Wednesday, August 27, 2014

We had some much-needed rain last weekend here at Ramsay...

and a system of cooler, drier weather arrived over the weekend, so the farm has been a beehive of activity this week with all hands on deck and lots of work being accomplished.

The cooler front brought beautiful, clear blue skies with some interesting cloud formations...

The recent rain freshened up all the lawns and garden; the Piedmont Landscaping crew arrived today and mowed all the lawns and along the driveways.

Donnie has continued to cut hay in the fields this week ,and the northwest field is now completely cut, raked and baled.

Bobby and his carpentry crew reached a major milestone this week, completing all the restoration and repair work on siding and trim of the main house.  They successfully repaired numerous water-damaged areas, replacing old wood with new, custom-made and fitted pieces.

John's painters are now following in the path of Bobby's work, and the prep work--scraping, sanding, caulking, etc.--is mostly done. They began applying the finish paint to the trim work this week.

Custom crown molding exiting the shaper
 at a specialty shop in Waynesboro...

and being  delivered on site at Ramsay.

Finish paint on the trim work began this week

The original north portico lanterns get a face lift!

The north portico ceiling turned sky blue today

Out with the old [yellow]and in with
the new Black Forest Green

Kevin has completed the restoration/rebuilding of all the shutters for the main house.  The hardware for the shutters has been retrieved from the shop in Waynesboro which refinished it, (see previous post) and the shutters are now awaiting new paint before they can be re-hung.  Kevin has now moved on to undertake the long-awaited restoration and repair work on the screen porch of the guest cottage.

Dismantled piece-by-piece, measured, labeled, and stored for reference.

Decades' worth of water-damaged material uncovered and removed.

New porch columns primed and ready for service.

Connie has been busy this week cleaning up and maintaining all the borders and plantings--a never-ending process on a beautiful estate like Ramsay. Like Geo, our tireless yardman, Connie's creative juices are evident all around the grounds as she prunes, shapes, plants, and rearranges everything that is green or blooming!

Connie shows off one of her masterpieces at the ellipse.

Geo continues to be our handyman extraordinaire.  He handles numerous day-to-day chores in a timely and efficient manner, assists Connie routinely with her gardening work, and has that special gift of being constantly on the look-out for things that need attention.

Sherry, our long-suffering and unsung housekeeper continues--as she has for almost a decade--to take wonderful care of all the residences and guest quarters. She is a gem!

The vegetable garden continues to produce beautiful and tasty heirloom tomatoes and herbs.  The marigolds have been very happy this summer and we've enjoyed their bright splashes of color amongst the green of the garden plants and pathways.  At the Nelson County Farmers' Market on Saturday, we bought some transplants for fall/winter vegetables, including cauliflower, broccoli, and Red Russian kale.

Baby cauliflower and kale

Stephen manages all the workers and schedules, coordinates supplies for all projects, locates sources for special materials, handles financial matters and deals with vendors, in addition to mowing pastures, tending chickens, handling the livestock, and keeping all the farm equipment running.  The long days of summer mean workdays that begin at 6:30 AM and end at about 9 PM, but they also mean that a tremendous amount of work has been done, a good number of people have contributed, and an almost unbelievable amount of progress has been made on maintaining, improving and conserving this national historic treasure called Ramsay.

We have known for some time that the Gibson family named this estate Ramsay in honor of the 18th century British settler who received a land patent for the property. Earlier this month, my mother forwarded a copy of her daily devotional for August 3rd titled, "Pray and Work". It went on to say, Ramsay is the family name of the Earl of Dalhousie, who is the head of one of the most ancient and famous Scottish families. The motto of the Ramsays is the Latin phrase Ora et Labora, which means, "Pray and Work". Well, that is certainly what we do every day here at Ramsay!

Leaves are beginning to turn yellow and red in a few trees in the woods and on the lawns, and the walnut tree behind the farmhouse is releasing showers of small, yellow leaves.  The bottom-land near Stockton Creek is bright with yellow and purple asters and other fall season flowers.  I've noticed a number of butterflies recently, especially near the creek and in the midst of the flowers.  The angle of sunlight is already noticeably different--softer in the afternoon, with crickets singing in the brushy areas around the fields by late afternoon, and we notice dawn and dusk creeping a little closer together each week.

Here is a late-summer evening picture taken tonight from the south lawn, looking toward Humpback Mountain, and featuring Ramsay's two Belted Galloway cows.