Sarah's Farm Report

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T02:31:00.002-05:00

Family

2011-12-29T13:02:00.006-05:00

...

I may have the cutest nieces and nephews in the world. Just sayin'. :-)

Visiting the Jefferson

2011-12-23T18:37:00.004-05:00

Wow. Big and Beautiful. Those are words to describe the holiday decorations at the Jefferson Hotel. Candy house is one of the best I have ever seen --- and I believe the (spectacular) tree will be up until the first week in January. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the Richmond area!!

Still Feeding Birds

2011-12-13T00:20:00.007-05:00

One of my favorite parts of life on the farm is the amazing variety of birds I can (and will) see on any given day --- and often right outside of my kitchen window. Before moving away from Church Hill, I honestly never realized how many different kinds of birds there were in this area, nor did I realize how colorful the birds might be. I was a bit spoiled living in the metal building apartment (in the back part of the farm) for my first two years out here, at least in terms of bird-watching abilities. The bird feeders there were only about 8 feet from the apartment and I could use a telephoto lens from just inside the bathroom window very easily and get great images. Visit http://sarahsbirdreport.blogspot.com/ for a bird inventory I did a few years back.

The new house does not (yet) have a great location for doing that kind of photography, although I an determined to find or create one soon. I did recently get a see-through birdfeeder for the window of my laundry room (see above), but the window is very close to the heat pump and A/C unit, so only the bravest of birds seem to have found their way there. Alternating between sunflower seeds and safflower seeds has helped --- and appears to to be getting a strong vote of approval from all my visitors.

For those who asked for details, I keep two feeders on my deck and they are filled most of the time with either sunflower or safflower seeds, plus one hummingbird feeder. There are additional feeders along the perimeter fences, but I don't worry about keeping them filled as often. I have one squirrel who visits on occasion, but not so often as to be a pest. After NOT seeing one single squirrel on the property for the first 4 years I was here, I still get a kick watching his antics.

Thor Turns 14!

2011-11-05T20:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to Thor, who may be the happiest dog in the world. He is still bouncing around the house and yard at 14 years of age and LOVES to do agility and tricks. Perhaps not as nimble as he once was, but as enthusiastic as he ever was!!

Happy Halloween.

2011-10-31T18:34:00.001-04:00

Check out the scary spiders who arrived last week at 6500, just in time for Halloween. Thank you Annie!!

Kelsey's Box House

2011-09-04T19:22:00.005-04:00

This was the result of some serious thought, a fair amount of effort and LOTS of tape. Much fun. I should note that this house had more than one room and a skylight too. :-)
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Had a wonderful trip to California for the Labor Day weekend!

Gadget

2011-08-07T19:47:00.000-04:00

Hmm. Wonder why my laundry looks wrinkled again already?

Flake

2011-08-07T16:30:00.003-04:00

Flake is only happy when she is REALLY dirty. Lovely, huh? Good thing the pool filter works well.

Pilot

2011-08-07T15:40:00.004-04:00

Enough with the paperwork --- can you tell Pilot wants to go outside?

(Note: I think he may be the cutest dog in the world.)

Summer Bug

2011-07-22T01:30:00.000-04:00

Love taking the time to notice the small stuff --- and there is a lot of it to notice.

Planting Earthboxes with Grady and Katie

2011-07-08T19:30:00.003-04:00

What fun! My sister Susan and I helped my nephew Grady and niece Katie plant their first earthboxes with an assortment of vegetables. I see some great gardening potential in them both!!

See here and here and here for pictures of my earthbox "farm" in Virginia. I am clearly a fan.

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-04T19:42:00.001-04:00

Succulent Show at the Huntington

2011-07-03T19:10:00.001-04:00

Had a wonderful visit to the cactus and succulent show at the Huntington Library and Gardens with my mother and niece Kelsey. Very impressive and inspiring. Made plans to improve my little (kitchen windowsill) succulent collection in Virginia soon.

Pool Deck

2011-06-19T23:36:00.008-04:00

Big weekend of projects around here. One of the most significant accomplishments of the past week was that I finally got the filter and salt treatment system working on my tiny backyard pool. Thank you Ed and Jay for making this happen!! My pool is 12' in diameter and came from Wal-Mart about two years back. It has never gotten much use though, because of (a) the no-filter-no-salt problem and (b) the no-easy-way-to-get-dogs-in-and-out problem. So, with the filter now in place and working perfectly, I decided to tackle the second problem immediately and build a "pool deck" for my dogs. Found old plastic shelving in my shed and bought additional (new) shelving at Lowe's. Used my hacksaw to adjust leg heights as needed. Bought a few rubber door mats and secured them to shelving with zip ties. More zip ties were used to attach shelving to the pool frame and a few cinder block pieces were used to provide weight on the bottom shelf. You can see the results here, but I can report that the new deck worked exactly as hoped and all dogs seemed able to get up and into the pool and then (more importantly) out again. Only two of my dogs (Flake and Pilot) are showing much enthusiasm for the water at this point, but I am hopeful that the others will come around. Canine swimming lessons and water aerobics start this week. :-)

Oops.

2011-06-19T22:55:00.002-04:00

Oh dear. Slacking off again in the blogging department. Where has the year gone?? Has it really been months (??) since I last updated this blog? Will once again renew my commitment to posting here with regularity and see if I can do better in the days ahead. Plenty going on and plenty more planned, so I shouldn't have trouble finding things to report.

Stay tuned.

Metal Building

2011-02-21T22:35:00.006-05:00

Metal building renovation project started with a new staircase, so that I could access all of the nice storage in the loft area. Previous access via a leaning ladder was never a good/safe option, with the result being that I didn't go up there much. Also ended up adding a railing along the edges of the loft for more safety, which can be seen in the pictures below --- and all of the above was eventually painted.

Followed with massive cleaning and decluttering and organizing. This is the load that went to the dump and a similar (slightly smaller) load went to the Salvation Army. Less is more, right?

Here is the area post-cleaning.

And here it is with the spiffy new cushioned floor for dog training and everything else. For those who might wonder, these are just foam squares that interlock like puzzle pieces, which I purchased at Sam's Club --- and I put down the whole floor myself in about 90 minutes.

Hooray --- another BIG project completed!! The large metal building (quonset hut) on my property had become more of a large storage unit than anything else in recent years. I don't have any pictures of the total mess that it was, but you can probably imagine lots of piles and containers of stuff with very little rhyme or reason to what went where. I have always wanted to be able to use the building for other purposes (training my dogs, entertaining, etc), so a major cleanup and cleanout was in order. Happy to report that it was less painful than I feared and the results make me much happier than I could have anticipated. Thank you to Joanne and Tray and Dustin for all of their help with this project!! I couldn't have done it without you.

Pump House

2011-01-30T19:40:00.008-05:00

Note the fancy new stoop (which replaces the stacked cinder blocks

that have served that purpose for the past decade or more)

..White paint on the walls

and gray deck paint on the floor

More actual progress to report this week! The Pump House (or "Shack") is a small building behind the main farm house that used to feature really dirty indoor carpeting (and under that an uneven floor) and holes in the walls and gaps up near where the walls met the ceiling. Decided to transform it into a dedicated storage building with some much needed repairs and a coat or two of fresh paint. Ta da. Mission accomplished. It looks SO much better and is already neatly storing tons of stuff on very organized shelves. Thank you Tommy and Charles and Richard and Tray and Dustin and Joanne for all of your help! Hooray --- crossing another project off the long TO DO list.

