Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Ramsay's trees and hedge rows are showing all the signs of fall, with more color in the leaves and bare tree limbs visible in places.  We have had some cooler than normal nighttime temperatures this week, with the temperature being in the mid-thirties two nights.

Despite the cooler days and nights, we have optimistically planted some cool weather starter plants in the vegetable garden, hoping that they won't be frozen before they can grow up, since we were late getting them into the ground.  I've been limited as to how much walking and standing I can do since my accident last month (well, to me it was an accident...to my horse, I think it was intentional!), and Connie hasn't been able to work here because of a death in her family, so purchasing the plants and deciding how to place them got put off last month.  We have planted the little starters of Russian kale, broccoli and cauliflower I had bought earlier at the farmer's market, and added collards, Brussels sprouts, two varieties of sage, and rosemary.  In past gardens, I've had sage and rosemary winter over, providing some wonderful fresh flavors for holiday roasting and baking, which is what I am hoping for with these new plants.  We also put in ornamental "flowering kale" at the ends of two rows to replace some of the marigolds which had begun to struggle a bit.  Stephen did all the work, while I sat on the garden chair and gave directions!

Other projects underway since our last post have included having Bobby's crew on site to complete installation of downspouts and gutters on the main house--true finishing touches on an almost year-long project.  The results are beautiful as well as functional--the exterior of the main house should protect this treasure for decades to come.

Oscar and several other of John's painting crew have been on site, painting the parts of the guest cottage that have been recently repaired.

Stephen, Geo and Richard have completely cleaned up the staging area which was used to stockpile supplies during all the stone work and carpentry work during the past year.  This week they have enclosed that area with fencing in order to include it in the cow pasture as it had been originally.  They were able to complete the work by using the farm tractor and post hole digging attachment, salvaging and re-purposing some planks from old fencing that has been replaced, and adding new material where needed.  Stephen sowed grass in the area as soon as possible in order to take advantage of the rain we've had over the past week, but has also added water via sprinklers on the dry days.  Today they built and installed a gate to complete the enclosure.  It is designed to match the gate from the farm lane into the barnyard.

Topsoil to amend the soil before planting grass

New posts...the fence begins

All straight and true, awaiting a new gate, with grass seed planted and tucked in

Richard and Geo helping build the new gate

New gate in place

Recently, Stephen has been called twice to deal with wandering cows on the property, not the Ramsay cows, who remain peacefully in their pasture, but cows belonging to someone north of the Ramsay property.  He found the owner and he and Geo and Richard helped get the cows moving in the right direction, so all turned out well.  Last week, Stephen noticed our horses were grazing in the barnyard of the Grigg barn rather than in their big paddock, apparently the result of Toby, the naughty Haflinger, having pushed through a weak spot in the old fencing, no doubt in the interest of finding greener grass.  The others don't push the fences, but they will follow if Toby starts, so here they are enjoying their reward.

The exterminator was here at the end of last week, treating all the residential spaces.  Sherry has been here doing cleaning and laundry in the main house, the Carriage House and the Guest Cottage, as we have had guests in the rentals over the weekends.

Since I've been on the injured list, Stephen has been taking our dogs out each day in place of my usual daily long walks with them.  They discovered one of Donnie's hay wagons sitting in the lower part of the north field near the creek, and must have decided they'd like a ride back home.

Laddie, Obie and Buster

 The lower light in the mornings and evenings is providing some lovely views around the farm.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Early morning light, east lawn

The weather is making up for the earlier lack of rain, having sent along several rainy days and some heavy downpours since our last post.  Today we are having more nice, soaking rain, which will be great for all the garden and lawn areas.  Leaves are falling from the many ash trees around the property, and the hickories, poplars, and maples are all beginning to show their fall colors.

Last week, Kevin and Richard finished the work on the back of the Guest Cottage, removing rotted wood they had discovered at one of the corners and replacing it with new wood.

They also replaced all the posts around the edge of the carriage turnaround at the top of the main driveway, which involved custom cutting all the posts and resetting them once the old ones had been removed.

The well-drilling crew was here several days, attempting to put in a new well in the top of the southwest field.  Despite their best efforts, the water source they eventually found provided a very low flow rate.

Geo was here several days and did a lot of clean-up work as well as splitting firewood for the outdoor fireplace and the fireplaces in the Guest Cottage and the Estate House.

Connie did some maintenance work on the Gator as well as attending to her gardening tasks.

Sherry was on site, preparing the Guest Cottage and the Carriage House for rental this weekend, in addition to cleaning the Estate House.  The Carriage House was rented from Thursday to Sunday by the wife of a world-reknown musician whose niece was being married over the weekend.  Stephen ran into the musician himself at the Brownsville Market on Saturday and had a brief "small world" chat!  A family rented the Guest Cottage for Saturday to today for a fall getaway, and Stephen took them on a Gator tour of the farm, which they loved.  They also got to feed the horses and gather eggs from the chickens, and are planning to come back again.

On Saturday, Ramsay was the site for a meeting of the Waldingfield Beagles.  This is their 130th season, and they have always held their meets at farms and estates in the area.  This was their first meet at Ramsay, and they had a fun outing, as the beagles got to cast for rabbits in all the thicket areas on the west side of the farm, accompanied by their handlers and a few spectators.  Personally, I'm glad they didn't actually catch a rabbit, and it didn't seem disappointing to any of the people with the beagles, as they mostly like hiking around across country and being with the dogs.  As is customary for these meets, we provided refreshments after the hunt, setting up under the east portico of the old barn, since it was misting rain.  Everyone loved being at Ramsay and learning about the history of the farm from their tour guide, Stephen.

Ramsay is in some pretty impressive company.  "Tea Time" is Rita Mae Brown's farm, and the
other estates are well-known in the area as well as nationally.

Arriving at Ramsay, ready to hunt.

Eager beagles!

Gathering the pack.

The hunt moves out!

Post-hunt "tea time."

We're expecting more rain this week, probably through Wednesday.  More guests will be arriving for the rental properties, but no further special events are planned.