As I sat writing ...

It's hard to know where to start when I sit down to write. A few months ago, a dear reader observed that there seemed to be a lot of bad things happening on the farm this year. So I backed off the wiritng. If you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all, right. Well, when you have seven out of eight goats die on you and a five week dry period, you spend your time trying to hold it together and then picking up the pieces. I'm not saying farm life is all hard work and doom and gloom, but sometimes, what you think of as news is not so good. I can say that I know what caused the goat die off. I also have a new perspective on irrigation. I've gotten to watch my daughter grow taller and stay pink. I seen my son get used to having jobs to do and learning how to trim horse feet with my husband. All those are great and good things, but when I sit down to write, I remember the individual goats, the struggle to get time to pull fence, the property line "discussion" the adjoining property owners keep bringing up and so on.

The truth is farming is a quite a bit of hard times punctuated by brilliant flashes of great moments. It IS work. It IS hard and it can be disappointing. But I love it. I would work whether it was at this or something else. And I love this. The quiet moments of picking or weeding. The intense joy of watching a small animal play. and so on. It can sound quite cliched and maybe it is. But perhaps that's because so many people have had a chance to experience this life either through their relatives, TV, books or whatever.

So stick with me. It may be hard but anything worth doing has a price. Besides, the stories may be interesting. I think this farm is absolutely necessary. More small farms are needed. We must concentrate on growing local food for our own survival. Tomatoes, anyone? How about spinach?

Mark this Date on Your Calendar!

The Pie Lady

The Pie Lady has been making fried pies for a really long time. Twenty years - she thinks. At first she only made them for her family. Usually she made apricot pies, but sometimes she made peach pies. She would make them when family and friends requested them.

One year, her daughter told her about an new Open Air Market in Ashland City. All Master Gardeners were invited to set up at the market and sell their plants and whatever else they were producing at home in their gardens. Her daughter wanted her mom to come with her. Mom didn't want to go because... why after all, she would not have anything to do. So her daughter suggested that she make some pies and bring them, just to see if they would sell at the market. She sold 20 pies in 30 minutes.

The Pie Lady comes to the market early on Saturday mornings. Those delicious fried pies are the first item sold out every time. She now makes four flavors of fried pies: apple, apricot, chocolate and peach. All of them are fantastic.

I eat breakfast so early on Saturday mornings, that by the time I get to market and get set up, I am ready for a snack. One of those delicious homemade fried pies really hits the spot. When the Pie Lady's grandchildren are there, you can often get a large cup of sweet tea to go with your pie. When you come to pick up your share or to visit your friends at the market, come early and see The Pie Lady.

Where in The World Are Rock & Gem?

?

If it's Saturday morning, they're at the Ashland City Open Air Market at the corner of Highway 12 and Washington Street in Ashland City, of course!

Rock & Gem live at Mule Shoe Farm most days, but Saturday mornings they get in the back seat of Ms.Anne's car at about 8:15am and ride to market. By 9am, they are munching away on the grass graciously provided at the Open Air Market, waiting for their many fans to come and visit.

By Noon, Ms.Anne has finished delivering shares to shareholders, and Rock & Gem are ready to go back home to rejoin their friends and playmates: Anabelle, Rock Lee, & Java. Sometimes, they even get to hang out with the herd queen, Duchess.

Rock and Gem are LaMancha goats with the distinctive "elf" ears of that breed. They were bottle-fed as babies which means they enjoy human contact and are not at all afraid of children petting them. The twin brothers are almost 6 months old and when they are big enough Ms.Anne will train them to pull a cart and carry packs. Right now, they enjoy greeting the public and answering questions. Come find them every Saturday morning until the end of October at the Open Air Market in Ashland City.

A Long Slow Spring

What a lovely spring we are having this year! The cool weather has been wonderful and it has helped our early spring crops grow - but not too fast. I cannot believe how beautiful it has been with everything slowly coming to life. You can really appreciate the various flowers and leaves of spring without fear of missing something when you blink.