Actual Farm Progress

2011-01-23T12:56:00.004-05:00

Before

Yikes (birds lived here...)

After :-)

This blog was originally intended to document progress on the rehabilitation of my tiny farm and it has clearly expanded to include almost everything else in my life. Such is the beauty of a blog I suppose. Happy to report this week on some actual brick and mortar progress though (or in this case wood, insulation and siding). The large metal building on my property has a small apartment where I lived for over two years. That end of the building has always had gaps in the siding and poor insulation and I knew there were at least a few birds making nests under the bathroom window. Not sure I realized how easy that was for them though. Decided this wall needed fixing and I am pleased to say it is now 100% fixed. See BEFORE and AFTER above. For those who appreciate details, note the all-new framing around the door (custom fit folded metal), reconstructed threshold, all-new framing around both windows, and fresh paint on the brand-new dutch door with a dog door. Also note the perfect clean-up after a very messy job. Thank you Charles and Tommy and Richard!

On to the next project!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-09T16:29:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year to all!! 2011 is off to a great start --- and I returned to Virginia just in time for more snow. Dogs were very happy to see me --- and then even happier to see the white stuff outside. Thank you to Tray and Joanne for looking after everyone in my absence!! My New Year's blogging resolution will be to post something here or on my new food blog for "most" weeks of 2011. Let's see how I do. :-)

Holiday Airstream

2010-12-18T22:12:00.009-05:00

The nice folks at Airstream hosted a holiday photo contest --- and I (just now) won one of the five top spots with my sepia-toned image above. Very exciting!! The other images above were also candidates for the competition. Winners gets a free t-shirt (hooray --- just what I need) and the winning images will be used for Airstream's digital holiday cards. Thank you to Flake and Daisy for being such patient models, even though it was the image without them that won.

Christmas Lights --- and Snow!

2010-12-17T21:48:00.004-05:00

Managed to get my lights up just in time for the Richmond SPCA holiday party (thank you Tray and Dustin) --- and then on Sunday night, it snowed!! Even more snow arrived on Thursday and everything is still frosted in white. Just beautiful --- and my dogs love it!!

A well-distributed bag of sunflower seeds has made my yard oh-so-very popular with birds of all shapes and sizes. Wish I had a better vantage point for taking bird pictures like I did in the little apartment. See here for warm weather examples. Hmmm. Something to consider in the new year. :-)

Fa La La

2010-12-04T19:20:00.003-05:00

The holidays are off to a great start. Thanksgiving in California was WONDERFUL --- and I spent much of today preparing to decorate for Christmas. Stay tuned for pictures of all the D's of DBB soon!!

First Frost

2010-11-08T10:11:00.008-05:00

Flake in North Carolina

2010-09-13T09:02:00.005-04:00

Great weekend at the Teamworks USDAA trial in Youngsville, NC. Flake ran clean in 14 out of 15 runs, earned two titles, and qualified for USDAA Nationals!! What a fun three days. Thank you to Tray and Kelly for looking after all my other critters, to Michelle for hosting a really nice trial, to Cheryl and Faye for being wonderful teammates, to Ed for grilling perfectly two nights in a row and for backing up my Airstream trailer --- and to Joanne for getting me and Flake back into the competitive swing of things. It certainly wouldn’t have happened without a BIG push in that direction. Thank you to Flake for running happily all weekend long. Louisville, here we come!!

(great photography is by RJM Images)

Airstream Bambi and Agility Trials

2010-08-14T02:14:00.004-04:00

Happy to report that my little Airstream Bambi travel trailer hit the road again this summer. The photo above was taken during early morning hours at the MADCO USDAA agility trial near Charlottesville, where Flake and I competed in July. Much fun!! Many thanks to my dear friends Ed and Joanne for helping me get the trailer roadworthy again --- and many thanks to the nice folks at Safford RV for fixing all the things we discovered that still need fixing. Alas, there were quite a few of them, although isn't that always the case with RV's? Sigh. Bambi and Flake and I will be heading to New Jersey and North Carolina for more agility trials and competition soon, so wish us luck!!

Below are some adorable pictures of dogs belonging to friends. Of course I forgot to take any pictures of my own dog, so I will try to remedy that soon. These images were taken at the Ruff Riders USDAA agility trial in Fredericksburg, which I attended sans the Airstream. The facility there (Fredricksburg Field House) was lovely and big and air-conditioned (which made it even more lovely in the 100+ degree heat). Flake was very well behaved and managed to earn her Performance Dog I and Performance Dog I Standard titles!! :-)

Jacob

Fawkes

Wisp

Fawkes and "E"

Kittens!!

2010-08-11T01:04:00.008-04:00

One of my favorite projects this summer was caring for the litter of kittens that stayed at my house for a few weeks in May/June. Little "Spring", "Summer", "Winter" and "Fall" were apparently ditched at my house with their mother "Persephone" in late May. Grrr. There ARE better ways to surrender animals, but that's another subject I suppose. Through the Richmond SPCA's Foster to Surrender program, I fostered these kittens and their mother in an upstairs bathroom until they were big enough to spay/neuter (i.e., when they reached about 2 lbs each). What fun!! They were (as you can see) ADORABLE and very entertaining --- and Persephone was the perfect mother, so I had very little to do beyond feeding and cleaning the litter boxes. Happy to report that the kittens were adopted within 24 hours of being placed on the adoption floor --- and I feel certain that Mom will go soon too. Interested in becoming a foster parent? Just ask me how. :-)

Tricks are for Kids

2010-08-08T21:17:00.003-04:00

I took several of my dogs (Flake, Gadget and Daisy) to the Children's Museum of Richmond to do some tricks this weekend. We must have seen over 200 kids and adults during the two shows we did --- and the dogs were (mostly) great. I think Gadget (above) delights in adding a little comedy to our routines, rolling over when I say SIT, sitting when I say DOWN and so forth. Sigh. I suppose there are worse things she could do --- and she usually finishes with a flourish. All of the kids seemed to enjoy the fun --- and Phyllis/Kaitlyn did a great job managing the traffic between shows. Many thanks!! Their young dog "Miley" made her demonstration debut and was very impressive. She seems oh-so-very-smart, happy to be petted and hugged, and unrattled by all the activity and noise. I see great things (and many demonstrations) in her future. :-)

The videographer from the Richmond Times Dispatch captured some of the tricks here: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/aug/07/amazing-animals-day-at-the-childrens-m-60940-vi-18935/

Hot Vegetables

2010-08-08T15:03:00.006-04:00

This summer has been brutal in terms of gardens and vegetable crops. I watered and watered and watered and watered --- and eventually gave up because even twice a day didn't seem sufficient in the 100+ degree heat. Sigh. Maybe next year will be cooler. We can certainly hope. :-)

By way of a report though, I planted a bunch of earthboxes (as in prior years) and did have a beautiful crop of squash almost immediately. See results above. These were definitely labeled as yellow squash when I planted them, but the results look a whole lot like gourds to me --- and they are still hard as rocks (alas). Pretty to look at, but not too tasty. I also had plenty of delicious tomatoes for a few weeks and basil seems to be coming up everywhere still. I also had about three weeks of strawberries, three weeks of eggplants, a bunch of cucumbers, some very bitter yellow and green peppers, and some baby watermelons that look almost ripe now and are still going strong. I may try raised beds (as opposed to earthboxes) the next time around, to see if perhaps they can be watered more and will therefore wilt less. Fingers crossed. For an explanation of earthboxes, please see my earlier posts (and better photographs) here:

http://sarahsfarmreport.blogspot.com/2008/04/vegetables.html

http://sarahsfarmreport.blogspot.com/2007/09/tomatoes.html

http://sarahsfarmreport.blogspot.com/2008/05/very-happy-vegetables.html

Go Fish!

