It was a Thanksgiving week to remember. Chris’ family arrived from Switzerland the Friday before Thanksgiving to visit the farm and for a whirlwind of day trips to NYC, Washington/Baltimore — and most important of all — to the King of Prussia Mall. We were busy.
But to make it even busier — we had a wedding! We decided several months ago to get married while his family was already planning to visit. When we met with the minister, he asked why we wanted to get married now, after all these years. When I said “there’s No Rhyme or Reason,” I’m sure he was perplexed. I doubt many people get married for no rhyme or reason. But for us, this has become our home, where we want to grow old(er) together, and where we want to spend our lives…married, here on No Rhyme or Reason Farm.
So with family and friends together, we got married the Saturday before Thanksgiving, spent the week doing field trips, and had a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner. Definitely a week to remember with family and friends and food — what’s better than that!
The Family here for a visitWedding Day on No Rhyme or Reason FarmYou may now kiss the bride — except she can’t watch!Arianna waiting for wedding cake
We have quite a few Black Walnut trees on our property and they create several problems. First of all, there are a lot of things you can’t plant near them because they have toxins in their root system and bark that things like apples and pears don’t like – so we have to keep them apart. Then, the bark or chipped wood is also toxic to horses – so we have to keep them apart. And then, they provide food for the squirrels who are multiplying like rabbits on our property – so we need to keep them apart! I’m not sure how.
In addition to those problems, they drop these green-husked balls the size of hand grenades all over the yard. They are like ball bearings. If you step on one, it’s likely to take you for a ride. And trying to cut the grass with all these hand grenades all over the place sends them shooting in different directions and/or dinging up the lawn mower blades.
I spent the better part of a day raking them up, filling a 5 gallon bucket and moving them into some of the underbrush where we don’t cut the grass. But it wasn’t “a” 5-gallon bucket, it was 20 trips with the 5-gallon bucket, and that’s only from two trees, and more are continuing to fall as we speak.
Putting them in a pile is like creating a squirrel grocery store. That isn’t going to help solve the squirrel problem, and over time – we’ll have thousands of new black walnut trees sprouting from the black walnut patch.
I contemplated husking them, shelling them and picking out the nut meats – for about two seconds until I remembered that:
I’d need a corn sheller to run the husks through to peel off the tough green outer layer
I’d need rubber gloves because otherwise my hands would be permanently stained black (well, almost permanently – it takes a long time to get those nails clean again), and
I’d probably only get a pound or two of nut meat for all my hard work.
So, I called the cooperative extension service and left a voice mail to find out if anyone has a commercial black walnut shelling operation around here. Since they still haven’t called me back, I guess the squirrel grocery store is open for business.
It’s a beautiful tree, until it starts dropping green tennis balls all over the yard.They’re everywhere.Bucket by bucket, I moved them……into a pile of black walnuts where the squirrels can find them.
We’ve been in the house for just over a year now – and other than some spot cleaning, I haven’t really washed the windows! The year just flew by, we were busy with other things and you could still see out of the windows – so it just never crossed my mind. Now that it’s time to close up for the winter, the spots from rain, dead bugs and dirt looked pretty bad.
When we renovated the house, all the old windows came out and new, energy efficient windows went in. Not only are they energy efficient, they are cleaning efficient. They have a magic latch that allows me to fold the window into the house so I can clean both sides without even contemplating a ladder (because if a ladder was needed, they still wouldn’t be getting cleaned).
Still, I hate washing windows. You get one side clean, and then when you do the other side, there are streaks, and you can’t tell which side they are on, so you end up doing both sides, and then there are different streaks. It takes FOREVER.
I told Chris I was about to clean the windows and he recommended, more like insisted, that I use his auto glass cleaner and old towel rags. I’ve cleaned with Windex-type cleaner and paper towels my whole entire life. What’s with auto glass cleaner and old towel rags? He even demonstrated how I needed to do it (one window down, 16 more to go). I thought about saying, can you show me that again (then there would only be 15 more to go) – but I figured I had the concept down. Spray stuff on, wipe stuff off.
And that was it. Done. Sparkling. Finished. I threw out my Windex-type cleaner.
I think men everywhere must be keeping this a secret. They say, “honey, I’m going in the garage to wash the car windows, I’ll be back in HOURS,” and we believe them!
Dirt and dead bugs!The windows fold in! What an amazing invention. No ladder needed.
Today would have been my Mother’s 90th birthday. She passed away October 1st.
Birthdays have always meant a family gathering. Last year we celebrated her birthday at the farm. This year we won’t.
Her arthritis made it difficult to climb the front stairs to get into the house and her poor vision made it difficult to see the house once she was inside, but she loved her visits here anyway. She saw the house before we started the renovations. She could see the potential, but as mothers do – she worried. She worried about how this would ever come together, worried if we knew what we were doing, worried where we would live while the house was being renovated, worried about how we would manage to move everything, worried, worried, worried.
