Back in action

Greetings to All,

I'm finally back in action after more than a year away. I seem to have lots of trouble getting signed in with ease. Oh well I managed to do so today.

Sue and I have done so much to our place since my last post I'll have to catch you up in a series of Posts. But the sun has come out and it's calling me into the Garden.

On The Road

Sue and I just got back from visiting Sean, Sasha and their Little People in So. California. The trip was fun and we got to use our TSA Pre-check status for the first time, it went smooth. The grand kids had lots of sporting events last Saturday, each one of them had a soccer game plus Bria had a softball game. Devan and Bria have been attending a soccer skills program and I observed the two girls using their skills in each of their respective games, not bad for 7 and 6 years old respectively. On Sunday Sean took us all bowling but the arcade area was more interesting to the kids. The visit to LA was fun, the food was great and the hugs and snuggles with the grand kids more than worth the travel time.

Coming up, I have a few Masonic activities - my Official Visit to three Lodges, the Outdoor Fellowcraft Degree in Roche Harbor in May and the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Washington in June. Also this Summer Sue and I will visit Ireland. This is SOOoooo exciting: I've not been out of the country since my 1983 trip to Japan.

More on Music

Sue and I are listening to a new singing group, a family actually, The Willis Clan. OK, OK - I'll tell you how it happened. After getting hooked on watching music videos on YouTube (see a recent POST on the subject) I looked to see what talent was on for the Fall of 2014. I noted The Willis Clan was competing and so I clicked on the link. I saw their first audition and was hooked. So I looked for more videos and was rewarded with several. That led me to 'Google' their Web page and a purchase two T-shirts. The shirts are pretty cool with a Celtic Cross on the back.

The Willis Clan is a family of very talented musicians, dancers, athletes and just fine people. There are 12 children, though in truth nearly half could not be called children, being in their early 20's and late-mid teens. The youngest is about 4, see photo at right. Each of the older youngsters, I think I can call them that since I'm 66, plays several instruments very well. Their music tends toward traditional Irish and Bluegrass, but they can play most any genre. All of the older kids and many of the younger ones dance multiple styles, Irish Step Dancing for sure, but also swing and ballroom. A few have won Championships - there are some YouTube videos if you'd care to see them in action.

I do hope you'll check this family's music out, they have two albums for sale and you can view a number of videos of them singing on YouTube. 

Good Things about April and music. April is the month that our Grandson Conor Patrick Moriarty turned 5 years old. He is growing so fast, but he needs to in order to keep up with this two older sisters. April is also the birthday month for my favorite classical crossover singer, Jackie Evancho, whose latest album, Awakening, is really good in my opinion. I especially like her renditions of U2's With or Without You and The Rains of Castamere. Jackie turned 15 a few days ago. My pleasure listening playlist features Jackie along with Anna Graceman and the Willis Clan. For purely instrumental music I like The Willis Clan,  The Piano Guys, violinists Taylor Davis and Lindsey Stirling, and, pianists Michael Allison, Rhonda Mackert and Joe Yamada. Eugene Ormandy (Philadelphia Orchestra) is my favorite conductor-though he is no longer with us. For composers I like James Horner, Rachael Portman, Howard Shore and Hanz Zimmer and John Williams to name a few.

My newest Facebook friend is Anna Graceman who performed on AGT in the Fall of 2011. She posted a wonderful photo of herself (center) with her brother and sister. Anna has lots of fun YouTube videos and of course, like most of the other artists noted above you can purchase her music at iTunes and her website AnnaGraceman.com

I hope everyone has a great Spring. I'll try to get to my Blog more regularly - I should have some building projects to report on in the weeks ahead. ~ John

Where Was Winter

It's Spring now, so the calendar says but it feels like Winter was here for only a long week and then left. That was too bad because the local Ski Area had to close down early. Sue and I not too bummed out about this lack of Winter because we were able to get much needed brush cleared. I've restarted one building project and begun another. My little work-out hut is getting a wooden floor and I'm going to put up a car port. March is nearly gone and my grandson Conor turns 5 year old on April Fools Day. Sue and I will be down in LA area to see him, his tow older sisters and their parents of course.

Actually Sue and I did already make a family trip this year. Back in late January we went down to Astoria Oregon to welcome a new granddaughter, Flora, into the world. Momma and baby girl are doing well and I'll do some needed bragging in a future post.