2010-08-08T14:19:00.006-04:00

Once again, I am making up for lost time on this blog. Will try to post several times during the week ahead to include all the fun events of June and July --- and then maybe start posting more regularly. Fingers crossed.

For starters (and as you can see above), I now have a fish tank sitting in my kitchen, which makes me very happy. Fish tank maintenance has apparently become a lot more complicated since my childhood guppy-raising days though --- and I now know all about "cycling" a tank and testing weekly for pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels. It took over 6 weeks for my tank levels to stabilize --- but my little 10-gallon aquarium is now the happy home of quite a few fish and one dwarf amazon frog. Looks like my red platy is pregnant too, so there may be fish fry to photograph in the days ahead. I will continue to add pictures as I take them.

1 Red Platy

3 Zebra Danios

2 Neon Tetras

2 Xray/Pristella Tetras

1 Dwarf Amazon Frog

Fourth of July

2010-07-05T01:04:00.001-04:00

Okay --- so I got a little bored watching fireworks on the 4th of July and decided to have some photographic fun. This is what happens when you go for long exposures and deliberate movement of the camera. As Forrest Gump said, "you never know what you're gonna get", but I kind of like the effects. :-)

Hay There

2010-06-13T00:11:00.006-04:00

.. ..

Nothing profound to post today --- but thought I would share pictures of the beautiful field next to my house. My neighbors mow the field for hay a few times during the summer, but it is really the most beautiful when they haven't mowed in awhile. The ground is just uneven enough to catch the light perfectly at dusk, stretching out in big stripes of shade and light. Click the link below to see an early blog post with pictures of the same field being mowed in June 2008.

http://sarahsfarmreport.blogspot.com/2008/06/hay.html

Copy Cat Crafting

2010-06-06T18:13:00.008-04:00

First of all, it has been WAY too long since I posted to my blog. Apologies to anyone who has checked in recently and found nothing new. I am making promises to be better during the months ahead. And I might even find time to create a few "makeup" posts, as I have been anything but idle since February.

This weekend has been full of cleaning and catching up --- but I did find time to copy my friend Annie in a crafting endeavor. See above for the results. Much fun!! The link to Annie's post about a similar project is below --- and she was inspired by Beverly (who I have never met) at the link below that. Thank you to both of these talented crafters for inspiring me to actually make something. I think about crafting often, but starting is not my strong suit. :-)

Annie's post is here:
http://adorkableannie.blogspot.com/2010/05/for-to-serve.html

Beverly's post is here:
http://www.flamingotoes.com/2010/05/serving-tower/

I started by finding plates and cups at the West End Antiques Mall --- deciding to use blue and white "Willow Ware" --- which I love and which is readily available in individual semi-matched pieces. I used the Gorilla Glue that Beverly recommended in her post and it worked great. Started by stacking the plates and cups in endless combinations, trying to decide on the best design for my serving piece. Honestly, I could have stacked for a very long time (muttering to myself about all the possibilities), but decided I had better start gluing before the weekend was over. Making crafting decisions is apparently not my strong suit either.

I glued an upside-down salad plate to the bottom of the biggest plate as Beverly suggested, so that my serving tower would sit slightly off the table, stacking books on top of the glued stack for about 30 minutes at each "level". I actually glued some of my top pieces together and some of the bottom pieces togther and then glued my two mini-stacks to each other, which seemed to work fine and speeded up the process a bit, since I could have two sections drying at once. The finished serving tower seems very sturdy and I look forward to using it to entertain soon. Here's hoping I can inspire someone else to go try this fun and easy project. I know there are LOTS of plates and cups out there just waiting for a second career!

This was my "collection".

And this was the "super" glue.

This was my first level (actually shown upside down).

Almost done.

And here is the final tower!!

Road Trip

2010-02-19T22:20:00.004-05:00

I drove to Maryland with a friend last weekend to pick up her newly adopted puppy (who may or may not eventually be named "Sparky Malarkey"). She found him on petfinder.com and it was love at first sight. He is probably 11 weeks old and looks like a border collie mix. The story is that he was found as a stray in Kentucky and was driven to a small shelter in Maryland by a gentleman in a pickup truck who found him and couldn't locate an owner. Now of course he is in Virginia, so this little guy has already traveled more than most dogs ever will. He may also be the cutest puppy I have seen in the past year.

Barns

2010-02-19T22:09:00.005-05:00

This image was taken on my way back from Maryland last weekend. The roads were clear, but (as you can see) there was still a lot of snow on the ground. I wish I had a barn like this, or even a much smaller one, on my farm. Doesn't every farm need a barn? I thought I read that somewhere. Rumor has it there was a barn at one time, but it fell down or was sold off or something like that. There is something that looks like an old building foundation behind and to the right of the farm house, so I imagine that was where it was located ---- but the area is now covered by small trees and brush. Sigh. Maybe one day I will figure out how (and where) to put a barn --- and then of course I'll need horses or other fun animals to live inside.

Snow and Ice

2010-02-07T23:42:00.010-05:00

The storm appears to be over (at least until Tuesday) and the sun even came out a bit this afternoon, which was lovely. We still have a whole lot of snow on the ground in Richmond though --- and they got TONS of it up in the Maryland and DC area. Cold temperatures mean we will probably continue to have both snow and ice for the remainder of the week, although I am happy to report that roads have been easy-to-navigate so far. Also happy to report that tall rubber boots appear to have been the best investment I made in 2009!!

Snow Birds

2010-02-05T13:11:00.009-05:00

Put out seed this morning and was visited by hundreds (maybe thousands) of birds, despite the rapidly falling snow. Blue jays and cardinals were well represented, but the vast majority of my visitors were grackles. Apparently a large group of grackles is called a "plague", which seems rather unpleasant. I think they need a better PR agency. I suppose a "plague" of grackles sounds better than a "murder" of crows, but not by much.
..

Happy Snow Day!!
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Happy Snow Dogs

2010-01-31T17:24:00.010-05:00

I probably now have enough pictures of my adorable dogs playing in the snow to last for ALL of 2010 and maybe longer. Couldn't resist posting a few more though. :-)

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Snow Days in January

2010-01-31T10:56:00.009-05:00

Pilot retreated to the front porch quite quickly while the other dogs played. In his defense, his 5" legs were no match for the 10" of snow.

