Wednesday, April 9, 2014

As the weather warms, activity increases at Ramsay.  Last week, Stephen and I assembled the new chicken coop, which had arrived in the mail, and will be the new home of several Golden Comet hens from Free Union Grass Farm.  On Friday, Joel, one of the owners of Free Union Grass Farm, came to Ramsay for a "chicken consult," and shared lots of wonderful advice, the result of much experience, about keeping chickens.

Susan and Joel with the new chicken coop

Stephen and I went to Augusta Co-op on Saturday and purchased a 3-lb hanging feeder, a water container, cedar shavings for "the girls" to snuggle in, and oyster shell supplement to add to their feed.  In order to get organic feed, I went to Waynesboro on Tuesday and purchased organic feed for laying hens at Countryside Organics (http://www.countrysideorganics.com/).  Today (Wednesday), Stephen and I added a coat of exterior latex paint (white for the trim and "Ramsay Barn Red" for the rest).  We may be able to fetch the hens on Friday, if it's convenient for Joel, otherwise, we'll bring them to their new home next week.

Central Virginia Builders has done great things with the south portico.  Having devised an on-site router table for creating the beaded edge on the wrapping material for the columns, they began installing the custom-milled finish material to the columns today.

Over the weekend, Ramsay's dedicated landscaping crew brought in mulch to start sprucing up the grounds, particularly around the Guest Cottage, in anticipation of guests who will arrive tomorrow for a long weekend.  Patsy added some early blooming plants to create a bit of spring color, and Louis, one of Patsy's helpers who did a lot of the work to prepare for the Farm Dinner in September, distributed this heap of mulch to flower and shrub beds all around the east end of the estate.

Other "Ramsay Team" workers on site over the past few days have included Zeke, from Grelen Nursery, finalizing details for placement of trees along the main driveway, David, the roofer, who is assisting with the roof over the south portico, a technician who repaired wind damage to the satellite TV receiver at the Guest Cottage, and Sherry, who has been spring cleaning in the houses to make sure all are ready for visitors.

Periwinkle and daffodils at the end of the driveway to the Guest Cottage