This week I was hoping to have enough lettuce and other odds and ends to have shares for pickup. The cool nights this week, have challenged the lettuce considerably. It is smaller than would be expected at this time. We'll take a wait and see attitude here. Next week looks quite promising.

Here is what I expect to have in the shares next week - April 26: Collards, lettuce, chives, eggs, lemon verbena for your tea and yarrow for a sweet scent. Check out What's in the Basket for more complete descriptions later this week. Just a reminder: shareholders on a payment plan have payments due this Saturday, the 19th.

Things have been quite adventuresome in the last couple weeks. Duchess was mauled by a young coyote. Two dogs found new homes. Plants emerged from the ground. The chickens got a new home. Various wildflowers have been blooming and putting on quite a show. I see more this year than ever before. A consistent challenge has been to photograph everything going on here.

Everyone is invited to visit us on Saturdays at the Ashland City Open Air Market at the corner of Washington & Main Streets in Ashland City. Many farmers and craftspeople have booths for you to visit. Don't miss the "Pie Lady" or many of the other wonderful vendors there.

Signs of Spring

The forsythia bushes at the corner

After Anabelle and Rock Lee were born, I really started to notice Spring around here. The weather also started to warm up a bit and I was more motivated to get outside.

The forsythia started to pop and periwinkles began to bloom. We are still early for daffodils, but I can see the buds beginning to swell. I expect to see a green haze in the woods very soon. If you live in Nashville and your stuff bloomed last week, don't worry, Mule Shoe Farm is right on schedule. The cool weather stays here a little longer in our cove. Our temperatures are less extreme and the changes more gradual. That's effect of the Cumberland River on our little piece of paradise.


My To Do list just exploded along with the change in season.

• file taxes
• build milking stanchion
• build new compost piles
• build goat shelter
• clear weeds from raised beds
• add compost to raised beds
• plant raised beds
• get out floating row covers
• cover raised beds
• wash down chicken house and feeders
• move chicken furniture to new pen
• put up garden fence
• order chickens
• build brooder boxes
• declutter last year's market supplies
• order business cards
• make banner for market

And the list could go on, but at this point it gets a bit overwhelming.


So we start with the most pressing issues - like milking the goat and getting spring plants in. Oh yeah and &*()#% taxes.


I built a large part of the stanchion on a Friday afternoon with my son's help. There is still a head holder and hobble to be installed. Before you start wondering why I would want such things, remember that goats, like toddlers, don't like to be confined for any reason. They just KNOW something better is just over there. Great survival instinct. Bad milking time. Duchess is still a bit people adverse and has displayed a distinct dislike to having her udder touched by humans. But never fear. I got her number. The milking stanchion also gets a feed bucket and I can feed her grain ration while milking. Pretty soon she'll be loving it.

I also finished the new compost bins and have started to fill them.




A large portion of compost needs to be moved, but we are on our way.



It feels good to get outside and I sleep a lot more soundly after all that fresh air.


One more thing to mention. Shakers and Daisy need new parents. We simply have too many dogs and we want these two to go to good people.


Shakers is about 6 months old and a small dog with great intelligence. She is a cross between a rat terrier and Carolina cur. She would make a great house dog.


Daisy has been a house dog who is also comfortable outside. She will always be glad to see you and would be best in a yard with active older kids, say 9 or 10 and up. Free to good homes.

The Ashland City Open Air Market opens on April 12th provided the weather cooperates. Mule Shoe Farm will have shares ready the following week on April 19th.

Smile and Wave

photo by GlennFleishman

When the Open Air Market opened this April, the first Saturday was not great. In fact, I was the only one there and it was drizzling. It was also a bit airish. I set up and stayed, so that people would know I was planning to be there on a regular basis. I think I even sold something. That day began my unofficial smile and wave campaign here in Ashland City. I felt the compulsion to smile and wave at every car passing my small stand.