I will add though that Gadget has the same 5" legs as Pilot, and she didn't seem to care one bit. She LOVED the snow, even when she seemed to be almost buried. :-)

There really has been some nice weather since the last time I posted, but you wouldn't know it from my blog. Once again, I will resolve to post more often during the year ahead. The snow is back in Virginia though and most of my dogs are thrilled. Yesterday the world was white, white, white --- and today the sun is shining and it really is gorgeous out there. Haven't tried to navigate my driveway yet, but I think I will wait until tomorrow for that. Fingers crossed. Note that both of my web cams (above right) are working perfectly --- so anyone who is interested can get a live view of the front driveway and agility field during daylight hours. Username is GUEST and password is WELCOME. Enjoy.

Note for observant visitors: the pictures on this post were accidentally loaded as thumbnail images this morning, so the quality was very bad. I have reposted with full-size images now, so they should be clearer.

Happy Dogs!

2010-01-31T10:44:00.002-05:00

Snow Days

2009-12-24T02:18:00.003-05:00

Snow hit Virginia last week in a big way --- and (most of ) my dogs loved it. Poor little Pilot loved it a little (like for a few minutes each time we went outside), but when his feet got cold and wet, he seemed to tire of it quickly and scurried back in to bury himself under a comforter.

Eights Dogs in a Pickup

2009-12-06T19:08:00.016-05:00

Nick

Thor (and Ted)

Vegas

Thor, Pilot, Lucy, Nick, and Gadget

Thor

Lucy, Nick, Thor and Pilot

Lucy

If you text "Ted" to 67336, Dominion Chevrolet will make a donation to the Richmond SPCA. Thank you Ted Linhart for the creative idea and for your generosity!! And, from the animals of the Richmond SPCA, thank you to anyone who finds time to participate. You can visit mydominion.com for complete details and/or click below to view the TV commercial, which is now playing ALL THE TIME in the Richmond area. It features 8 of the cutest dogs I know, which means all 5 of mine (Thor, Flake, Gadget, Pilot and Daisy), 2 dogs that belong to my good friend Mike (Nick and Lucy) and 1 dog who belongs to my good friend Marie (Vegas) --- plus kittens too. The kittens were all available from the Richmond SPCA at the time of filming, although I think they have since been adopted. It was a really fun (and challenging) photo shoot because of all the moving parts (i.e., animals) --- and Ted was the best sport EVER.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzohuhvYZpg

Pilot is a Lucky Dog

2009-11-29T20:51:00.009-05:00

Okay --- this news may be a bit late, but is exciting nonetheless. Pilot was one the big winners in the Virginia Lottery Lucky Dog II photo contest this past summer! There were over 10,000 entries (including a few of his "siblings") and only 20 dogs selected, so he is feeling very proud indeed. Since September, the picture above has appeared on Virginia Lottery scratcher tickets sold statewide. I was told that it was his enormous ears and adorable "grin" that clinched the prize.
..
The picture below gives you some idea of how Pilot felt about the lengthy photo shoot on my back deck. :-)

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Rain Rain Rain

2009-11-16T00:56:00.006-05:00

Rain rain rain. Nothing but rain here in Virginia for the past week or so. You would think that meant that I could get caught up on all indoor activities, but (alas) that has not been the case. Lots of puddles remain around the farm, but otherwise no serious problems or leaks. Adorable Ms. Gadget (above) managed to eat a bunch of bad/old/wet/moldy bird seed and got to spend a few hours at the Veterinary Emergency Center on Wednesday night. Scary at the time, but she seems to be feeling much better now. And (hooray) the sun seems to be back too. :-)

State Fair of Virginia 2009 --- Photography

2009-10-14T22:40:00.005-04:00

"Rudbeckia"

First Place --- Color Floral

"Cambria"

3rd Place --- Black & White Scenic/Architectural

"Hi Roller"

2nd Place --- Color "A Fair to Remember"

"Gable"

3rd Place --- Black & White Animals

.
Oh dear. It has been way too long since I posted to my blog, so I will try to make up for lost time during the weeks ahead. I have been plenty busy and there is much to report, but I need to slow down long enough to report it. Wish me luck.

The State Fair of Virginia moved from downtown Richmond to rural Doswell this year, to a site that was originally Meadow Farm and the early home of Secretariat. The new facilities were nice and the fair had a more "country" feel to it, which I liked. Despite some rainy weather during the week and some plumbing/power issues, I think attendance was good and most people liked the new venue. Once again I managed to enter several of the state fair competitions at the very very very last minute. Imagine that. :-) Happy to report that several of my photographs and plants and one antique milk bottle managed to win a total of seven ribbons and $8 in prize money. Woo hoo. Very exciting indeed. The photographic winners are above --- and I will post pictures of the plants and bottle soon. Stay tuned.
.
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Crosby (1995 - 2009)

2009-08-30T10:09:00.011-04:00

Yesterday I said goodbye to my best friend of the past 13 years. What a wonderful dog and what enormous changes he made in my life. He altered the course of my career and taught me more than books or videos or seminars on dog training ever could. He loved to learn --- and shared and inspired my enthusiasm for tricks and agility. I will hope that I can continue to share that enthusiasm with other dogs and dog owners for many years to come. Surely that will be a fitting tribute.

Farewell dear Crosby. Thank you again for a lifetime of love and loyalty.

....

More pictures here: http://k9logic.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=9447338&AlbumKey=rdeg5

Tomatoes

2009-08-23T16:46:00.005-04:00

Have had a bumper crop of tomatoes in my earthboxes this summer and lots of fresh basil too. Yum. Here is my favorite tomato recipe of all time. Thanks Joanne!!

Joanne’s Famous Tomato Pie

· one frozen deep dish pie crust
· 3 to 4 tomatoes --- sliced and seeded and patted dry
· salt/pepper to taste
· 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese --- grated or shredded
· 2 tbsp fresh basil --- chopped
· 1/2 cup mayo
· ¼ cup onion --- chopped (optional)
· 8 Ritz crackers --- crumbled
· 2 tbsp butter --- melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pie crust according to package or until golden brown (~10 minutes). Fill pie crust with layers of tomatoes. Mix cheese, mayo, fresh basil and onion. Spread over tomato layers and cover with cracker/butter combination.
Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Rudbeckia

2009-08-09T22:29:00.006-04:00

Oh dear. Has it really been over a month since I have posted? Must address that problem quickly. Suffice it to say, the summer has been busy and full of good things --- but blog posting has not been among them. Stay tuned for updates on blackberries, tomatoes and horseshoes very soon.

Gable

2009-07-04T19:46:00.006-04:00

Welcome to little Gable. And allow me to introduce the newest member of the menagerie here on the farm. I recently tried to "just foster" him and failed miserably, adopting him permanently just one week later. He appears to be the cutest kitten in the world, so there really was no choice, now was there? His name is Gable (as in Clark), which ties in with previous cats (now deceased): Spencer (as in Tracy), Tracy (as in Spencer), Bogart (as in Humphrey) --- and of course the dog (alive and well) Crosby (as in Bing). Gable seems to be fitting in perfectly and is trying hard to make friends with all the dogs and Relay (the other cat). He has a wonderful playful personality, without that crazy streak that makes some kittens hard to manage. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories in the future.
.

Sunset on the James River

2009-06-07T23:45:00.003-04:00

Been a bit delinquent posting recently and I'm hoping to mend my ways soon. This was the sunset I encountered on my way to and from the grocery store this evening. Wow.