I did write a post in October but my time to write went south when I agreed to finish the remaining term of a fellow Mason who was our local Deputy of the Grand Master for Dist. Ten. They picked me because I've been the Deputy before and I wasn't bright enough to say NO. Well, that's not actually true, it was a job needing to be done and I knew the ropes so it was better to bring in experience (me) than  to throw someone new into the deep end of the pool.
Anyway I've been pretty busy but tonight I found some time.

Here at Berryridge Farm Sue is also busy. She is just putting the finishing touches to her next novel, again set in Ireland. I'll post a photo of the cover in a few days I hope. In my October 2014 post I told y'all about the cool Fan Tour Sue and I are going on this coming June. We've got our Passports and TSA Pre-check #'s and flights all set. This tour is going to be really fun, I'll take lots of pics and Sue will do research along the way. I'm sure the Willis Clan will be fun to hang with and they're so talented, it's a bit unreal.

Well I'll post this for now but I will likely return to stick in a few pictures. So long for now ~ John

Music, Music and Music

Like many of you, I like music, many styles of music but some not so much. I also became a fan of YouTube but mostly centered around Music and Dance but a few other items as well. One of my most favorite pieces of music is Pachebel's Canon in D. So, I did some searching on iTunes and Youtube and discovered The Piano Guys. They actually have two or three variations of the Cannon. I have now collected thirty or more variations featuring piano, violin, guitar, steel guitar, full orchestra, soulful, pop and jazzy versions.



Jackie Evacho age 10 at AGT 2010

While down in Phoenix caring for my son I spent time browsing YouTube and watching clips when I noticed, in the column of options on the right, a cute little blond girl who stunned the judges of AGT for 2010. The photo reminded me of my two little granddaughters who  are both blonds and if I do say so myself, very cute too. Well my interest was peaked and I clicked on the picture. The YouTube video opened up and the camera showed AGT and began zooming in on the stage and a small girl in a red dress. I almost fell off my chair as she sang O Mia Bambino Caro, in Italian, and in a voice that ought to be coming out of a full-grown woman. The sound and the image were so hard to associate. Since the video was a couple of years old I found more clips of her progress through the AGT competition and I was further amazed and I confess, hooked as a fan. I now own all but one of the CD's and DVD produced by Jackie Evancho - the one I don't own was pulled from the market before I discovered her.

Devan - 1st grade

Bria - Kindergarten

Anna Graceman age 11 at  AGT 2011

In the past two years I have discovered several more artists by watching AGT clips on YouTube: Anna Graceman (big fan), Anna Christine Nichols, Lindsey Sterling, Prince Poppycock, Kenichi Ebina and the list continues to grow. Most recently I discovered the Willis Clan who sing Irish and Blue Grass music (a family of 12 kids, age 23 down to 3 - 6 girls and 4 boys) and they are so fun to watch and so very talented.

In November of 2013 my wife Sue and I and our granddaughter Meghan (aged 12 at the time) went down to Portland OR to see Jackie Evancho (aged 13 at the time) in a live concert. The wife and I thought the concert was great, Meghan would have liked a more POP style singer but she thought Jackie was very pretty. It was fun none-the-less as we spent some time on the town in the Big City of Portland (big for Sue and I who live in the country).

 

Next Summer, 2015, Sue and I are going to Ireland which we think will be so much fun. For one thing, the part of Ireland we'll be going through contains the area, near Galway, where Sue placed her 'Village of Ballydara' in her novels and short stories. I guess for her this is a research trip. Me, I'll have my camera fully charged and ready to go. Oh, and there will be music, music and did I mention music!

It's the Fall Now!

Wow! It's already Fall and it seems I could not find the time to write blog posts since the Spring. But in truth, I could not get back into my blog because my sign-in was based on an old email address. It was just so frustrating. I won't waste time venting cause I'm sure many of you out there in Blog Land have had similar problems.

Back in March, I think it was, I tried to catch up on the trials and tribulations of the Browne Family. I mentioned that my son was the victim of a head-on car crash on December 31 of 2012 and that I spent some 6 weeks helping him get from horizontal to vertical. Thank-the-maker and the fact that he was one tough Marine, he made it and is doing fine, under the circumstances of having been in a bad crash that is.