I remembered how in Cordele, GA, where I lived in my 'tweens, that everyone was always friendly whether they actually knew your name or not. "Hey, Howya doin'?" was the most common greeting. It was delivered with the air of utmost familiarity and friendship everywhere in that small town. I also remember how different that felt than how it felt where I was born, a big metropolitan area. I became friendlier and in the process relaxed. The relaxation led to an unintentional kindness. I certainly wasn't taught at earlier age to be nice to strangers.

This act became so reflexive that when I went to college in a different large metro area, I was astounded to be approached by the "spices of life" everywhere I went. It wasn't until I realized it was the friendliness I brought with me from Georgia that was attractive, that I stopped. I did not want to be the target of unwelcome attention, so I reacquainted myself with the rules of big city life - don't smile, don't make eye contact, stay in your bubble. The kindness that I habitually exhibited began to disappear. I became bitter, cynical, unfriendly. To my Southern self, I became rude. I was anonymous in the crowd. I considered it necessary survival tactics. What exasperated the situation was that I actually enjoy being friendly. It's easier for one thing and it's less stressful.

I moved to a neighborhood that was close-knit and began to meet my neighbors. Soon I could walk down the street and greet nearly everyone I passed. And we were kind to one another. We collected cans for the man who made his living from them. We looked out for each other's houses and vehicles. We fed each other's animals and we checked on the sick and elderly regularly. One day, I was at Mrs. R's taking coffee with her and Marie, when the subject of tenants came up. Nearly all of us were tenants, but the comment was made that the tenants who were not from the neighborhood did not take care of the property they were renting. I asked if the tenants were known. Had anyone ever visited them? No. They're not from this country. We wouldn't talk to them. Then very logically and naively, I asked (I had to - it's in my nature) Well, then how do you know the place was a mess? It was explained to me that people like that always lived in filth. It was clear to me that the unkindness and prejudice in this situation arose from the relative anonymity of the newcomers. Nobody got to know anyone else and certainly there was no greeting going on between relative strangers.

This story brings me up to Ashland City, another smallish tight knit community. One thing I like about Ashland City is that it is a small town and I could get to know everyone if I wanted to. But something puzzled me about this place in Tennessee. I rather expected it would be somewhat like Georgia where everyone would say Hello to each other and give a friendly nod. Nope. Not really. I used to joke that this was a little bit of New England plopped into the South. Keep to yourself. Really. Please.

This allows all kinds of gossip. I have witnessed first hand, how word spreads around town about this, that and the other. How people bear 20 and 30 year old grudges over high school gossip. What we need is a little more kindness and a little more community. One of the roles of local farmer is to bolster community. It may be unintentional but nonetheless, people meet each other at the market and they begin to talk. More folks will stop in and check out your vegetables if you smile and say, Hello. More than that, I learn what food the community needs and what difficulties some people might be having. All the various kindnesses that were paid to me over the years, can be paid forward to others.

Paying kindness forward is not a new concept to me and it doesn't appear to be exclusive to my upbringing, although that is certainly where I learned it. Check out this Zen Habits post on paying kindness forward. This idea drives the food giveaways and various neighborhood assistances that go between us in a small town. It is the old way of farming. We all help each other, without a ledger to keep track, because we are paying forward. We are not lending a hand, we are giving a hand. And there is a difference. A loan becomes a debt which must be returned to the lender. A gift becomes the property of the recipient who can re-gift it to someone else. And it all starts with a smile and wave. A friendly hello. If we don't know each other, it is hard to be kind. We don't know. We have no information. In the absence of information, the mind fills in the blanks. And the gossip spreads without basis.

The first step is to smile and wave. Ask how the person is doing, and listen to their answer. Take the kindnesses given to you and pay them forward. Mule Shoe Farm will be at the Open Air Market this Saturday (unless there are sick children) and I will be smiling and waving at the passing cars, just like always. Stop in and say Hi. We'll talk and build up our community through mutual kindnesses.

Out of the Loop

by Chaparrel [Kendra]

Yeah, I know. I've been out of the loop. I admit I haven't posted anything this week except for Monday. The truth is I haven't been near a computer since Monday. I haven't been feeling well and have had multiple doctor's appointments this week. Hopefully everything is squared away and I will be back to my usual self next week.

