Lyme Disease Has Struck

OK So I am going to go all serious here and remind everyone to be very diligent about using bug repellent, etc. whenever you are out in the countryside, woods or grassy fields.
One of our family members has just come down with Lyme Disease and it is as serious as a disease can get. He will be on antibiotics for weeks and if the disease is not caught in time can end up being a life threatening or life long disease.
You may never see the tick that delivers the bite. They are infinitismal, sometimes no bigger than the dot at the end of this sentence. But the reaction to the bite (which can take days or weeks to appear) is a giveaway that you have been bitten. Look for a raised rash with a white area around it and finally a red ring around that...looks like a target bullseye. It can start small and increase in size until it is several inches in diameter. This is followed by a nasty fever and flu-like symptoms. DO NOT IGNORE THESE SYMPTOMS. Get to a doctor ASAP.
If you think you might have had a deer tick bite in the past, don't be shy about asking your doctor to run the blood test to see if you are carrying the antibodies. If you have undiagnosed Lyme disease it can manifest itself as arthritic problems, joint paing and even psychological problems.

Having said all that though..I do not want to discourage people from enjoying the outdoors and all the pleasure that can be derived from camping, hiking, etc. We're all just a little more careful to remember to put on the bug repellent before venturing out. A little common sense goes a long way.

We are just finishing baling hay here and it has been a super year. Lots of rain and perfect sunny days have made this one of the better crops. The Guinea hens have been following the tractor, eating all the bugs that are stirred up (hopefully gobbling up those ticks) and the cows are enjoying the leftover grasses. The goats love to go out early in the morning for their weed and browse breakfast and then doze through the warm afternoons. Sounds like a plan to me!

Summer Nostalgia

People ask us all the time, what made us go into the bed and breakfast business. There is a practical reason of finding some use for the family home that would pay for it's upkeep and the farm. But there is also an opportunity to give people some time in a place that may actually be good for them.

So now...my dearest friend for the last 50 years recently lost his wife to cancer. I remember so well when we were kids here running around on the farm and am amazed at how things ...especially kids have changed. We now have a whole generation of "indoor" kids who are intimidated by and uninterested in anything outside their walls. Too bad for them.

So today, on this most beautiful day in June, I am remembering my life in the country without a telephone or television. My unheated bedroom, average temperature in the winter, 40 degrees. Playing solitaire and listing to AM radio in the summer evening. Hot dusty air, buzzing bugs, gnats...lots of gnats...the sound of grazing animals ripping off chunks of grass and grinding them lazily while staring calmly at the trees. Owls hooting, crows calling, a mockingbird singing away at 2 in the morning. Sitting on the back porch steps with my pal, chatting away through the night about life and nothing. Animals animals animals, wild and domestic. All leading lives parallel to mine.

Picking wild, stickery, blackberries and paying the price with chigger bites and poison ivy the next day. Catching little crawfish in the stream behind the house. Hoeing beans, ugh, weeding and sweating in the garden. Moving many many wheelbarrows full of rocks. Walking down a hot road to the country store that served as meeting place, post office and Hershey's ice cream destination.

A lot of that is gone now...the store that once sheltered sleeping cats and gossiping neighbors by it's pot belly stove, is boarded up and slowly being eaten by vines and vandals. Many of the people have moved on in one way or the other and have been replaced by their children. Technology allows us now to choose how much of the world we want to bring into our lives and when. Air conditioning, central heating and telephones arrived (and is now going away again.ha ha). The pace of life has picked up like crazy.

And no, I'm not 100 years old..only a little more than 1/2 way there. This is all not so long ago as to be a time forgotten.

But the best things still remain...the bugs...the farm animals grazing. The horses are long gone but we have goats and cows to keep us busy and chickens to give us eggs and Guinea Hens to eat bugs and make us laugh. The birds are still here making nests and calling. The owls still hoot. The blackberries are still stickery. The poison ivy still catches us now and then. There is still an abundance of rocks and weeds to attend to. And lightning bugs..lotsa them. All the things that really make life important are still here.

I think I'll go feed some watermelon the the goats now. They'll like that. And I will too.

Our Silent Rooster

One of our roosters, Augie, has laryngitis. Nothing sadder than a beautiful New Hampshire Red Rooster trying to sing out and only making a few raspy squeeks. This all started after the 11 days of rain we had and he caught a cold. He was improving until we cleaned the coop and stirred up dust and wood chips and he is wheezy again. Poor guy.

Otherwise we are on schedule with all our vegetable planting and farm chores. We have a wonderful grass and lespedeza hay crop coming along. We are slowly but surely getting the goat paddock cleaned and tidied up so the goats can spend the coming warm months just lazing around...which they do very very well. I have been sending them out every afternoon to eat up the wild honeysuckle, poison ivy and other weeds. They come home fat and happy. No need for summer hay with all the goat goodies growing wild.

