Well Rig

Sidewalk Superintending:

Our barn was started last Monday and here it is on Friday afternoon!! Whoo Hoo !!! I am finally starting to believe that this project may become a reality. The sona tubes that will support the posts that will in turn support the 'porch' roof will be going in this week.

A Dowsing Success

At 9:30 Friday morning 'young' Mr. Gould from Gould Well Drilling, Pawlet, VT showed up with
his crew, a drilling rig and another truck filled with casings, etc. Mr. G walked over to the site with his 'witching stick' and sure enuff that stick dove right down to the ground ... not once but twice. According to Dale and Bruce he used a piece of a branch to dowse when he was there last week. The branch vibrated in his hand when he was over the sweet spot.

They set up shop in jig time and had started to drill by 10:00. I left to do a few errands and was back by about 1:30. It wasn't long before they had gone down 420 ft and had 30 gallons per minute. In fact, there is approximately 6 gallons a minute of over flow. A superfluity!! They were packed up and out of there by 3:30.

'witching' for water














Moving a stone to mark the 'sweet spot' beneath his left foot

Finally Friday

Yesterday I finished up the last of the preemie 'Pumpkin Hats' that I have been knitting for my friend Michelene's attempt to get 50 hats done in time for Halloween. How adorable are they??

Next, I finished up my first pair of socks for the Mittens for Akkol project. " Mittens for Akkol" is an internet group that knits for an orphanage in Kazakhstan.. This was my first pair of sock knit from something other than fingering weight sock yarn. I used a pure merino DK and a strand of alpaca lace weight. This made for very cozy socks but they are much bulkier that what I am accustomed to knitting . It was a bit of a chore to get the sizing right and required some frogging but in the end I am very happy with how they turned out. Now to find a lovely Vermont postcard on which to write a short note to the recipient, package them up and send off to the distribution point.

On the house design front .... all is not well. Jack has known that he needed to get his Vermont license reinstated for months and apparently waited until August to reapply. Grrrrrrrr!!!! The state board meets very infrequently and they didn't approve his application at the last meeting because he hadn't provided them with definitive proof that he has no outstanding complaints against him. Syd has contacted two architects in N Bennington that were recommended to him by a friend. He is actually meeting with one of them this morning after he finished up with the appointment for Lily Rose at the vets.

We really do need to get this project underway NOW in order to be able to move into the garage apartment in June 2010.

We've heard nothing from Dale which indicates that his new excavator still hasn't been delivered. And that means that we are no nearer to having a driveway or septic system than we were three weeks ago. This will be a real exercise in patience and perserverance.

Tubs Rd

This just in!! Below is the "preliminary" site of the house and barns. There is still some debate as to whether there will be enough room at the top of the proposed driveway entrance to allow for my truck and horse trailer to make the 'corner'. It is more likely than not that I will have to use the lower entrance.

The other bit of information that I have gathered this morning. Comcast seems to believe that they will be able to provide us with cable connection for the TV and computer. We'll need to provide them with a house # as soon as we are assigned one and they will begin the process of bringing the lines up to our place.

The surveyors are at the property this morning to finish up gathering the last of the info needed to design a septic system.

Yesterday I spent a little time reading Jon Katz's most recent entries in his Bedlam Farm Journal. I learned that he has his farm up for sale and is looking to simplify his life to have more time for writing, photography, etc. His sheep and two donkey's have been re-homed. This feels a bit familiar. We too are feeling the desire to simplify

our lives for the purpose of having the ability to devote our energy to the things that are often pushed aside due to lack of time or money or both. I'm not sure that I'm willing to give up my horses just yet as they continue to provide me with much joy. Just the 'thought' that I may have a covered Round Pen area to work with the horses, no matter the weather brings a smile to my face.

Amen Farm on Tubs Rd

This is where we found ourselves at 11:00 this morning. This is the new site of Amen Farm!!

We met with our architect and our friend, neighbor and excavator operator to site the driveway, house, garage ,barn and machinery shed. The purpose of the test pits was to determine if there was any ledge extending into the meadow. The pic below shows Syd measuring an 8' hole and no ledge.

We will have two 'curb cuts' ...... one at the north end of the property that will be the access for the house and another further south to give access to the machinery shed and also make it possible for heavy equipment to access the area that will be our septic field. As soon as Dale gets the OK from the road boss he'll start the driveway construction.

This is the approximate location of the house.... looking southeast. The view from here is lovely!

To the east we see Mt Williams and Mt Fitch , to the south we see the back side of Quarry Hill( at least 80 acres on Quarry Hill is owned by the Nature Conservancy) and to the south west we see the Taconic Range. We are both very excited about this project and can't wait to start!!!

new mown meadows

Finally, we are having a bit of sunshine. I couldn't resist including a picture of the Angel's Trumpet flourishing in one of my favorite pots on the deck. I have two others that are also doing well. I plan to try to overwinter them.

This break in the weather has allowed us to get some of the meadows mowed. In one of the pics you can catch a glimpse of the Kubota (orange) being put to the test in one of the most difficult to mow meadows. For years it was seriously over grazed and errosion has caused the rocks to remain while the soils washed down hill. In addition to the rocks there are a number of springs and streams to contend with. Next we'll tackle the Crosby Pasture to the south of the

house. The Bob o Links usually nest in the field and the first safe date for mowing it is July 15th.

By that date the young are safely fledged and able to fly.

Isn't the Buddleia glorious? I can't tell you how many time I've tried (unsuccessfully) to grow a Buddleia, first in Windsor, MA and then at our farm in Reading, Vermont. They would do beautifully during the summer but the following spring would find them dead as doornails.