The family trials did not end there. About the time I was getting ready to head back North from Phoenix, I got a call from my brother who told me my sister Becky's cancer was back and he informed me that she decided not to go through more treatments. Once I was back home in WA State my wife Sue and I visited Becky in the care facility she was in in Yakima WA. My daughter Sasha flew up the LA area and brother Sid's son Luke and family alos joined us for a family goodbye while Becky was still able to converse and enjoy her family one last time. This was about the second week of March, 2013. The visit was good under the circumstances and Becky had prepared herself, better than we had I dare say. A week or so later my brother called to report that Becky had passed on March 21st, 2013.

More recently my Aunt Moyne Browne, the wife of my Uncle Jim Browne, my father's youngest brother, passed away on October 1st, 2014. My Uncle Jim and my two cousins, Cyd Marie Bishop and Barry Browne and their families held a Celebration of Life Service in remembrance of Aunt Moyne. Elizabeth Price, Moyn'es older sister read a wonderful account of elements of  Moyne's life. Cousin Cyd also recounted her thoughts of growing up with her mom, where there were highs and lows but in the end the love never dimmed. Several others of us shared a few brief stories, it was a moving experience for me as I'm sure it was for everyone present.

The last two years have really transformed the landscape of my life. My birth family, which numbered five is now down to two, my brother Sid and me. Yes, we have families of our own but the comfort of parents is gone as is our sister. None the less we'll keep on.

Trials by Life

Finally I'm back at my long ignored blog. My family was hit hard by Father Time's scythe with the passing of my mother Wanda Mae in January of 2012. As I mentioned in the March of 2013 post, my brother Sid, with a bit of help from both me and his son Luke, got the Browne House ready for sale. To our surprise the housing market in Bellevue was on the upswing and the house sold in only a couple of weeks in the Fall of 2012. I thought this is was great, now I can simply grieve for the loss of Mom.

New Year's Eve, December 31st, 2012, Sue and I were getting ready for the evening meal when Sue checked our phone for voice messages. As Sue listened to a message I heard her cry "Oh no" and bend her knees a little as if to collapse. She turned to me to say that my son Collin was in a Phoenix Hospital, the victim of a head-on automobile accident. I listened to the message - they needed permission for surgery. I immediately called, talked to the Nurse and said yes to the surgery. The news was not good, but it could have been so much worse; broken and fractured bones but no head injury and no damage to internal organs. After talking to the nurse I called Collin's mom and his sister Sasha, who resides in the LA area in California. My daughter sort of took charge from the get go and she and her mother met in Phoenix on January1st.

I arrived on January 4th, having cleared my calendar so I could make the long stay in Phoenix to provide in-home care until Collin was able to do most things for himself. Collin's Mom took charge of getting some groceries,  bedding, pillows and other such items a hospital bed, set up at home, would need. Collin was in the hospital a good week and a half. He was restless and tired; one does not get much rest in a hospital. I stayed with Collin from January 4th until February 14th. Collin recovered very quickly considering his damage. Before I left, Collin was able to move about with a walking cast and even drive a car for short distances.

After getting home I tried to update this blog but my mind was just too distracted. My brother Sid had told me, while I was still in Phoenix that my sister Becky's cancer had returned. She had told him she was tired of the fight and would not seek further treatment. Near the middle of March 2013, Sue and I visited my sister Becky at her care facility in Yakima WA. My daughter Sasha flew up from So. Cal. and Sid's son Luke and family joined us for a farewell gathering. Becky passed on March 21st, 2013 at the age of 62. My brother Sid and I are now the only two of our family of five still going. I'm not sure if we'll ever really be a peace with it.

Our wonderful little foothills homestead was rocked this past Spring when a young Mt Lion was able to kill our remaining 4 hens. It's now very quiet around here. After I make a few security upgrades to the coop area we'll get some more hens and start over. Life goes on, even if a bit more somber. The month of June 2013 was spent dealing tent caterpillars and that was not fun. I built more raised garden beds over the summer and this past Fall I started clearing more ground to extend the open space around the homestead. We're now just about one full year since my last post. Outside there is still snow on the ground from a late February/March snow storm which dropped some 30 inches on us in a week's time. The seed catalogs have been arriving so Spring must be coming soon - I can hardly wait.