The hardest thing about being sick, for me, is the laying around doing nothing. Yeah, I know you're rolling your eyes at me. Who wouldn't want to lay around? It's not that I'm opposed to laying around, it's just that as a wife, mother and farmer I keep thinking of all the things I could be doing. I know I have built and re-built the new chicken house at least five times this week in my sleep. Believe me the coop gets better every time I build it, but the pieces are still sitting in the field waiting on someone to actually put them together. And that someone is me.

But then, am I all about sustainability? Doing what you can with the resources you have? Not overextending the land, the animals, the soil, or...

myself?

Ummm. Yeah, that's me.

That thought has kept me getting better this week without overextending myself too much. A little at a time. Easy does it. And so on.

See ya' next week!

No Variances On the Flood Plain

Vacant Lockmaster House near Old Hickory Dam by Brent and MariLynn

Mondays are devoted to topics of local interest.

I was reading the I-24 Exchange about various zoning variances that were denied based on instructions from the federal government that to grant them would increase the cost of flood insurance for the entire county. It seems that the attorney representing two of the variance requests withdrew the requests, saying that the issues involved had been discussed with him and the people he represented were going to abide by the county's decision to not grant the variances. No big deal, so far. Not quite what I expected but to my way of thinking, it is the only option.

What struck me about the reports of the whole affair was the insistence of the county planner for economic development that NO CONVERSATION had occurred between her and the attorney. What's the big deal, here? I'm not sure.

Okay, maybe I'm slow or naive or don't care enough about personal county politics. I didn't necessarily assume there had been a conversation, but her insistence that there wasn't one is the cause of my suspicion. Why would she make such a big deal about it? How does this relate to the junk pile further up river that has many residents upset. It was granted a variance. Doe sit violate EPA laws or Corps of Engineer requirements. I don't know.

I think it's pretty clear that the federal law supersedes whatever the county wishes to do. That's pretty much the law of the land post-Civil War and how federalism works. But I am unsure of many of the facts of the case. This situation has been going on for a bit of time, but I really didn't pay too much attention because it seemed to be over an installation of a swimming pool.

Now I am wondering what is going on. You never know when something small will become a major butt-covering issue. That's why I encourage everyone in Cheatham County to pay more attention to what is going on around here. With the completion of the Braxton in the near future, and the super-heated house building market in the north of the county, the indicators point to an imminent rapid growth for the county. If we don't pay attention, we will look around one day and wonder where all the green space is and what happened to the barns and old houses that were demolished to make way for progress.

Operation Clean Sweep Starts Next Week

To paraphrase Julius Caesar, " All of Cheatham County is divided into three parts." Three quite littered parts.

The high schools in the county serve to illustrate the divisions. The northern part is served by Sycamore High School, the central by Cheatham Central and the southern end by Harpeth High School. A distinct feature of our county is the two rivers, several large notable creeks and numerous small tributaries. Cheatham County is crossed by the Harpeth and Cumberland Rivers. Two notable large creeks are Sam's Creek which used to a be a resort area and Sycamore Creek. Coming up from the Davidson County line on River Road we have Pond Creek, Sam's Creek and Brush Creek.

You would think that with all this water surrounding us, we would have a fairly wet farm. Not so. Mule Shoe Farm is located just off the flood plain in the limestone hills which are also a feature of the county. While we have numerous wet weather springs and seepage from the hills, we don't actually have much of a water supply. Many wells in the hills have dried up or were not much use in the first place having either very hard water or sulphur water.

This means that the main water supplies for the county come from the Harpeth and Cumberland Rivers and Sycamore Creek. As I noted last week, there is lots of trash all over the county which often makes it way down the various banks to the rivers and streams. Another matter for consideration is the large number of sink holes in our area. In the past, people quite often would throw their trash in sinkholes and down hillsides. Now we have dumps to hold our trash.