Mothers Day 2009

2009-05-10T23:05:00.003-04:00

Buttercups

2009-04-27T10:07:00.005-04:00

Hard to describe the extent to which the buttercups have taken over my fields. Wow. Nothing but yellow as far as you can see --- or at least until the mower starts mowing. And even after mowing, it appears the buttercups start coming back within hours. They are beautiful (and very hardy) weeds for sure.

Spring has Sprung

2009-04-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

Flowers flowers everywhere. The weather hasn't decided to stay completely warm yet, but signs of Spring are all over. The fields got mowed last weekend --- and there are many more weeks of that ahead. Here's hoping we can stay slightly ahead of the weeds. :-) According to the dogs, there are some great new smells in the yard too.

Gates and Fences

2009-04-10T18:58:00.004-04:00

I seem to have strayed from the original plan for Sarah's Farm Report recently, with pictures of almost everything else but farm improvement. Oops. I will probably continue to do that, but I don't want to forget the original plan either. Slowly (ever so slowly) I have been making progress on a very long list of projects around here, so I want to report on that progress --- and motivate myself toward more. Above are pictures of new gates (two of them), a re-picketed gate and a fancy picketed enclosure for my trash cans. The gates have made life much easier, since I don't scamper over fences as well as I did in the past. :-) And the trash enclosure will be appreciated by my neighbors I'm sure.

Post-It Notes

2009-04-06T06:36:00.010-04:00

Stick Around

(the photo that won 1st place)

One of my favorite web sites is http://www.dpchallenge.com/ and I have been entering their photo challenges for about a year now (http://bit.ly/k9logicdpc). The challenges certainly motivate me to take pictures regularly and are a great way to get feedback on my photography --- and give feedback to others. There are some amazing photographers on this website from all over the world, and I am both impressed and inspired by their work. A highlight of my year was winning second place in the "post-it note" photo contest in February. See above for that photograph, some outtakes, and a wide angle shot that shows you how simple the setup was. There is a new post-it note puzzle now too (see right column). Enjoy. :-)

Update: The winner in the photo contest above was eliminated --- so I actually ended up with first place (!!) in the competition. Very exciting indeed.

Puzzles!!

2009-03-29T14:34:00.006-04:00

Look look --- a new feature in the column to the right! I intend to add jigsaw puzzles (generated by Jigzone) using my farm pictures and/or other images that look like they might be fun to pull apart and put back together. Enjoy. And let me know if you have any trouble with this feature.

Springing Forward

2009-03-09T01:05:00.003-04:00

Wow. Almost 10 inches of snow and icicles --- and then one week later, the daffodils have arrived. Very odd. It was close to 80 degrees today and gorgeous.

More Snow Pix

2009-03-09T00:56:00.004-04:00

The snow was amazing and it was fun watching it all melt very quickly over a two day period. The icicles all along the roofline were quite dramatic (see above) and also quite noisy as they thawed and fell to the ground.

Snow Snow Snow

2009-03-02T20:46:00.010-05:00

Daisy

Dusk

Looking West

. Looking South

Crosby --- age 14 (!) on 3/5/09

Flake

Happy Birds

(thank you to J/L/C/J for the gazebo)

Thor --- age 11

Flake and Daisy

Crosby

Pilot

Flake

Thor

Gadget

Wow. March came in like a lion and we got almost 10 inches of snow in Varina yesterday and today. Farm was beautiful. The dogs were ecstatic and are sleeping VERY well tonight. And we still have power too. Hooray.

Happy New Year 2009!!

2009-01-18T09:51:00.007-05:00

Oh dear, I am WAY behind yet again. Will try to mend my ways and be more diligent in 2009. That will be my blog-resolution.

Holidays were wonderful --- and mostly spent in California. Pictures here were taken during a lovely trip to the new Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library (http://www.huntington.org/) with my mother. What an amazing place that is!! There was in fact an "Asian" themed photo contest which I had hoped to enter, but (alas) I forgot that pesky three-hour time difference between EST and PST and missed the deadline. Sigh. Live and learn (or at least I will hope so...). It was a great visit nonetheless.

Stay tuned for more posts soon. I promise. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-29T13:09:00.009-05:00

Just enjoyed a WONDERFUL family reunion in Southern California --- where the food was amazing and the company even better. It was a great opportiunity to remember just how many reasons I have to be thankful. Picture can be seen at the link below.

Sarah's Thanksgiving Pictures 2008

Fall Colors

2008-11-12T10:15:00.006-05:00

Wow. Fall is officially here, with cold weather and vivid colors everywhere. The farm is gorgeous --- and I will plan to take more pictures this weekend. Stay tuned.

Double Trouble

2008-11-04T23:51:00.008-05:00

Aw shucks. Don't they look cute? Amazing how much trouble two adorable dogs can get into, especially when they are working together though. Our move to the front house continues, albeit slowly --- and I have spent at least a few hours patching holes under the new fence created by the oh-so-adorable canines above. Gadget (on the left) is by far the more guilty party, but Pilot (on the right) is a mighty good cheerleader. All of my dogs seem to like the new place though, and I am hopeful that we can get completely moved in before the end of 2008. Wish us luck.

On a side note, I am thrilled that the second farm camera seems to be working again. See the link at the right --- and let me know if you have any trouble at all. Thanks again to my brother John for setting these cameras up in the first place.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T23:17:00.003-04:00

Yes, this is an actual spider web, found on a gas pump I was using late at night. Yikes.

Happy Halloween to all.

Northern Cardinals

2008-10-24T22:07:00.008-04:00

The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is the State Bird of Virginia --- and cardinals are always some of my favorite visitors to the bird feeders. These two were especially entertaining as they shared a meal. I had been told to buy sunflower seeds if I wanted lots of cardinals --- and that has proven to be great advice. They really do seem to prefer sunflower seeds to anything else --- and interestingly, they seem to prefer the variety with the shells best of all.

State Fair of Virginia 2008 --- Plant in Shoe

2008-10-19T21:14:00.004-04:00

In a moment of possible madness, I decided I had time to enter yet another competition at the State Fair of Virginia 2008. They had a special category this year, called PLANT IN SHOE, which was exactly that. So --- I headed to the Salvation Army, bought an odd-looking pink shoe and planted a matching phaleonopsis orchid inside, surrounded by ivy and spanish moss. And we won the blue ribbon --- plus $8, which covers the cost of the shoe, if not the orchid. Silly but fun.

State Fair of Virginia 2008 --- Photography

2008-10-19T19:40:00.009-04:00

A belated update follows of my results in the State Fair of Virginia 2008 photography competition. My pictures did pretty well --- and (as before) I really enjoyed entering and then visiting the photography exhibition area after judging. There were some impressive photographs this year and I am again inspired to keep shooting during the year ahead.

1st Place (and $5 prize money!) --- 5x7 Color Portraits
Mike Goldberg --- meteorologist, musician and my co-host on Pets & People

2nd Place --- 8x10 B/W Portraits --- Kelsey on a Swing

2nd Place --- 5x7 Color Animals --- Carolina Chickadee

2nd Place --- 5x7 Color "A Fair To Remember" --- Ferris Wheel

3rd Place --- 8x10 B/W Children --- Christine by JCB

2nd Place --- 8x10 B/W "A Fair to Remember" --- Soda Stand

3rd Place --- 8x10 Color "A Fair to Remember" --- Fun Factory

Frog on the Blog

2008-10-15T01:09:00.004-04:00

This guy was sitting on the cement pad outside my metal building one evening last week. I feel certain my dogs were laughing at me as I lay flat on the ground (still dressed from work) trying to get pictures before the frog hopped away. I have seen a lot of frogs around the farm, but most are smaller than this guy. I love how his legs seem to be attached backwards.