We have three new baby calves..cute and bouncy. The cows are all finally free of their shaggy winter hair and look sleek and shiney.

So far it has been a busy Memorial Day weekend...The weather has cooperated for the campers at Willow Run Farms and the B&B guests have been enjoying having breakfast served on the front porch. Since it usually rains on Memorial weekend these warm sunny days have been a real treat.



Our next big event is the North Mountain Arts Festival in Hedgesville. It is a fun little show with lots of quality participants...a chance to buy locally made art and crafts..one-of-a-kind items.

Spring at Last

Wow..finally some warm sunny weather...everything is in bloom and looking super.
We are concentrating on getting a lot of outdoor farm work done and none of it is easy.
Lots of art shows coming up. So I am spending a much of my time in the studio as well. Art at the Mill in Millwood Virginia is on now..in June, the North Mountain show in Hedgesville, then the show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, a miniature show in Little Washington, VA, Arts Soiree at the Old Opera House in Charles Town and the Palette Project for Main Street Martinsburg.
I have two art websites going...http://www.katstudio.com...was just updated and really improved by my web guru, Bryce Timberlake. The other site, http://www.katstudioart.com is a much leaner basic show place and price list for all the stuff currently available.
The goats have had their spring "tune-up" and are happy to see grass and shrubs growing. They are happily munching away on all the new clover and making plans for a very lazy summer..lucky goats.
Today we are off to buy some garden stock...I have a few seeds started, but am searching for herbs and some 18th C style stuff to plant at the B&B garden.
Last weekend we went to the Market Fair at Fort Frederick. What a great event. We go every year and find lots of great things for the B&B AND ourselves. This year I finally splurged on some 18thC shoes and a few fancy things for my 18thC wardrobe..and Ed bought a great new hat and hunting coat. He needs to get in some serious target practice with his long rifle.
The picture here is of some of our Patuxent friends enjoying their 18th C dinner here at Cider Mill House.

The Latest News

OK..well a little bit of warm weather and things really start to pick up around here.

The goats are growing some nice fluffly cashmere to replace what we sheared off so are out of their little warm up coats and back to being real animals again. They have been getting their Spring tune-up meds and the Doc is coming to give them their annual vaccinations this week.

We are having fun at the B&B. Good to see some returning guests as well as new visitors. This year's new fun thing is personalized Cider Mill House M&M CANDIES!

We are not having so much fun with a local developer who wants to build a fly-in community nearby..grrrr. Fly-in communities may be fine, but this has disaster written all over it. The wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. For the most part those of us out here in the backwoods have been pretty philosophical about the development in the area. Everybody has a right to utilize or sell their land, I guess, but this fly in is not well thought through.

On to happier stuff...lots of great things happening in the area this spring and summer...art shows, theater festival, craft fairs, bluegrass festivals a little something for everyone...and as Uncle Wiggly would say, if Fred the goat doesn't eat all the ginger snap treats and make Tillie goat sad...I'll be back with some information on all the events happening around here soon!

One Thing or Another

Wow..stuff just keeps happening.
We decided it was time to shear the goats since the weather was so warm..and of course, two days later, the temperature dropped so we had to put little coats on all the goats..no joke.
They actually do look sort of cute. Hopefully we'll only have to keep them on for a few days until the goats grow a little hair for insulation.
I got 7 fine fleeces from them! Beautiful mohair and cashmere. If we are lucky we will get some more from them in late summer. It is the softest prettiest stuff! Can't wait to spin some up for myself!
Only one slight mishap...a slip with the trimming scissors on Berta's leg. Looks nasty, but doesn't seem to bother her and she is healing just fine. The goal here is to get all the goats back on their usual healthy path. This is a tough time of the year for all animals.
Spring is definitely in the air. Buds are starting on all the trees;birds are returning and the grass is starting to turn ever so slightly green. There is hope!

Waiting for Spring...

OK..so between the bad weather and a sick goat or two we are finally getting caught up.
Berta was the next goat to have a problem...an icky leg infection...that required shots (oh goody) and a nasty sulphur ointment for ALL the goats.
I did use some old time farm cure though which worked well. It's a good general purpose topical antibiotic and skin soother....first make a 50/50 solution of cider vinegar and water and wash the injury...then put on a mixture of cider vinegar and olive oil (just like salad dressing!!!) to soothe and protect any irritated skin. It works on animals..never tried it on people.
70MPH wind gusts took down one of our tipis. It will stay down for a while as it needs a lot of repair.
The Patuxents were here for their winter camp and we hosted a gala 18th C. feast for them at Cider Mill House. We had a wonderful evening. Those folks are the best. We cooked game stew, ham, winter squash, 4 different kinds of breads, and even a raspberry fool along with other goodies for the meal. Yum.
See ya soon.