It is still a concern that there is so much trash laying about. Recently the county picked up trash along my road. That was maybe two weeks ago. Today as we about our errands fro the day, my daughter made up a little diversion of saying litter each time she saw trash by the side of the road. Need I say, she talked the ENTIRE trip. Litter, litter litter litter litter litter, etc. for 20 minutes. Yikes!

This trash will eventually make its way into our water - our DRINKING water. That's it. Clean Sweep Week starts on October 22, 2007. Use that week to make an extra effort to clean up your trash and better yet, don't throw it on the ground in the first place. All during clean sweep week, you will be able to take all sorts of trash to the dump without paying the dumping fee. Take advantage of this opportunity to improve our county's greatest resource by starting to pick up your trash this week. Also remember to securely fasten and tarp your loads on the way to the dump. That way the trash won't distribute itself along the road on the way to the dump.

Remember Operation Clean Sweep starts on October 22 and runs through October 27.

What Is Going On Here?

Check out www.cheathamchatter.com and post your own local news or items you have for sale.

A link was forwarded to me regarding a junk pile just barely within the county line. The property was not zoned for such a thing, but when the matter came up for a hearing the zoning board decided to grant the necessary exception, code or whatever the technical term is.
Since the debris is being stored in the flood plain, the arrangement may impact water quality in Ashland City and surrounding areas. Read more about it and post your comments here:

http://www.comply-with-the-zoning.blogspot.com/

Prior to the zoning hearing, there were great big signs posted across the street and next to the property,inviting everyone to attend the zoning meeting and protest the rezoning of this "lovely" little spot.

Now every time I drive by, I try to see what I can see from the road. So far, no luck. I will look harder when the leaves fall off the trees. I can imagine that it is a real eyesore to the people on the other side of the river who can see it right now. How much is your view worth to you? How much is clean water worth to you? Debris in the floodplain affects not only the water supply but the wild life and vegetation that use that water supply. How much is that worth to you?

I would not ordinarily be described as a rabid environmentalist and I don't generally consider myself one. But this is one time when I can say that, while trying to keep an open mind about all possible aspects of the situation, it incenses me that people - not just one person - are soooo complacent to think that it is okay even for a little bit to allow this trash to just sit there. Recycle it and move it along, already.

While I am on the subject, it is really NOT okay to through your trash out the window of your car while you are driving along any number of our scenic roads here in Cheatham County. Yes, I know we have people to pick up, i.e. prisoners; but that's not the point. Picking up trash and debris is only one way they can pay their debt to society. There are plenty others. If they weren't so busy picking up trash, maybe they could helping to pull out those exotic invasives we all would like to get rid of.

I include throwing cigarettes in the littering issue. Those filters do not decompose, people. Not to mention the fire hazard a lit cigarette is. We're in a drought. Do you remember that we're in a drought? We have a 16"+ deficit in rain fall this year. All these lovely woods can go up in a split second. Keep the trash in your car until you can dispose of it properly. When you're not driving down the road.

And I really don't need all those empty bottles and bags across my easement either. Or the newspapers and morning coffee. I have plenty of my own. At home. In my trashcan. Where they belong. Thank you very much.

We live in a lovely place. God's own country. A beautiful, natural and mostly wild part of Middle Tennessee. Let's not continue to mess it up. Let your representatives know that you care about where you live.

All Things Cheatham County

On Mondays, I will be posting notices about local events, points of interest and anything local to Cheatham County.

Did you ever wonder how you could find who has a farm locally? Do you have something to sell or a notice you want everyone to know about? Have you had trouble trying to figure out how to get your message out to folks in Cheatham County? Well, you're in luck because now all of us here in this county can use a nifty new bulletin board website to post announcements, have discussions, find items for sale or post your sellables.

Let's give a big welcome to www.cheathamchatter.com put together by Jim Day of Timbertop Farm with the excellent assistance of his oldest son, who by the way has an uncommon acting ability and is a talented writer, as well.

Cheatham Chatter is a bulletin board. In ancient computer times, a Bulletin Board existed as a dial-up number were you could download short messages and upload you own text only messages. I remember as a teenager that having a phone number and password to a bulletin board was a hotter ticket than any black market commodity. Now, bulletin boards have progressed quite a bit thanks to Internet access for all, but the concept is still the same. It is a terrific way to post messages and news.