Gosh, it's been a year since my last posting. So much has taken place. My Brother Sidney took on the responsibility as executor of our Mother's estate. Over the remainder of 2012 I helped him get our old home ready to sell. We had some help form other family members, it was a slow and bitter-sweet process.

Roaring In Like a Lion

Ah, it's March, almost the Ides of March so I'm glad my name is not Julius. Sue and I are so ready for Spring to arrive. There a few tantalizing hints. The Daffodils and Jonquils are up a few inches. The Indian Plum & wild red current shrubs have swollen buds. On the other hand, it's still cold with mixed rain & snow. We lost power this morning about 11:45 a.m. and it was not back on until around 5:30 p.m.  The NOAA forecast is for winds in the early morning hours, lasting maybe until 1 p.m.

Last week we were visited by one of the local Coyotes. Fortunately he/she did not stay around to scope-out our hens. I hung around the coop for awhile just to make sure. My makeshift cover for the coop's safety zone has worked as well as I would like - so, this Spring I'll be putting on a metal roof. The hens will stay a bit dryer and we hope, the eggs stay a bit cleaner. Oh, by the way, the hens finally started laying eggs again, after about 6 weeks of in-action. Several of the "girls" were moulting and we think that was the prime reason for the egg stopage.

Foothills Nor'easter

The beauty of our 16 or so, inches of snow, was blasted in the middle of the night by an East-Northeast wind, roaring out of Canada. Fortunately our power stayed on during the night and all the next day, until 4:50 pm that is, when the power went out. It had been such a wonderful day, sitting near the wood stove, reading a Tony Hillerman novel, Dance Hall of the Dead. The power loss occurred right when I was about to put a baking dish, full of homemade granola, into the oven. Sue was out loading up the firewood boxes and tending to our Hens. The "Girls" were having no part of the wind as they hung out in and around their coop. One of our local wild birds was much braver, a Blackcap Chickadee worked over some Blackeyed Susan seed-heads and then took a break on a grapevine.

The good news came fifteen or twenty minutes after the power outage, the power came back on. Sue and I were not sure  it would stay on, so we shoveled a path from our garage to the pump-house. We did this so I could drag our generator there, to use in case the power went out again. It's so nice to have running water when the power is off. One worries less about the water lines freezing when the water flows and there is power for the pump-house heater. My fingers got so cold I had to take my gloves off a few times, so I could put my hands into my pants pockets to warm them up. We did get the pathway cleared and the generator is now at the pump-house. I also got the granola baked and Sue, moments ago, put the finishing touches on a sweet-potato pie, oh yum! She is now making her famous vegetable soup.

By the way, Sue makes great pies. The crust is often made with some whole wheat pastry flour and butter, gosh is it good. The pictures are  of a Hubbard Squash pie and a mixed Berry pie she made a year or so ago. As you can tell, we do not go hungry at our place, and it's so much fun growing a good portion of the food we're now eating. As the NE Wind blows outside, I'm already thinking about the Spring Planting. ~ John

Snow New Year

The New Year came and most of my family gathered at my mother's home to support each other because my mother passed away. Family traveled from near and far to visit with mother during her last days and hours. My mother, Wanda Mae McDonald-Browne let her spirit take flight at 9:10 pm on Sunday, January 8th, 2012. She had a good long life and was ready to go, so the sadness I feel is for the loss of a kind and generous woman, interesting talks and her wise council, which we'll no longer be able to share over her kitchen table. My brother Sidney, sister Rebecca and I had wonderful parents who gave us so many practical skills but more importantly, they nurtured our minds to be creative in thought and curious about who we are and why we are here. I'll do a proper tribute to my mother in a later post.

The snow has returned to the foothills and this time in force. It started the morning of January 16th and snowed off and on, all day. 

The evening of the 17th,  Sue and I removed the Christmas ornaments from our Christmas Tree, which we left decorated due to my mother's illness and passing. We played Christmas music, Christmas with the Academy, as the ornaments were returned to their respective boxes. The tree was put out next to the South-side stairs and all this time the snow was falling. After the last of the fir needles were swept away, Sue put some Christmas Lights on the South-facing window ledge, along with three colored glass

birds. Christmas was over but we still have our Winter Lights to add cheer until Winter gives way to Spring.