Resolution --- I intend to get back to posting to the blog more regularly. Wish me luck.

Adorable E

2008-09-26T14:06:00.004-04:00

Joanne visited this past weekend with her adorable new puppy "E". Hard to imagine a cuter or smarter or better behaved little dog. I am sure she has GREAT future ahead of her in agility --- or whatever else she has an opportunity to try. Welcome little E. Come visit again soon.

Happy Birthday to Sarah's Farm Report

2008-09-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my blog. Today represents the one year anniversary of my first blog post. Wow. It sure seems like a lot longer than that --- but it was 9/2/07 when I first created Sarah's Farm Report and started this blogging adventure. As someone who has never kept a diary or journal, I am surprised at how much I have thoroughly enjoyed documenting progress around the farm and (perhaps more importantly) having a reason to notice and photograph the changing flora and fauna throughout the year. I am totally hooked at this point and will likely be blogging for many years to come. :-)

Relay

2008-08-31T19:14:00.009-04:00

Relay

There was a black cat running around the farm a few weeks back, darting in and out of the woods and then vanishing completely. She looked very thin and sounded (meow meow meow) hungry, so I left out some dog kibble, and she continued to show up periodically for over a week. She acted very feral (i.e., wild), but she would wait until I got within about 4 feet or so before bolting. Not wanting a litter of kittens in my woods, I did trap her and take her to the Richmond SPCA for spaying. Her ear, it turned out, had already been tipped (see above) --- which is the universal sign that a feral cat has been spayed or neutered. We knocked her out to confirm she was spayed (she was) and to give her all of her shots and flea/tick prevention. I brought her home the same day --- and decided to see if a week or two in the well house (small empty building) with twice daily delivered meals might win her over --- and to see if she might be persuaded to use a litter box. Happy to report that she was and I was able to (very cautiously) pet her after about 4 days of hanging out. Two weeks later, she actually seems quite social, if not exactly confident. She hides whenever the door opens, the door shuts, the light comes ON, the lights goes OFF, anything drops or moves, etc --- but seems to be "recovering" more quickly each time. And she will now let me stroke her and pick her up without protest. I have been calling her "Relay" because the day I trapped her was the day of the now famous Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak come-from-out-of-nowhere swim relay in Beijing. Somehow the name seemed appropriate.

Cooler Weather

2008-08-31T18:16:00.008-04:00

Thor --- 9 lbs lighter and full of energy

Pilot and Daisy (who looks a bit crazy here)

Daisy

Daisy and Flake

Crosby

Flake

Gadget in her Donut

Gadget

Cooler weather is coming to Virginia --- and all of us on the farm (canine and human) are sure ready. The dogs have LOVED running in the fields every day recently --- and especially after a heavy rain, when they could get really really wet and soggy. I'm partial to the dryer days, but I love seeing them so happy. Little Ms. Gadget spends a good portion of her "field trips" intent on escaping --- as she is convinced that all manner of small critters live just outside the field and need to be chased. Unfortunately, the bunnies and other critters do find or make holes in the mesh fencing around the field with some regularity, so I was spending the better part of my time each day chaperoning Gadget and trying to find the holes before she did. Donna Anderson (http://www.petitepetinn.com/ and Richmond SPCA instructor) came up with a brilliant idea, which has worked very well so far. Gadget now wears an inflatable donut around her neck when she is in the field, and can no longer fit through the small holes or under the low deck, try as she might. These donuts are sold as an alternative to Elizabethan collars for dogs post-surgery --- but work great for this alternate purpose too. She looks silly, but at least she is still around. :-)

Moving Forward

2008-08-27T00:38:00.009-04:00

Metal building with apartment/deck on the left

(picture taken from yard of the front house)

Yard of the front house with new deck on right

Daisy loves the new yard!

The new deck

Crosby approves of the deck

New fencing for dogs --- and the view across Osborne Turnpike

Now that the fences are installed, the house on the front of the property is ready for me and my menagerie. I am hopeful that we will be officially moved out of the garage apartment and into the front house during the first week or two of September. Have already enjoyed entertaining on the new deck several times --- and of course enjoy the yard daily with all of my dogs. There is a whole lot of moving and packing ahead still, but I am very much looking forward to getting it done. Wish me luck.

Bugs

2008-08-07T00:42:00.008-04:00

Black Widow

Yellow Moth

Female Wolf Spider --- with lots of Wolf Spiderlings

There is no shortage of bugs in the country --- although mosquitoes have been thankfully scarce the past two years. When I first bought this property, the mosquitoes were EVERYWHERE and I became quite the expert on mosquito-repelling products. Letting grass grow back in all the spots where there was previously "standing water" is probably the reason for the drastic improvement. Hooray. This week I encountered one HUGE yellow moth inside my apartment. He was gorgeous, probably at least 5" in wingspan, and happy to be escorted outside to a Pokeberry bush where I was sure he would be happier. Also encountered my first black widow spider, who was stationed outside the garage in an unused clay pot. Sad to report that this fella did not get similarly escorted to safety. Eek and yikes.

Follow up to original post--- just saw this scary female Wolf spider on Friday morning. Ick ick ick. All of those bumps on her back are baby spiders (spiderlings) who she will carry around for at least two weeks, making her a great mother I suppose, but also probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Wolf spider bites are apparently rare and non-lethal --- and this spider was located a great distance from my apartment. Good thing. She thankfully scrambled away after two pictures, but before the dogs noticed or I had to to anything with her and her kids. May they scurry far away and never be seen again.

Summer Harvest

2008-07-20T16:38:00.007-04:00

Pears

Blackberries

Green Apples

Myers Lemons

Patio Tomatoes

"Big Boy" Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

"Champion VFNT" Tomatoes

"Mr. Stripey" Tomatoes

Eggplants

Red Peppers

Cucumbers

Despite all the rain and heat (or perhaps because if it) there are plenty of things growing at the farm these days. Just discovered the HUGE cucumbers today (very exciting) and have been eating lots of tomatoes in recent days. Blackberries continue to be plentiful and now it appears that I will have red peppers, eggplants, apples and pears ready for picking soon. The tiny lemon tree arrived via an internet company in April and it hasn't done too much. The tiny lemons were already in place when it got here and they haven't grown much in three months, so I don't expect they will. New leaves started popping out in the past three weeks though, so maybe there is reason for hope. Fingers crossed. All of this "harvesting" is of course done on a very small scale, but is fun (and tasty) nonetheless. Apples are the one exception (they are definitely not my thing), so anyone local who would like to come pick apples should definitely plan a visit. :-)

Blackberries (with new pictures)

2008-07-14T00:46:00.010-04:00

The blackberries are here. The blackberries are here. Very exciting indeed --- and there seem to be LOTS of them growing on two sides of my agility field and down toward the pond. The vines seem to be producing even more (delicious) fruit than they did last year, although I see several spots where the honeysuckle and Virginia Creeper have taken over and blackberries are no longer visible at all. I may have to start pulling down the non-berry vines before next summer if I want to keep picking blackberries --- and I certainly do.