I test-drove it and it is a nice simple friendly way to get news out. First you must register. You type in a username and password of your choice and when you've submitted your registration, the system zaps you an email lickety-split. You will be prompted to agree to a user agreement during this process.

Open the email and authenticate your password. Now you are ready to post. I found the posting form easy to use and very self-explanatory. It looks a bit like Word. I did not see any ability to post pictures per se, but I'll bet that with some bona fide actual looking for this function, it would be there. Once you click the post button, your text is forwarded for review before posting. I posted a bit about Mule Shoe Farm under Local Foods.

What are you waiting for? Go see it. Now - ish at www.cheathamchatter.com

That's What Friends Are For

by Stu Seeger

Sometimes friends show up at the most serendipitous times. Once we told a friend of ours at Thanksgiving that we would be in Disney World around Christmas. He was going on vacation at the same time and thought he might swing by Florida. On a whim, we said, we're planning to be at Epcot on this day and and so on. One month later, we were at Epcot walking past the Norweigan Exhibit when we here someone calling our name out of a crowd of about three or four thousand people that were in that area at the time. It was our friend. Amazing, huh. Well, that night we all had a fabulous leisurely supper in Morocco at Epcot with plenty of talking, laughter and jokes.

I called another friend today because I hadn't heard from her in about a week. This is really not that unusual because we both get busy. But she was getting ready to to call me when I called her. She needed to visit and talk. So here she is. It's wonderful that it works like that.

I want to say to everyone, value your friends. Since my family moved around a bit when I was young, I don't actually have any lifelong friends that are not somehow related to me by blood. My sweetie on the other hand, has friends he's known since kindergarten. I have to say that's pretty special.

To develop friendships and maintain them is imperative for our mental health. When family passes away or moves on, it's our friends who are there to support us. We are there to support them as well. As Barbra Streisand sang, "People who need people are the luckiest people." The people who are needed are lucky too. Since we humans are social creatures, we need companionship. I love my animals and they are wonderful beings to help restore my spirits when I'm down. However, it's not the same as friend who has laughed and cried with you and you with them, who knows just where you're at and you know when they need you.

Please say a prayer for my friend in need.

Hometown Hoedown at the Co-op

Last night, after we trimmed a new customer's horses (Charlotte & Jackson) we went to the Ashland City Co-op's Hometown Hoedown. It is the first time to my husband's recollection that the co-op ever did something like this and it was great family fun. First, supper was free and plentiful. They did not run out of hot dogs, hamburgers or BBQ the entire night. I know my son went back for fourths and fifths in addition to staking out the drinks. Then the entertainment was free and very good. I don't remember the name of every group by the Briar Patch folks were amazing. And last but certainly not least, many folks we knew were there even though there was a pretty major home football game going on at the same time (Sycamore vs. Cheatham Central).







The trimming job was for some new customers who were just the sweetest. The Mrs. invited us in and we talked about babies and rooster decor and fun video games. It is always lovely to meet people who are pleasant to be with. Don't mistake trimming for shoeing. We don't shoe horses because it is not good for the horses. Many will disagree but first things first.







Let me tell about trimming horses. Most folks believe that "real" working horses are and have to be shod and that leaving your horse barefoot is somehow somewhat negligent or at least underclass on the part of the owner. Not so. There are plenty more experts out there on this than me, but here's how I understand it.







A horse's hoof expands and contracts as it moves. This expansion and contraction allow blood and oxygen to flow to the hoof and thus help it grow which in turn protects the horse's feet and allow them to carry weight and absorb shock more effectively. When you pick up a horses hoof to clean or trim it, it is contracted while you are holding it, because there is no weight on it. When you put it down and the horse stands on it, the hoof expands to absorb the downward thrust of the horse's weight.