As we awoke on Wednesday, January 18th, we saw that it had indeed snowed all night and was still snowing. It was at least 12 inches deep now and piling up fast. Sue and I came to the realization that we were not going to be able to get out of our driveway if this snow kepted up, and it did. I finally had to let my Masonic Brothers know that I would not likely be attending the Thursday evening meeting.

By mid afternoon our backyard table was piled high with snow. You can compare the two photos and see how the snow added up. The snow slowed down around 2 pm and a bit of sun tried to peek in. Sue went for a walk and I went out around  3:30 pm to clear pathways. When Sue got back she brought in more firewood and then fed the "Girls." Our girls were having none of this snow stuff, they mostly hung out in their coop and told stories or played a game of cards, I should think. After dark I took a few more photos to show what our place looks like in the cold of a Foothills Winter Night.

Thanks for visting ~ John

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Tis the Holiday Season and in keeping with spending our $$ locally Sue and I have been annually cutting our Christmas tree at a local tree farm. Unlike those folks who put up a tree right after Thanksgiving and often take it down a few days after Christmas Day or the day after New Year's Day, we have a different plan. Back in the day, you know, when Christmas was less commercial and a bit more of a religious observance, Christmas was more than two weeks long.

Several years ago, in part due to slower economic times, but more out of a desire to put our Christmas back into the spiritual sphere by de-emphasizing gift-giving, Sue and I started breaking our old habits. One thing we did was to limit the number of and cost of individual presents.  After a few years we radically changed the gift-giving to our Grandchildren, we now have six. No longer do we give toys or clothes -  because with clothes its too hard to get the sizes right, the kids growth so fast. As for toys, they already get so many from their own parents and the "other" grandparents, it seemed to us the value of an individual toy was lost shortly after the next present was opened. What we did was to start buying EE Savings Bonds for each grandchild, one for each birthday and one for each Christmas. So far this system is working pretty well, for us anyway.

A number of years ago my daughter Sasha, I think it was her anyway, gave me a very nice book for Christmas, 'One Hundred Saints'. I learned from this book that December 6th used to be the official feast day for St. Nicholas, who we all know now as Santa Claus. It occurred to me that the Christmas Season ought to start with a nice dinner on December 6th. I even penned a short work on how St. Nicholas became Santa Claus which I read the evening of December 6th. The next event in our season is to cut our own Christmas Tree.

Christmas Tree cutting, for us,  takes place about mid-December. Cutting our own tree gives us the freshest tree, which we want to last through January 6th, Epiphany. By our

system the Christmas Holiday lasts one full month. Though we are not Church-goers, Sue and I observe the Advent Sundays and Sue reads the Advent Calendar. On Christmas Eve we read the Nativity Story and watch a Christmas movie. We do give a few gifts, a good proportion of which are food treats, but some may be DVDs, books, CDs and this year I sent a Teaching Company Course, it was a 12 lecture course and it was on sale - I referred to it as "food for the mind."

Christmas at Berryridge Farm is truly a season and it gets more fun each year.

Snow Falling on Berryridge Farm

We had a little dusting of snow a week or two ago but Thursday evening, November 17th, the first real snow fell. I was in town at a Masonic Lodge meeting and returned home to find almost four inches of snow had already collected on the back door porch. There had been no snow falling in town, nor any until I was well into the foothills, but six or seven miles from home the flakes were coming down. The real accumulation came at the four mile from home mark.

The timing was perfect because earlier in the day I had taken the Ford Escort to the tire place that we use and had the studded snow tires put on. Our little Escort is a very good snow-mobile when the snow is less that 8 inches deep, its not a very good snowplow however. The arrival of snow is not a big deal, unless of course it drops more than 8 inches, then we just don't plan to go anywhere. Three of our neighbors have tractors with bucket loaders and they often keep the road open for all of us to use.

The "Girls" (our Hens) actually do OK in the snow. We take them warm water when their water dispenser freezes. Last Winter, it was only a few times I hooked up a heater (60 watt light-bulb) to stave-off serious cold (single-digit numbers like 3 deg F). The girls are not thrilled about the snow or frozen ground because they like to scratch the earth and so frozen ground really slows them down. So what do they do, they just hang out as best they can. Only a week ago or so Susan saw a Bobcat pacing back and forth next to our Girls pen - so we have been more careful to lock the girls in for the night.

