got this thing for chickens

If you were to count your way through our house,

I am quite certain you would find several flocks of chickens.

They work hard to keep rugs from slipping, doors ajar,

and "cute up" little spots here & there.

However, outside, the closest you will come to a chicken is 

the rooster who crows to the dawn at our neighbor's farm.

Got this thing for inside chickens, I guess.

🐔

sisters

💙

Please help me welcome twin sisters, Tobi & Annie to

Meadowview Farm.

They arrived this afternoon, and I have been in the pasture

or nearby as they acclimate.  Getting used to their

new grassy pasture and big barn and new herd involves

lots of bleating, exploring areas over & over...

and a few dirty looks from the older goats.

I remind the big kids that they arrived just like this.

It has been fun to watch them graze for the first time, play on 

one of the bridges over & over and begin to figure this

all out.  Once they settle in for a nap, they will sleep.

They have fallen for Sawyer, the resident Tomcat, because

he is more their size. The cats are not impressed.

I should mention, the names come from my sister, Lori.  In her

final year, we often joked about me bringing her an animal to 

cuddle.  Due to her health, she felt it would be too much, but

she had chosen names.  I have held those names in my heart.

Until today...sisters. 💙

door to my heart 🌻

We don't plant sunflowers.

The birds do.

Weekly our goats get sunflowers to keep their coats healthy.

Each winter the birds get sunflowers.

And our sweet bird friends plant them here & there.

Like at the entry to our potting shed.

💚🌻💚

morning on the farm

sweet lily of the valley

Daisy in the window

north side of our 1857 home

💙

🍎

Our little orchard is in bloom!

💙

apple blossom time

apple blossoms whisper, "soon".

♥️

anyway ♥️

our barn

  We spent Saturday afternoon cleaning out the hayloft of our 

  110 year old barn.  Rumor has it there will be a wedding here.

doesn't every orchard need an outhouse?

This double seater (yes, you read that right) was brought to our

farm's orchard from the Thompson Valley Cemetary.  It took 

about 6 people to load & move it.  It took one tornado to pick

it up and set it back down in a new spot in the orchard several 

years ago.  And that is where it now lives...storage for our 

apple picking and bird feeding supplies.

Today it got a new goose weathervane and some cleaning up.

Hey! Hay!

Our baby goats, Benny & Joon are 8 months old...most of their days

have been in the snow.  Can hardly wait until they meet warm days &

green grass.  That's Chippewa on the bridge.

got this thing for chickens

             clucks having a little chat in my kitchen

❤️🐱❤️

I live in this sweet world of kittens & baby goats & vintage charm.

It truly is my beloved haven.  When the world talks back too much,

I know I am blessed to have a safe place to retreat to.  A place where

kittens follow you and goats call to you across the farm yard. A place

where I can try to make sense of things.  A place where kindness

always wins & compassion is the law.  ❤️

behind our barn

Oil painting by Marian of Miss Mustard Seed as part of the 

100 Meadows Project.  From right behind our barn.  💙

living in history

I sit in the quiet of this home, built brick by brick...square nail by square nail in 1857.  I feel this abundant awe living in the midst of history and recognizing those who stood here before me.  Knowing that Augusta became a town in 1857 and that the Civil War was yet to be when this house was built is humbling.  Thank you Joseph Strader for coming here from New York to build this "magnificent brick house" 160 years ago.

The following excerpts are from "The History of Augusta" written in 1874.

Buildings, fruit trees, fences, improvements and everything, denote order, industry, and economy. ... Joseph Strader with his magnificent brick house, Fletcher Dighton, S. E. Cooledge, I. G. Bills, William Arries, James Surgeon, Lindsey Wright, F. A. and S. H. Denison. Peter O’Blair, and scores more, all model men, now well-to-do, though they were all poor but a few years ago when they came to the valley. Nothing short of good markets, health, good habits and rich soil can produce such results in so short a time. This is a truthful picture of this beautiful valley, and it is by such men that we are surrounded, as neighbors and friends; intelligence and true friendship are embodied in such a class of men.

Up to 1861, the local advantages were about all our citizens took any special interest in. but when the news came that Sumpter [Fort Sumter in the American Civil War] had been fired upon, the people of this valley, in common with those of the surrounding country, felt the insult as though it had been specially aimed at them and from the first three months until the final surrender the valley had its full show of representatives in the deadly strife [of the American Civil War]. During all those years of weeping and mourning, we had in the Union army a large list of our best citizens, many of who never returned to their families and friends. Some of them do not even share the honor of our decoration day, but are buried in the shade of the Rocky Mountains or in the sunny south, where their dearest friends may never find their graves. 

May their memories be for a blessing.  Happy Birthday Meadowview Farm! May you always be a home to compassion, hard work and the democratic spirit.

barn painting

Our 100+ year old barn has been getting a new coat of paint this 

summer.  As much as we love weathered wood, painting is part of 

barn preservation.

It was a bit tricky getting to the peak.  An extension rod that 

extends three times was the ticket.  

My husband, Dave, has been the master painter!  This is rough 

work for shoulders...but Dave has been stoic.  He loves this barn!

right across the road

           I needn't go far to find my color palette....

                                       There it is.

           Literally right across the road from our farm...

The Big Red Barn

In the winter, all the barn cats come home--even my 

traveling Luna.  We open the inside stairs to the hayloft 

so they have more space to hang out.  

This winter we have an extra cat, Patches...an older boy that 

now calls this barn home.  He was cautious around me at first, 

but now let's me pat his head, following me around with a raspy meow.

One of my favorite times of the day is when I get home from

work.  I am always greeted by a small herd of cats, anxious

for a refresher of food & water, a kind word & touch and a reminder

that this big red barn is their home.

ever more

This is the country road I travel from our farm to my office in Eau Claire.
I have grown to cherish the fields I pass, the barns, the woods...

They are all part of my Township of Otter Creek, and they speak

to me the quiet language of rural life.  There is such a purity in their words.

Even the bales of hay repeat, "live gently on this earth".

And so soon I will sit at the table in our one room town hall, a member of a 

Land Use Committee...and I will help to put the words on paper to

protect this land, to save it for farming for generations to come.  

Although I arrived later in life to this countryside, I believe it had

called to me.  I hope I can find the right words to protect her, to 

sanctify her beauty, to keep her rural roots.  

sometimes I feel like an old goat....

And then just when I make that analogy, I arrive home to

our little herd of goats...and Ralphie barrels across the 

pasture to me.  He kicks up his heals as if the world is only 

delight...and he begs a treat as only his little goatness can.

And I am reminded that old goats are sweet & good & kind.

Maybe feeling just a tad like an old goat is a good thing!

cow

Dave & I traveled to our first flea market of the year on 

Saturday....I was thrilled to be on the hunt for farm related 

items.  When I spotted this cow, I about "moo-d".  You 

often see these hung on the side of old barns, and I 

have always admired their folk art charm.  

We were tickled to drive home with Bessie in our backseat!