We moved into the farm last October. Our first family get-together was for her 89th birthday. She was happy to see it finished, but still worried. She worried how we were going to keep up with the property, she worried about the big trees that line the driveway, she worried about the poison ivy that seems to find me if I even look at from afar, she worried how we would manage when it snowed.
Despite her worries, she liked hearing about the garden and the birds at the feeder and the deer that roam through on a regular basis. She liked to know about her great-granddaughter collecting the chicken eggs, and how, try as she might – she can never catch Fiona the goat. Mostly she liked knowing that this is our home.
Nancy’s 89th Birthday — October, 2015Christmas Day 2015
I read on the internet (so it must be true), to wipe your fall gourds with a Clorox wipe to kill any bacteria, and then “grease” them with Vaseline to seal them and make them shiny. It sounded like a great way to preserve them through to the other side of Thanksgiving — and, it had the added benefit of making my hands REALLY soft after spending all that time dipped in Vaseline.
The problem is, it didn’t work. While the gourds looked clean and very shiny — they don’t seem to be lasting. At least a few of them have already sprouted soft spots, grown mold and hit the trash can.
But, the scarecrow is at the ready. The mums are blooming, the pumpkins are flanking the front steps and our pet crow is guarding the wine cellar.
Dirty gourds ready for a cleanin’ and a greasin’.Clean and shiny gourds — I should have taken a picture of the moldy, rotten gourds too — but that didn’t look very nice.Our scarecrow — a “welcoming” sight for any trick-or-treaters.I love the fall colors.It’s definitely fall on the farm.Our watchful raven — BOO!
When we bought this farm it was an overgrown mess. Parts of it still are, but we’ve made tremendous progress – especially clearing out the land around the house. As we clear away vines, dead trees and brambles, the last thing we want to do is plant more stuff – only to start the cycle again. So we’ve decided to only plant things that have a purpose and produce something for us to use.
I’ve wanted to get an orchard started, but even with five acres, our space is limited. The first problem is that the front meadow which has sunlight, is too wet and boggy from the stream that runs through it. The second problem is that the side yard has several large black walnut trees, and black walnut trees produce a chemical that isn’t compatible with trees with seeds (like apples and pears). The third problem is that the horses now occupy the sunny, black walnut-free hillside behind the house. Figuring out where to plant an orchard has been challenging.
Getting the trees has also been a challenge. In the spring we went on the website for the Adams County nursery and every tree we wanted was already sold out. The website said check back in July. I guess they meant it, because by the time I remembered to check back in August – many of the varieties we wanted were sold out again and the ones we did try to order went into some website abyss and the order was never received.
So, at a Mud Sale in Bareville we happened upon some apple trees up for auction. I’m not very confident with auctions yet. I’m never sure whether it’s my turn to bid again or even what the price is up to – but I gave it a shot and got three dwarf apple trees (a Gala, a Granny Smith and a Jonagold) – for $28 each – a good price since the ones we tried to order on-line were $30 each.
I must admit, the pick-up truck came in handy. Bringing home three trees was no problem – but planting them – that WAS a problem. There is a sunny stretch of land behind the house and adjacent to our patio. I envision sitting on the patio, in the shade of an apple tree and reaching out to pick a beautiful ripe and juicy apple – in a couple of years. But the dirt was impenetrable. My daughter offered to bring over her post-hole auger and her friend Luis. It took Chris and Luis an hour per hole – manhandling the auger through cement-hard dirt studded with rocks.
Once the trees were in, Chris wrestled with a roll of wire fencing and made nice cages for the trees — after all that work getting them planted, we didn’t want to find them chewed to the quick by the deer.
Finally, our apple trees are in place and I can’t wait to make an apple pie.
The truck came in handy at the mud sale — the trees are loaded.The ground was so hard, we thought maybe turning it to mud would help with the digging, but it didn’t.The auger and Luis are what helped Chris to dig the holes.It was an all day project by the time we wrapped the trees in wire fencing to keep the deer away.And now our three apple trees just need to grow — and give us apples!
Chris has been going through new chains for his chain saw about once a week – that’s how many trees he’s been cutting down. We are trying to reclaim the meadow and open up space where we want to start our orchard. Cutting down the trees is just the beginning. Then he slices them into fireplace-size logs. Then he splits them with an axe. He’s turning into a regular Paul Bunyon! After all, we do have two fireplaces to feed, and the wood pile is growing.
So, Chris decided we need a woodshed for all the split wood he has been stacking up. And I decided we need a woodshed because I saw a really cute one with a weather vane on top.
We went back to Pop’s Barns, where we got the run-in shed for the horses, and ordered a 4×8 Quaker model woodshed with a chicken weather vane on top. That was the easy part.
Then the space needed to be readied for the woodshed. The pile of split wood needed to be moved, the land needed to be cleared, tilled and leveled. Then we waited – six impatient weeks for the shed to be delivered before we could stack the firewood into the appropriate compartments of the woodshed.