Just recently, our nearest neighbor Tina, got some Hens of her own, four I think. She has an interesting coop, sort of a Gypsy Coop. Since she has a horse and her sons visit frequently with their dogs we hope her hens are safe from the local Bobcat and the Coyotes we often hear after dark.

During the past five days we've had several vists from Jack Frost. I took a turn around the yard to photograph the jewel-like quality the leaves take on when covered in frost. Who knows, one of the photos may end up on the Christmas Card we send or in the Berryridge Farm Star Christmas newsletter.

Sue is working hard to get a Christmas short story finished in time to publish before Christmas. I've been looking for a snow scene to use as part of the cover. This is an Irish story so Sue would like a scene of an Irish Cottage or village, at night, when its snowing - Dreamstime has some good snow stuff but nothing that fits what we'd like - I may have to improvise.

I'll close for now. Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave your comments, questions and suggestions. Grand John

Grandkids Rock II

The next grandkids I'm going to feature are the three whose parents are Sean and Sasha. (I have to check-in with Aunt Meghann to make sure its OK to post pics of Seamus and Rowan).

Sean and Sasha were married in the Spring of 2006, both having waited into their 30's before tying the knot. With the biological clock ticking away they got started on a family and the first bundle of joy arrived in July of 2007. "Devan"

Devan was an instant hit with all who got to meet her. In the photo at left, she has her uncle Collin right where she wants him.

Having two very active parents, Devan soon started collecting frequent flyer miles. If memory serves me correctly, before she even had her 2nd Birthday, Devan had flown to Hawaii and to Paris, not to mention several trips across the USA, both east to west and north to south.

Devan became an 'Older' sister in November of 2008 when the 2nd bundle of joy, Bria, joined the family. Devan was fascinated by her baby sister and enjoyed being right at hand to assist with bath time and other baby care duties.

Devan was always very careful when holding and playing with her little sister. Little sister's do not, however, stay little. They get bigger, start to crawl and well they begin to get into your stuff!  Mom and dad do their best to keep things in order.  Daddy really enjoys his two "Irish" girls.

Something was missing though, oh yes, a boy! That oversight was fixed on April 1st of 2010 when the 3rd bundle of Joy arrived. Conor came to join the happy family and he had not one, but two big sisters to give him all the love and affection a boy could stand. It is a wonder he survived the attention. Devan actually showed a great touch with her baby brother.  Bria, however, did not yet have command of her own strength. Conor, in the pic at right, wonders - "who is this girl?"

Sean, Sasha, Devan, Bria and Conor are lots of fun. Conor, who turns two next April, is walking and now holds his own with his two sister's. In fact, he even invites the rough n' tumble with Bria, they'll probably enroll in Judo together.

One of the great things the kids enjoy is lots of attention from family and friends. At right the kids pose for a photo with uncle Kevin, earlier this Summer - 2011.

Grandkids Rock

Now that the firewood preparation is under control, I'm taking a little time to reflect on what it means to be a grandparent. Sue and I have six grandchildren in our combined family: I had two kids with my first wife, a daughter Sasha and a son, Collin, while Sue had two daughters with her first husband: Carrie and Meghann. I guess you could say we are right in step with the modern American Family.

There are many things I like about being a grandfather. One is that you can sort of get "do-overs," experiences you might have missed the first time round. For one, I take lots more photos now than I did when Sasha and Collin were very little. I did take quite a few photos on our boating trips, starting when they 6 and 4 respectively, so that was good, but I didn't take many everyday photos - so to speak.  With our grandchildren I've tried to capture everyday life, when we visit them or they visit us. This Summer Sue and

I were blessed to have all our grand kids visit Berryridge Farm.


I guess the place to begin is with our oldest grandchild, Meghan, who is now ten years old,

Meghan's family at left,  L to R are Carrie, Meghan and Kevin.

Meghan is named after auntie Meghann, Carrie's sister. Little Megs was a very cute baby from the git-go but especially so the older she got. She stole many a heart at almost 2, when she danced at her Aunt Meghann's Wedding, see photo at right. Meghan's mom has a flare for the dramatic and Meghan often has Great Halloween costumes. A couple of years ago Meghan dressed up as 'Dorothy' from the 'Wizard of Oz', as you can see at left. 

