in Paley’s stall and sit in the corner with “Pumpkin” and her babies. The barn comes to life with the sounds of the horses quietly chewing and the busy sparrows flying in and out feeding their new babies. I’m amazed all over again at the circle of life- the beauty and the tragedy of it all. That little momma kitty is a skinny pathetic thing but she is sweet and starved for a caress and a tender word. She is always there with those furry, yawning, hungry, eyed-closed kittens. Soon their eyes will open and they will start to explore their environment which makes me nervous. The plan is to get them out of the stall. I am afraid they will get stepped on. I hope she won’t keep taking them back to Paley’s stall once they are moved. We will see.

I think she is a keeper. We’ll have her spayed and she’ll have a permanent home where she’ll be fed and loved and patted regularly. Hopefully we’ll find homes for the kittens… the kids and cousins will be disappointed. Maybe they will stay and we’ll have them fixed too… the kittens, not the kids.  What if another stray comes next year?  Where do you stop? I don’t know. I’m glad Farmboy has a kind heart. Who knew that Pumpkin carried a four little glass slippers- that we have found in Paley’s stall. Maybe she is a princess after all.

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