Wednesday, July 23, 2014

This past week has been hot and mostly dry, so Stephen has been moving sprinklers around on the lawns trying to keep the grass alive, and Kyle has been continuing the daily watering of the driveway trees.  Connie has put in several days maintaining and augmenting garden plantings.  There have been several weather alerts for thunderstorms in our area, but we have seen and heard several storms move around our particular niche of the geography, either just on the other side of the ridge to the north or to the south of the property.  Stockton Creek is as low as I have seen it--all it takes to cross it at the moment is one step on a stone in the middle, or perhaps a little hop across; a sure sign that it's been a while since we had any substantial rain.

The stonemasons have completed re-grading and replacing the cobblestones around the fish pond, and this week have also worked on the brick sidewalk that leads away from the fish pond and into the south lawn.

Bobby and his crew continue their excellent restoration work on the siding and trim work of the Estate House.  Stephen has coordinated with several area wood workers to have special trim milled or pieces made in order to replace pieces that cannot be repaired.

North portico

Kevin is making progress on refinishing the shutters.  Because the old paint is lead-based and needs to be stripped before the shutters can be repaired and re-painted, he needs to wear hazmat equipment to protect himself from inhaling or absorbing any of the debris while removing the old paint.  The extra equipment has made for some really hot days for Kevin over the past two weeks.

Geo has been on site several days since last week, and he and Kyle perform a number of routine maintenance tasks each day.  Their work keeps the lawns clear, the edges neat, and gradually, is creating more cleared space where the woods have encroached over past years.  They have also helped split and stack firewood in preparation for cooler weather and cozy evenings at the hearth of the outdoor fireplace on the north lawn.

Ned and Abby, the couple who were staying in the Carriage House all this week, have been travelling to see local sights from Monticello and downtown Charlottesville to Waynesboro and Staunton, and yesterday, they asked if there was any work they could be doing to help out on the farm!  As there is always a little more to do than there are hands to do it, Stephen quickly accepted their kind offer.  Abby weeded and cleaned up the herb garden in the greenhouse area, while Ted stacked firewood in the wood shed.

Geo had begun stacking, completing the left and back portions,
 then Ned finished by filling the right side.

Stephen mows almost every day with the big tractor and its super-sized mowing deck.  This has kept the front pastures looking lawn-like, as well as providing access to all the fields by creating pathways around all the perimeters.  I noticed these grasses (below) growing along the west edge of the north field last week, and it struck me that all the grass in the fields would probably be this tall if it weren't for Donnie making hay and Stephen mowing around the edges.  It's hard to get a sense of scale in this picture, but I'm guessing, based on my own height, this grass is about 9 feet tall.

The multitude of wild blackberries in the hedges and fence lines on the farm began to be ripe last week, and there are still a number of them "in progress."  They ripened a little later this year than we have seen them ripen in the past, so we are guessing it must be due to some variation in the weather since they last bore fruit.

Some of the trees are producing nuts, preparing for fall.  The walnut tree behind the Farmhouse has clumps of walnuts, some of which are already falling, and in the woods, hickory trees are revealing a healthy crop of nuts.  The Ramsay squirrels will be happy!

A recent morning walk across the creek and around the north field resulted in a few pictures taken from vantage points I hadn't seen before.  No matter which way you look, it's beautiful!

Looking north-northwest

Looking west

Venerable poplar tree, a sentry for the Stockton Creek crossing

July 17, 2014--Happy Birthday to Stephen!

Happy Birthday to Stephen, who, among many other roles, is my husband of 41 years, has been a father for 36 years, and a grandfather for almost 3 years!  As of today, he is no longer married to an older woman (at least until November)!

Grandpa taking Gordon, Melissa, and granddaughter Haley, on a Gator
ride--Haley's first!

It was a beautiful day in central Virginia, with blue skies and scattered clouds making wonderful shadows on the mountains.

I'll post more pictures of this week's work as soon as possible.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Activity here on the farm is largely divided into two major components at this point:  restoration/repair and maintenance.  For Stephen, there is the additional job of being the innkeeper for weekend rental guests.

The major restoration/repair projects underway include work on the exterior of the Estate House, with Bobby's crew working on siding and trim and Kevin working on shutters and doors.

The crew replacing the ceiling of the portico of the Grigg barn completed their work last week and the painters were here over the weekend to finish the job.

The stonemasons are in the home stretch with the re-grading of the surround of the fish pond and re-laying the cobblestones.

The carriage was brought back to the farm last week with the new dashboard, top and fenders, made by the buggy shop in Dayton.  The work is beautiful!

Seat cushions yet to be installed...

Geo and Kyle have maintained landscaping by continuing to water trees and gardens, mowing, weeding, and general pick-up and debris-hauling to the burn piles.  Connie has been helping to maintain plantings and flowers in the garden areas around the Estate House and the Cottage.  Sherry has cleaned all the residences, including having the Carriage House ready for guests who arrived today and will be here for a week.  I have done pruning and weeding in the garden, and did the "first day breakfast" shopping for this week's guests earlier today.

The vegetable garden is still doing very well.  We are sharing the bounty of cucumbers with some of the people working here on the farm.  So far, there are very few ripe tomatoes, and the squash look promising, but haven't begun producing yellow squash or zucchini.  The lettuce has done really well, and I have been making salads with our greens along with roasted beets, goat cheese or feta, sliced onion, cucumbers, and vinaigrette dressing, so I can attest to how much better these home-grown greens are than anything we can buy in the stores.