In 2010 she dressed up as a 'Corpse Bride', as shown in the photo at right. 

This costume was the inspiration for Susan's Middle-Grade novelette, The Curse of the Corpse Bride. I actually hope that Sue is inspired by many more of Meghan's Halloween costume choices, because it is fun to see what books might spring from said inspiration. In fact it won't surprise me if Megs takes up acting, perhaps in High School. Both her mother and aunt were putting on little skits as girls growing up.  One of Meghan's talents is that of being a good baby sitter. She gained lots of valuable skills playing with her two younger boy cousins, Seamus and Rowan, who are aunt Meghann's sons.

OK, that is the introduction of the 1st of 6 grandkids. Stay tuned for more.

Falling Fast

October has given way to November, we have a fire in the wood stove every day now, and the first traces of snow have fallen on the upper reaches of Black Mt. Most of our garden has been harvested, with the beets, carrots and parsnips coming out of the ground last.

The last couple of weeks have been so colorful, with reds, oranges and yellows predominating. The only green plants are mostly evergreens. In the evening the western Sunlight hits Red & Black Mountains and adds a richness to the yellow-gold which turns pink when the the Sun dips below the visible edge of the earth.

The air is brisk, nips at your nose, there is no chance to forget you're alive, one's senses are on high alert. The country is beautiful but it plays no favorites to the careless. It is not uncommon to see a hawk flying away with dinner in it's talons. The coyotes call in the evening and the owl hoots in the nearby forest.

As each Fall approaches I tell Sue, "this year we're just going to have to set out our Autumn figurines on 'Michaelmas' (Sept. 29th) but we're always a few days late. We pick 'Michaelmas" because it is a date often mentioned in the various Jane Austen novels-made into movies that we love to read and watch. Besides, it makes a convenient on which to mark the Autumn Harvest Season. It makes no sense to wait until late November. In productive gardens, harvesting starts in Mid-Spring. We keep our Fall figurines displayed until December 6th,

St. Nicohlas' Feast Day, when they are replaced by our Christmas figures.

Sue and I are very fond of the evening and night sky. We especially like the Fall and Winter night sky because we love to look at Orion. I'm also a big fan of Moon scenes as you can see at the left.

Thanksgiving is not long off and I can hardly wait. I love turkey, cranberry sauce - home made of course and pumpkin pie - also home made. Got to now, have to start the evening's fire. John

A Hen's Life at Berryridge Farm

It's been about a year and 1/4 since we got our original six hens. They have survived one winter and lost one sister to a local hawk. Our hens get to roam around in a pretty good-sized area during each day.  Sue and I secure them in their safety zone, the coop plus a ten foot square caged-run, each evening.

I sited our coop to the west of our fire-wood processing and storage sheds. We knew the coop was going to be a little raw-smelling, at times, so not having it too close to the house was part of the reason for siting where I did. The structure I built was divided into a coop and a tool storage shed. The roof is metal.

I saw a very convenient nest-box set-up on some pre-fab coops in a homesteading magazine Ad and so I designed my own variation, see photos at left and right. Just recently I put a  rain gutter along the overhanging roof so we wouldn't get as wet collecting eggs on rainy days.

As the Fall of 2010 approached I wondered how the "girls," as we learned to call our hens, would be able to handle the cold and snow. It came to me that maybe they should have some outside shelter, with a roost perhaps. So I built a smallish covered roost within their "safety Zone."

The shelter at left is what I came up with and little did I know how welcome it would become during the "girls" first winter on Berryridge Farm, as you can see at the right.

If Sue and I didn't quite feel like home-steaders the first few years, we certainly feel it now that we have "live stock." As live stock goes, hens are pretty easy and if you don't have a rooster, then the hens love you all the more. They want to be around where

you are working, even when you're cleaning their coop. What's more they make their feelings known as soon as they hear the back door of the house opening. They are very greatful for any treats that you bring them, like bugs, berries, kitchen scraps etc. The "girls" will peck at you from time to time and they steal food from each other, no one's food is safe. However, they do seem to tollerate the small wild birds who raid their feeder.

We did name the "girls" but I can only recognize three of them on sight, Dottie, Marilyn and Chole O'Brien, yes, from 24. There you have my Hen Report - oh, how could I forget - the EGGS - they're soooo goood!!

Have a wonderful Fall ~ John