Ramsay Farm FYI: Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Ramsay is bustling with activity on jobs large and small!

Kevin is closing in on the last of the 70 shutters from the main house that he had to rework, and in many cases, rebuild. It is truly amazing the damage that happens to wood exposed to weather, even when it's encased in several layers of paint. He has been getting this work done while Bobby and his crew continue the restoration work on the siding and trim.

Cleaning and re-assembling a shutter with custom millwork.

Kevin re-assembles the "puzzle" of a
louvered shutter--one of 70.

Puzzle completed and ready for hardware and paint.

Stephen has been busy coordinating supplies for all the projects, supervising work schedules, and delegating jobs to be done by the farm's part-time help. Yesterday, he picked up some of the custom millwork from the woodworker in White Hall--some 5/8" trim mold that encases the dentil block molding on the soffits of the main house.

On Monday, he delivered all the hinges and hardware from the shutters on the main house to a company in Waynesboro. They will strip all the layers of paint from them and apply a powder coated new finish. This process has proved much more cost effective than having this work done on-site--which we had attempted--and the finished product is little short of amazing! See below:

Old shutter hinges with decades of rust and 3-4 layers of paint.

Rusted hinge and "frozen" hinge pin. (before)

Above hinge after sand-blasting & electrostatic-ally powder-coated!

Bobby's carpentry crew is nearing completion of the monumental task of repairing and restoring the exterior of the main estate house...

Chris and Bobby hard at work.

... and John's painting crew has been working every day--following Bobby's carpentry repairs-- scraping, sanding, and priming the siding and trim on the main house.

The bluestone for the surround of the fishpond arrived recently and this past week the stonemasons laid the new bluestone and mortared the joints for a beautiful finished result.

Grinding the surface of the concrete apron surrounding the
fishpond, blowing dust away, in preparation for laying
the new bluestone.

Applying mortar prior to laying bluestone.

Beautiful!

We had some light rain daily for several days which was welcome because recent weeks had been so dry. On the "misting" days, Bobby's crew and Kevin worked through the falling dampness, but they missed a day or two when the rain was falling in a more determined and soaking way. Geo continued with his work, devising a temporary but effective roof for the Gator.

The Gator "convertible."

Trimming the tall hedges along Farm Lane and around the Carriage House garden has always been a challenge, but Geo solved the problem this week by creating a cantilevered platform on the side of the Gator so he could stand on it to trim the top of the hedges.

Connie was here and has done a lot of cleaning up, weeding, trimming, and mulching in all the garden areas. Today she reached the greenhouse herb garden which has thrived in the sun and in the recent rain. The marigolds in the tub below the bird bath will soon be replaced, but all the herbs are healthy and beautiful. It's hard to believe all these beautiful plants--shrubs, really, started out in 4-inch plastic pots from Milmont three months ago!

L-R: Lemon balm, dill, variegated sage, "Aristotle" basil.

The mowing crew has been operating on an "on call" basis the last few weeks as we have had so little rain that there was nothing for them to cut. After running sprinklers for days and then receiving some showers last week, we summoned them last Friday to work their grooming magic on all 8 acres of manicured lawns here at Ramsay!

Tripod sprinkler on the east lawn.

Geo and Stephen incinerated the "burn pile" in the bottom alongside Stockton Creek on Tuesday because there was no wind and a light rain was falling and predicted to fall throughout the day. The pile had grown to a huge heap of cuttings, tree limbs, leaves and sticks from the lawns, and other material from gardens, lawns and walkways. The burn was uneventful but effective, and is now extinguished.

There have been guests in the Guest Cottage both weekends and into this week, with guests also in the Carriage House 2 weekends ago. Everyone was most complimentary of the amenities here and took advantage of farm tours provided by Stephen. Sherry has done her usual excellent job of laundering linens and cleaning the properties, and Stephen has been on site and on-call as innkeeper and tour guide.

The guests who are here this week reminded us how different our perspectives can be at times. I had mentioned that it was too bad that the weather was rainy and foggy while they are here, since it meant they wouldn't see the beautiful views around the farm. But Stephen said they are from Texas where the daily average temperature now is over 100 degrees, and they said they haven't had rain in so long that their water is rationed. So they were very happy to be here while it was raining and cooler, and now today, they've been here while the views are beautiful and clear.

The garden is doing well. Some of the Bibb lettuce is still going strong, but some has been pulled out and discarded as it had bolted. The tomatoes are finally ripening, and we have several colors--a beautiful golden yellow one with red streaks, dark purple ones, and pale red/orange ones. I can attest to the deliciousness of the dark purple cherry tomatoes in a salad with the Bibb lettuce and some of the basil from the garden. Well worth the effort to plant, care for, and harvest.

Heirloom tomatoes.

Beautiful basil and some peppers.

The Swiss Chard is rallying, perhaps with the shorter days and some cooler nights, and the cucumbers persist in producing several each week. The green beans are really happy, and are growing faster than I can pick them.

All the animals seem healthy and happy. The chickens look forward to their feedings each day and, in return, provide the guests and us with fresh eggs--a dozen every three days. We haven't had to buy eggs for the breakfasts for the rentals now for months!

Today was a beautiful day after the several days of rain and low-lying clouds on the mountains. There was less humidity, so the mountains looked clear and beautiful, with shadows on them from the clouds breezing by overhead. Donny and Wayne were here earlier in the day cutting hay, so the fields are beautiful and fragrant. Everyone worked full days today to catch up on jobs that had been delayed by weather, and everything looks tidy and "Bristol trim."