Lettuces and zucchini

Blue Lake green bean plants blooming, blooms soon to be
followed by beans.  These were planted as seeds, as opposed to having
been already started.  It always amazes me how this bounty can grow up
from the tiny seeds we planted just weeks ago.

The hens and the horses are all sleek and happy.  The horses help keep the grass mowed in their paddock, and the hens have enjoyed cleaning up their own organic feed as well as greens and clippings from the gardens.  And I expect there isn't an insect anywhere within the confines of the chicken enclosure.

North Star, Smokey, and (behind Smokey) Toby, all enjoying the
 beautiful, lush grass in the new paddock southwest of the Grigg Barn

We've had several wildlife-related events this week.  I think there are hawks nesting in one of the tall trees along the fence line with Ridgely in the northwest field.  A hawk, which may have been the mother bird, hissed in a very menacing way when the dogs and I walked near the tree last weekend, and rather than flying away, which she would have done ordinarily, she stayed put and tried to warn us away.  I took heed and we gave her a wide berth, not wanting to experience an airborne and angry big predatory bird!

At the other end of the bird size and attitude spectrum, a little mother bird of some sort has made a nest and laid eggs in one of the hanging baskets on the front porch of the Farmhouse.  She is very timid and flies frantically away whenever we or the dogs appear nearby, so we are trying to use the back door now in order not to disturb her any more than is necessary.

Here are a couple of miscellaneous pictures from one of my walks last week:

Blackberries approaching ripeness.

Sunset view west to Ridgely, from the southwest
corner of the estate.

Clover, Queen Anne's Lace, and unknown other wildflowers in the
southwest field.  I learned recently that clover is a legume, which furnishes
protein to grazing animals.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Garrison Keillor always begins his Lake Wobegon stories on "Prairie Home Companion" with "It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.....".  We can very rarely say "It's been a quiet week at Ramsay," and this week has been no exception.

Last week, work continued on the fish pond cobblestone patio, Bobby's crew was here part of one day to finish some trim work on the Grigg barn, internet technicians were here to make changes to wireless service to the Estate House and the Guest Cottage, the lawns and pastures were mowed, and all of Ramsay's hourly workers were busy, including Sherry, Geo, Kyle, and Connie.

The painting crew prepped and painted the old chicken coop (not the temporary one where the hens are now) last week.  The building is just across the farm lane from the Grigg barn, and with its newly cleaned and painted roof and walls, it looks quite elegant in its simplicity and proportions.

We're so pleased that Kevin, Ramsay's master carpenter from last summer, has returned and is applying his skills to re-building/restoring all the shutters on the Estate House, and also to several other smaller projects.

Shutters dismantled for restoration

Kevin removes decades of weathered paint from louvered french doors.

Kevin taking down a shutter for restoration

Kevin replaced the threshold to the Carriage House door.

The July 4th holiday fell on this past Friday, which meant some well-deserved time off for farm workers who had worked many long hours in weather most people wouldn't be caught dead in.  Most work stopped on the farm at Noon on Thursday due to the forecast for severe weather by Noon that day, and which we could see coming up over the mountains, and hear, as thunder rumbled toward us in the late morning.  Thursday afternoon, we received some torrential rain, but the more significant factor was the derecho-type winds that struck the area.  We were fortunate not to lose power at Ramsay, and the farm suffered little damage from the wind.  There were tree limbs down on all the lawns, and clumps of green leaves everywhere, covering the lawns and the vegetable garden like a layer of green mulch.  Stephen and I did the pick-up, as all the maintenance people were gone by then.

Stephen and I hosted a small gathering of friends and family on the lawn at the Farmhouse on the 4th. It was a beautiful day, everyone enjoyed seeing Ramsay's beautiful views, and the chickens made lots of new friends.

One of the most time-consuming and challenging projects this summer has been the installation of additional up-lighting in the formal garden area and around the outdoor fireplace and Guest Cottage lawn.  Much of the work has been done already, but changes are being made to several installations.  In addition this week, the biggest challenge has been undertaken and successfully accomplished:  creating electrical connection to supply lights in the large cast-stone urn in the center of the ellipse in the boxwood garden.  Special tools had to be acquired, and extra manpower solicited in order to move the urn off its base and drill out a core without damaging the urn.  This was completed today and Connie has restored the plantings in and around the base of the urn.

Alterations being made to a previously completed installation

Drilling out a conduit through the urn in the ellipse

The vegetable garden is growing almost as one looks at it, due to the sunny days and either rain or daily watering.  I noticed some mildew on the zucchini earlier this week, and found a large horn worm on one of the largest tomato plants, so while purchasing chicken feed at Countryside Organics in Waynesboro yesterday, I bought an organic spray to kill the mildew and an organic pest-repelling powder to apply to the tomato plants.  The cucumbers continue to produce well, and today there are several red tomatoes on the large plant we bought from Turnip the Beets farm.  The other tomatoes have plenty of green tomatoes on them, but no ripe ones yet.

This evening we are again under a "severe thunderstorm" watch, surrounded by thunder and lightning, and with mountains having disappeared behind curtains of rain.  This is a big contrast to the weather of this past weekend, represented here in a view from the deck of the Farmhouse.