And now I know which way the wind is blowing.
The hillside before we cleared it, and with a wood pile that is calling out for a wood shed.“Visitors” stroll through the yard and inspect the wood pile.Clearing the weeds, briars, brambles and mess off the hill side.Finally cleared and ready for the wood shed.And here it comes up the driveway.Chris inspects as it gets slid in to place.Now he has to move ALL of this wood into the shed.The wood shed, sitting in place and full of wood.The wind is blowing out of the east — and now we have a Rooster on the farm!
The truck is beginning to pay for itself already! Chris picked up a load of hay and hauled it home in the truck. Yes, that brand new truck will certain make a dent in those hay delivery charges! With stray strands of hay flying around behind, we lumbered over hill and dale of back country roads. It was like lugging a Christmas tree home on the roof of the car, only to see all the needles flying off. I wondered how much of the bales would remain; for the most part they were intact.
It’s a multi-step process getting the hay unloaded. The bales go from the truck bed to the little green cart attached to the back of the John Deere, and then hauled up the hill behind our house where they are unloaded into the barn. Arianna enjoyed the trek back and forth – especially when she got to sprawl out in the empty cart on the return trips down the hill.
Considering that the barn only holds about 2 to 3 weeks’ worth of hay, I guess the delivery truck will be getting a work out. The horses are happy with the fresh hay, Arianna is happy with the tractor rides and the “farmer” is happy in his pick-up truck. I guess it’s a good day on No Rhyme or Reason Farm.
A truck load of hay — or what’s left of it, after some blew away on the drive to our houseTransferring to the next ride — the Deere to carry it up the hill.Of course, there’s a passenger to help haul the hay.And she looks like a movie star — with the car to herself for the return trip to the truck for the next load of hay.
After all our renovations, the last thing we want is for walls to come tumbling down. But, there was one wall that was really annoying me. It was a cinder block wall on the southeast corner of the spring house ruins. It wasn’t so bad during the summer, covered in vines and weeds; but once we started clearing the meadow and cutting/shredding more of the ubiquitous brambles and briars – the wall started to stick out like a sore thumb.
I’d been eyeing that wall since we first looked at this house. The cinder blocks were a blot on the landscape and an impediment to the natural flow of the spring. Chris took a sledge hammer to it. I’d like to say it tumbled into individual cinder blocks with one hard hit. That’s not exactly how it happened. Over the course of a couple of days, armed with a metal wedge and the sledge, he chipped away, chipped away, chipped away. Good practice if he ever needs to chip his way out of jail! Some cinder blocks broke into pieces, others stayed whole. We used the broken pieces for fill; the whole ones are up in the “bone yard” where we keep odds and ends of things we’ve found on the property (old metal fence posts, old bricks, etc.), just in case we ever need a cinder block or two.
Once the cinder blocks were out of the way, we found old pieces of galvanized metal that may have been the roof of the spring house at one time. That was another project to dig them out. With the cinder block wall and the galvanized metal gone, the spring now flows more directly into the stream rather than making a boggy mess. Now we’re left with the next step of the project — hauling out all the rocks that have collapsed into the inside of the spring house. We’ll pile them up to the side and wait for that day when we can rebuild the spring house to its original beauty. I found a picture of what I want it to look like…someday.
The spring house ruins — with the cement block wall. What’s it there for anyway?We started knocking it down — at least it’s progress.A pile of cement blocks to be sent to the “bone yard” in case we ever need cement blocks.How I want the spring house to look some day… when I win the lottery.
I love organization. Everything should be in its place.
The one place we had not organized was the basement. The basement is damp and dark and has spiders and things. It’s not a place I’m apt to “hang out” in order to spend time organizing.
Holiday decorations, luggage, and other stuff we didn’t need in the house were deposited there when we moved in last October. While most things were in storage bins, some things were still in cardboard moving boxes. We put 2” x 4” boards on the floor to keep the boxes dry – but it was an unorganized mess. Ugh.
With the rain we’ve had, everything kept getting damp. We didn’t realize how damp until two weeks ago when we opened the basement to retrieve our luggage. It had grown mold. It got hosed off, scrubbed with soap and disinfected with sunshine – and it was still disgusting, so we bought new luggage that will now be stored in the attic.
But, we still had a moldy basement. We bought shelf brackets, hardware and a dehumidifier and spent two days in the dark, dingy, damp dungeon – cleaning out cobwebs, building shelves and throwing out moldy stuff. The dehumidifier tank holds 90 pints of water. Chris empties it twice a day. The basement floor is the driest it’s been since we found this place. It must be sucking up water from the springhouse because it just keeps filling up, and we keep dumping it down the drain.
Finally, it feels cool and dry, the shelves are in place and it’s organized! But I still don’t like the spiders.
From piled up stuff,And things shoved on shelves —To this organized shelf of extra paint,And shelves of canned goods and kitchen supplies;And neat shelves of holiday decorations! It’s organized.
No Rhyme or Reason Farm 