Player Piano

2008-07-06T21:57:00.009-04:00

This is only indirectly related to the farm itself, but exciting nonetheless. I have always loved player pianos and the old QRS player piano music roll system. Was surfing craigslist.com recently and found an Aeolian Sting II Player Piano in need of a new home, and promptly "adopted" it. It arrived at the farm yesterday and appears to works perfectly. Michael the piano tuner will come on Friday, so it may sound even better after that. Thank you Dan for making this transaction so easy and straughtforward. I promise to take good care of your mother's piano and enjoy it for many years to come.

Click > below to hear a little Scott Joplin. :-)

Down By the River

2008-06-15T22:59:00.004-04:00

I often forget how cool it is to live close to water --- and probably don't fully appreciate the James River, which is practically in my backyard. The shot above was one of those pull-over-the-car-because-the-sun-is-fading-NOW shots. I really wish I had pulled over a few minutes earlier, as all of the buildings were bright orange. As the crow flies, my farm is probably about 1/2 mile from the river, but I get to drive next to this spot both coming and going. My resolution will be to find time to do more stuff on or near the water this summer --- be it photography or maybe even a boat ride. I will certainly keep you posted.

Sunflowers

2008-06-09T00:09:00.003-04:00

What may be the first of many sunflowers appeared today along the fenceline where the bird feeders live. Hmmm. Lots of sunflower seeds for the cardinals may translate into lots of sunflowers too. What a fun and colorful surprise.

Coming Attractions

2008-06-08T21:35:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite parts of farm life is picking wild blackberries along the fencelines through most of July. Just noticed that the tiny blackberries are starting to appear. Very exciting.

Small green tomatoes are starting to appear as well. There are at least five varieties planted this year (Big Boy, Champion VNFT, Patio, Cherry, and Mr. Stripey), so there will be no shortage of tomatoes this summer. I can hardly wait. Will start looking for my Tomato Pie recipe soon.

Hay

2008-06-08T21:24:00.006-04:00

Summer heat has arrived and it has been over 100 degrees the past few days. Yuck. I am happy to have lots of projects indoors in the AC. Did sneak out this evening to let the dogs run in the field for awhile --- and then allowed them to flop around in the baby pool afterwards, which they love. The field next to mine was being mowed completely yesterday and today was being baled for hay. Really fun to watch the super BIG equipment at work --- although I'm sure the operator was very warm by the time he got done.

Ladybugs

2008-05-10T23:26:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite parts of life in the country is finding splashes of color amidst all the green --- and usually when I least expect it. The ladybugs always surprise me with their rich deep red color and perfect polka dots. This little gal was quite the acrobat too. I had vertigo just watching her climb.

Turtles

2008-05-10T12:06:00.006-04:00

Eastern Box Turtle

..Eastern Slider

The farm appears to also be great place for turtles. I often see the Eastern Sliders basking on logs in the pond --- and after all of the recent rain, there appear to be even more of them. It may be that the pond is just bigger these days and so are the turtles, so they are easier to see. The Eastern Box Turtle at the top was "galloping" across my field toward the woods (moving at a very rapid turtle pace), but froze like a supermodel when I arrived with my camera. I love all the polka dots on his legs.

Flowers

2008-05-04T17:01:00.007-04:00

In a burst of enthusiasm, I finished planting flowers in all of my containers yesterday. Most of the pots were here last summer --- and lots of the foundation plants (ivy, vinca, pansies, Dusty Miller, etc) were still going strong even after the winter months. Some were not doing well though and the pots needed attention badly. Weeded, dead-headed, trimmed and filled in with new flowers as needed. Everything looks colorful and healthy for now --- and my fingers are crossed that they stay that way. The bees were out in great numbers, so they are certainly going to do their part to keep everything blooming.

Very Happy Vegetables

2008-05-03T09:16:00.009-04:00

Romaine

Arugula

Basil

Herbs

Parsley

Thyme

Lettuce and Spinach

Wow. What a difference a few weeks makes. As you can see, my lettuce has gone crazy --- and tomatoes and herbs look very happy too. Lost two small basil plants (probably due to lots of rain), but everything else looks great. I think there are a lot of salads in my future. :-)

Vegetables

2008-04-21T09:30:00.003-04:00

The Earthboxes are back. This year I have planted even more vegetables than last year --- and have great plans to enjoy lots of fresh lettuce and spinach soon. The tomatoes will take a bit longer, but they did SO well last year that I am willing to wait. Planted everything on two recent weekends and (alas) did so in very cold and rainy conditions. The little plants all looked a bit forlorn after the transplant process, so I am hoping for some warmer/sunnier weather soon to help them perk back up. Stay tuned for updates.

Here is what I planted:

Spinach
Romaine lettuce
Head lettuce
Boston lettuce
Arugula
Basil --- two varieties
Tomatoes --- four varieties
Kentucky Mint
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Chives
Italian oregano

Earthboxes are nifty containers that allow the plants to use just as much water as they need. I love them and had GREAT success using them last year. They are available from amazon.com and elsewhere --- but you can check the www.earthbox.com web site for more information.

Rabbits

2008-04-12T22:12:00.001-04:00

To say that there are rabbits at my farm would be an understatement indeed. There are zillions of them --- and they are visible every morning and evening, munching away on grass and other delicacies in all of the fields. In the spirit of the holidays, I left a large pile of carrots for them before Christmas --- and ALL of those carrots were still there when I returned after New Year's Day. Very odd. Either rabbits don't eat carrots as happily as Bugs Bunny would have had us believe --- or my particular rabbits are very finicky. In any case, they seem to be thriving on something around here --- and love to torment my dogs by eating grass just 20 feet beyond the apartment yard fence. It is apparent from the last photograph just why they are called "cotton tails". .

P.S. Interestingly, I have only seen one squirrel in the four years I have been here. I'm guessing maybe all the bunnies scared them off.

Sarah's Bird Report

2008-04-06T15:19:00.004-04:00

I have become a bit obsessed with all of the birds at my feeder and decided they merited a blog of their own. This should make it easier for me to add new varieties as I see and identify them --- and to add better photographs as I take them. Enjoy.

http://sarahsbirdreport.blogspot.com/

Apple Tree

2008-03-30T15:50:00.010-04:00

Before Cleanup
(note brambles twisted high into the top of the tree)

After Cleanup

.Two Weeks Later --- In Full Bloom

. .

Two weeks back, I decided to make an attempt to clean up the fruit trees on the farm before spring really got rolling --- and well before the arrival of leaves, buds, blooms, and fruit. As anyone who knows me can tell you, apples (yuck) are not my thing, but I was hopeful that I could make the tree look healthier at least. I do love how it looks when all the branches are colorful --- and I think I have friends who will take and enjoy most of the apples. Tray (who works on the farm most Saturdays) did the lion's share of the work, removing a full pickup truck bed's worth of brush and bramble from around the base and up into the middle of the tree. Thank you Tray! I have pounded in a few tree fertilizer stakes as well, so with any luck this tree will be better in 2008 than ever before. So far, it looks like that will indeed be the case. There is also a pear tree nearby, so I am optimistic that there will be an abundance of fruit this year. And I do like pears. :-) Fingers crossed.

