Mostly Photos

I'm sharing a few pictures of the farm from this week.

We enjoyed a long Civic holiday weekend by just hanging around home.  It was perfectly relaxing.  The weather on Monday was perfect - sunny but not too hot or humid.

Here's a picture of my small herd enjoying the day doing what they love.

We put our hay in the barn early in the summer, but our back unfenced fields that don't get hayed do need to be cut to keep the bush from taking over.  Also, we use the fields for ball-play and walks with the dogs, so it's nicer to have the fields cut than try to wade through the growth.

My teenage daughter gets to use the newer model estate size tractor.  She loves being a tractor operator and she's very good at it.  This is a talent that she wouldn't have discovered by attending high school but I encourage her to investigate machine operating as a career choice. 

Hubby loves to drive his old (I can't recall if its 1939 or 1941..but it's old!) Allis-Chalmers that he fixed up last year.  In fact, it's got a small bench seat on it and sometimes he takes me for a romantic ride around the fields in the evening.  (My friend's partner has a new shiny convertible...I get an orange repainted tractor...)  It's bouncy!

The choke cherry trees are full of fruit.  We have a lot of these here which attract the birds, as well as bears.

This is a picture of the creek that runs between the house property and the barnyard.  It's very picturesque.  When I cross it, I am always looking to spot a beaver, ducks, muskrat, or other little creatures. 



We are harvesting our favourite summertime dish these days.  Fresh yellow beans, boiled and served with butter.  





By the way - my daughter's zucchini sales went really well and she had extra money for the midway!  She has the entreprenueral spirit and dreams of selling at the market next year ;)  Funny, she didn't find that talent at high school, either...

I could write further on that but...Oh - but don't get me started...it would turn into a rant....;)

Something Old and Something New

There's a new piece of equipment at Misty Haven Alpacas.  Well, it isn't actually new.  In fact, this tractor is about 72 years old.  It's an Allis Chalmers B...we beleive from 1939 or 1940. 

My husband and daughter have made a new hobby out of this old tractor.  And it works!  Although it needs some adjusting and a few replacement parts, hubby has been cutting the back fields with it and hauling the manure spreader with it.

There is something amazing about motorized equipment that works 72 years after it came off of an assembly line.  Why is it that our cars seem to expire after 10 years maximum?

It's not just the admiration for the strength of the metal and the simplicity of the mechanics to last over seven decades.  I can't help looking at this tractor and try to imagine the farmer that bought it when it was brand new so many years ago.

My grandfather loved the large draft horses on his farm.  I have a favourite black and white photo of me standing in the field with my Papa and his huge horse, Pete.  I was about 4 years old and the top of my head was at Pete's mid-thigh.  I am wondering how my grandfather viewed the advent of the tractor on the farm.  Was he happy, did he view it as progress or did he know that it would lead to the demise of the working farm horse and thus the bond between farmer and his horse.

I have a few new yarns in my shop.  I had a new yarn done at Wellington Fibres in Elora, Ontario this year.  This is a fingering weight 2-ply yarn in a blend of 60% alpaca, 30% kid mohair and 10% fine wool.  I've created handspun in this blend for a shawl last year, and it's a beautifully soft blend that blooms with use.  I usually handdye my farm's yarns, but this year I asked the mill to dye some of the yarn.  I was very happy with the colours.