Horses are shod, by necessity, by lifting up their hooves in turn and nailing the shoe on. So the shoe is fitted and applied when the hoof is contracted. Then you let the hoof down and the horse is standing on the shoe. The hoof doesn't expand because the shoe holds its shape. The force of the downward pressure is increased by 70-80 percent, I'm told.







I keep thinking of glue-on fingernails. When I put these nails on for the first time, it was cool. I had long fingernails and they looked absolutely fabulous. Later, like 6 weeks later, I decided that long nails and housework just were not working well together, so I took them off. Well, started to, anyway. My nails underneath were longer than they would usually have been but they were so thin and flimsy, I had to trim them back right away to keep them from tearing off. So my plan to secretly grow my nails, did not work out so well. I think shoes are like that. The hoof can't grow right with a shoe on it. It's just that simple. Go Barefoot by contacting jas.apple at gmail.com (WARNING: we work in the middle Tennessee area, so if you live in Oregon or someplace like that, we probably will refer to another farrier).

Back to the hoe-down (I feel so much better for getting that out there). I loved it, the kids loved it and I'll bet the co-op made a little money, too. Benny, the assistant manager, has a lovely daughter who is also very talented. She played her fiddle and sang with Briar Patch. She was wonderful and performed many oldie but goody bluegrass tunes. It was foot stompin' toe-tappin' time. My sweetie and I even pretended to dance for the camera. She was also working on her stage patter and told some hilarious blond jokes. Here is one she did with her teacher, who fiddles with Briar Patch.







Young girl: "You just got back from vacation didn't you."

Teacher: "Why, yes we did. We were supposed to go to Disney World for two weeks."

Young girl: "You told me you came back early because when you got there and saw the sign, it said Disney World, Left. So you did, too."



he he he







Great showmanship in a small town is not to be missed. We saw several notable folks there and got to talk shop with almost everyone. The folks I got my goats from were there and I was able to get information on Buddy's ever growing horns. Apparently billy goats' horns continue to grow out after they've been removed but the goat typically sloughs the growth off in play. Does do not grow anymore horn once they've been debudded. I saw their daughter taking photos for the local hometown paper. Thank you to the Pennick's for their community support.







Mr. Tom was there, too, camera in hand, talking with folks. We touched base on the regrowth of our poor vegetables that managed to survive this summer's lack of rain. He's been eating squash blossoms daily, also. And his okra has revived itself for one last burst of energy. Thank you, Mr. Tom, for your dead chicken story.





My good friend, Leslie and her gang came out a little later after chores were finished. Her tweens and teens had great fun socializing with their friends, while we made plans to get together for some riding and swapping on Sunday.





Also sighted were several city officials, including the sheriff and his wife. Our friends Allen and Teresa were helping out by selling t-shirts. The boys who load up my weekly feed order were there and were thoroughly enjoying the evening. Mr. West was there talking about how the drought affected his turnip green crop, but he sure enjoyed the fiddlin'.



It was so good to get out and relax, eat and visit. We all hope the Co-op does this again in the future.

Ode to Rain

.

.

.

Finally.

I did not believe the thunderstorm cloud on the forecast at 5:30am. Rain does not happen here, in the land of drought, the region of a 13 inch rain deficit, of no second hay cut, of short-lived stunted crops and livestock sold too early, of 20% chance of rain.

But dawn snuck up in a twilight kinda way and stayed like that while we made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for school lunches. As we put together backpacks and lunchboxes, the raindrops arrived. First, a rumble of thunder in sync with footsteps across the kitchen floor. Then, a flash of lightening illuminated everything. So bright, it left a violet-red after-image of the back yard behind.

The downpour was torrential as we went to one school and the other, sending out car-high sprays of water. We were a silver grey coach enroute to the event of the season on wings of shining spray.

As I return home, the rain is lighter, the hills are clearer but this place is now misty, mysterious, haunting and familiar. It strikes me that one of my very favorite things about being here is how the mist rises up from the hills and hollows. The rising water vapors create a feeling of home, of protection and shelter. Of specialness, of living in the very first place ever created. And that is of course just how you want your corner of the universe to be.

Welcome Back, Rain.