Bird Watching

2008-03-30T12:11:00.009-04:00

Bluejay

Mourning Dove

Common Grackle

. Female Cardinal

..Male Cardinal

. Red-Bellied Woodpecker

. American Robin

.European Starling

.Eastern Bluebird

Spring has arrived and the birds are visiting my bird feeders in record numbers. I continue to be amazed at the variety of birds that come --- and only wish I had more time to photograph. For now I will enjoy their vivid colors and remarkable range of sounds. There is one who sounds exactly like "sweet sweet sweet" (over and over and over), which I gather is the sound of a Yellow Warbler. I have yet to see one at my feeder though. Stay tuned. I will add new birds as I meet them.

Happy Birthday Crosby

2008-03-25T07:36:00.004-04:00

Twelve years ago this month a stray dog wandered up to my house on Church Hill. He became my “rehoming project” and then (pretty quickly) a member of my small 3-horse, 2-cat family. I did not own a dog at that time and hadn’t had one in many years. Short version of a long story is that “Crosby” changed most everything about my life and most of the things I have done since then have involved him in some way or another: dog training student, agility student, agility competitor, agility instructor, graduate student in animal behavior, graduate of the SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers, director of Education & Training at the Richmond SPCA, farm owner, etc. I can’t even begin to count all the people I have met as a result of this one stray dog and if you are reading this, you may be among them. Anyway, as you can see, Crosby is alive and well and enjoying life. Since he was about 1 year old when I found him, he celebrated his 13th birthday on 3/5/08 with an extra long romp in the field and some really good marrow bones. Keep your eyes out for the animal that will change your life forever. You never know when you he or she might come along.

Daisy

2008-02-24T23:24:00.005-05:00

Little Miss Daisy is just shy of 10 months old now and doing great. In case I failed to mention it earlier, she is officially staying and has quickly made herself part of the family. All of you who predicted I would keep her (when I suggested she was only temporary) were of course right, and she has grown into a lovely dog, both in structure and temperament. She runs like the wind when we get out in the field, but seems to have found an "off switch" for at least some of her indoor time. I am thankful for this quality, as off switches do not come standard on border collies. She knows SIT and DOWN and has started to learn RIGHT and LEFT, which will help with future agility courses. If you see me, ask how her training is going. I fear I need a bit of a push to make time for puppy training amidst everything else. Daisy learns everything oh-so-very-quickly --- so I really do owe it to her to make sure she is learning the right stuff. Wish me luck.

Birds in Flight

2008-02-17T01:50:00.009-05:00

Big entertainment for my dogs this week has been racing toward the enormous flocks of birds that seem to have adopted my front field in the early evening. Of course the birds don't seem that concerned and simply take off into the sky in huge numbers, moving in perfect synchronization. Beautiful to watch as they swoop and drop with the changing wind currents and them head on toward somewhere else. Haven't been able to get close enough to identify the specific type of bird yet, but I plan to do a little research and see what I can find.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay --- google saves the day. Looks like these birds are probably crows, who apparently gather this time of year to spend the night in very large communal roosts containing hundreds or even thousands of birds. An hour or so before dusk, the crows head back toward these roosts, stopping along the way in "staging areas" like my field. One web site suggested that staging areas are usually cemetaries or other open areas surrounded by lots of trees, which of course makes my field nearly perfect. Who knew? Well I guess the crows did. :-)

Famous Dogs

2008-02-07T00:38:00.001-05:00

Unrelated to the farm, but very related to my dogs, I should point out that my mutts are nationally famous this month. Click on the links below to read all about The Bark magazine cover dog contest, see Amanda Jones' wonderful pictures of my dogs on the Jan-Feb 2008 cover, and check out a related article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about the contest. And yes --- all the fame has gone right to their heads and my dogs are demanding high rates of biscuits and cheese to compensate them for their extreme patience in front of the camera. I am happy to oblige.

Richmond Times Dispatch

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-01-14-0002.html

The Bark

http://www.thebark.com/ezine/features_specialFeatures/Cover_Dog_Winners.html

Winter Dogs

2008-02-07T00:18:00.000-05:00

Trying hard to get back into the rhythm of posting weekly, despite the fact that farm projects have not gotten much attention lately. The only recent farm pictures are of my happy dogs playing in the fields and generally enjoying the cold weather. The grass in the agility field is largely brown now, but still provides a great cushion for running and jumping and chasing and fetch. Thor found that the brown grass clippings also stick like velcro if you roll in them --- and that has become his favorite game most days. See if you can find him, carefully camouflaged in the picture above. :-)

Happy New Year

2008-01-19T21:29:00.001-05:00

Okay --- the end of 2007 got crazy busy and didn't go well in terms of blog posting, but I have high hopes for the New Year. Cross your fingers and wish me luck. Also crashed my hard drive last week (alas) --- so spent most of the weekend trying to get a new laptop up and running and communicating again. If you are reading this post, I have been at least somewhat successful. Today was a beautiful snow day in Virginia --- so at least the dogs had fun running around and getting really cold and soggy. :-)

Happy New Year to all.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T01:09:00.000-05:00

Coming soon: pictures from the last day of the Virginia State Fair and then much more. I have (alas) fallen a bit behind on blog posting and vow to get caught up very soon. Stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Virginia State Fair By Night

2007-10-14T07:19:00.000-04:00

I made it to the Virginia State Fair on the very last weekend for some night photography. Long exposures are especially fun for me, especially when you have so much color and movement to capture and you never know quite what you are going to "get". My favorite is the merry-go-round photograph, which involved a 30-second exposure with one forced flash midway through the shot. Looks like an alien spaceship landing or something.

Small Projects

2007-10-08T08:29:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the greatest satisfaction comes from finishing the small projects that have been waiting the longest. One such project was replacing the lamp in the front of the old farm house. It was damaged enough that I didn't feel comfortable tackling the electric work myself, although I did contribute to the project's success with several cans of spray paint. Hooray. Mark one item off the TO DO list. I am hoping the momentum will carry me forward toward others.

COMING SOON: Pictures taken at Virginia State Fair 2007

2007 State Fair of Virginia

2007-09-30T09:45:00.000-04:00

Water Lily at the Huntington Gardens

. Second Place in 8x10 Floral Photography Division

. Second Place in 5x7 Animal Photography Division

Second Place in 8x10 Animal Photography Division
.

Encouraged by my friend Ginny and others, I entered photographs in the 2007 State Fair of Virginia. Thank you all for the push. Much much fun, although (as usual) I waited until just before the deadlines to get my entries in and then also to get my pictures printed/matted/delivered. Ah --- I do love the last minute and so much of my life gets done in it. Feeling very motivated to be more organized next year.

In a any case, all entered photographs get displayed at the fair --- so it was fun to go and see them mounted on the walls. Also inspiring to see all of the other amazing pictures. There are some talented photoraphers around these parts. I did have some of the cutest subjects anywhere (CGB, JCB, KGB, and my dogs) so my job was pretty easy. Thank you all for being willing to share your smiles with my camera. Proud to say that three of my photographs earned second place ribbons, which was very cool. Fond memories of Poly Pet & Hobby Shows past came rushing back to me when I saw the little vertical ribbons hanging there. I have included pix of the award winners above and also a link to my Kodak Gallery below in case anyone wants to see all of my entries. Enjoy.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=62041881303.569915923503.1191162168396&page=1