Forgotten

 

Only a very short walk from my house

an old farmstead has lost its owner.

Only a few months ago cattle were fed from this big haystack.

A bachelor farmer lived here.

Look at the size of that saw blade.

He said he didn't need a wife 

"because he had a woman  (that's me) 

running through his fields every day". 

Will someone take over this farm? 

Probably not.  Farming is hard and has few rewards. 

This fertilizer spreader shows how many years it has been dragged through the fields...

it has picked up bailing twine that will never come off.  

And the water tank will never be moved to a pasture.  

 The Danes knew how to build fine cabins.  Cabins which have stood straight and proud for more than a hundred years. 

This one probably built by the same family. 

The granary is still full of barley.

It takes a lot of equipment to run a farm. 

There is order in a forgotten corner.

He will not leave his owner's house.  

I have known  him since he was a puppy, now he barks at me.  

Not to worry, a neighbor is taking care of him.  His brother has already moved over. 

Have a great weekend dear Friends, 

Gina 

Partial Repost

The ugly duckling

The ugly duckling, 

Treasured by a little boy.

Internet

A car pulled up. Not so unusual. We have people coming down our lane all  the time. They usually ask silly questions.

A little boy was sitting in the back seat. Tears streaming down his small face. He was clutching a tiny yellow duckling to his chest.

You see, we have a very large pond behind our house.

The little duckling followed me everywhere. I named him "Ittybitty".

After spending a few days and nights in a warm box in our kitchen we decided that it was time to introduce him to the pond. We made a small enclosure of wire fencing, under a tree and partly in the pond. He knew immediately that this was the place where he should have been all along.

A long way away, clear across the pond, Tilly, our resident goose, was watching our every move. Tilly is bossy. She likes to pick up ducks and toss them away from the feeding trough. She bosses wild geese. She chases dogs and cats.

She was churning the water to get to the tiny creature. I picked up a stick, just in case. Tilly swam to the wire fence, lifted it and claimed Ittybitty. From then on, the two were inseparable.

A few weeks later, the little boy came by to see his friend. He called and called for it. That was the last time the small boy came to see his duckling. It didn't know him anymore.

Ittybitty turned out to be a big and fat Peking Duck. She abandoned Tilly and took up with three beautiful Greenheads (Mallard Ducks). The Greenhead boys, always two on her left and one on her right, accompany Ittybitty to wherever he wants to go.

Have a great weekend, 

Gina 

It's a small world afteral

 

And full of Surprises

This is Mathilde (Tilly for short) our resident Goose

This is Mathilde's look.  Always on the alert.   

 Mathilde has ruled our pond for more than sixteen years

You might recall the story I told you when Tilly lost her friend Leopold.  She would not eat or drink for days, standing by the greenhouse and hoping that her own reflection in the glass was Leopold and that sooner or later he would come out.

Mathilde could not be consoled, which is strange because when Leopold was still alive Mathilde took every opportunity flirting with every goose that showed up on our pond.  Wild geese, who visited, where told where they could swim and where they could rest under the big elm tree.

source: Snow College

Not long ago I was teaching a "Historic Tiles Painting Workshop" in a remote Forest Service Camp.  The camp had been purchased by our local College and all forest cabins had been beautifully restored.  Among my group of students was a grandmother (not just any grandmother, but the Professor of Music, graduate of the Julliard School of Music, New York),  her two grown daughters and an eleven year old, charming little girl, her granddaughter. 

Because Tilly was grieving so for her Leopold we decided to find her a few pals.  She loved them all but decided that one beautiful, all white little goose, was her favorite and soon they became an item.  This little goose is very special.  Whenever we sat outside she would join us, turning her head this way and that, listening to our conversation.

What makes this little goose so special is that she was hand raised by an eleven year old girl. 

Yes, the same charming and talented little  girl who took my painting workshop.  She had named her little goose Violet. 

When we looked for Tillie's companions we found them at a distant farm.  At the time we only met one family member.   The little girl was too sad to come out of the house because she had hand raised Violet from the day she hatched out of her egg... 

"because she was sickly". 

What a small world after all!  

Violet has found a good home and a good partner.  They have raised many a group of sweet goslings.  

It is Mathilde who is the Father of our little goslings.  

He is the most considerate mate and the most loving caretaker you will ever meet.

TILLY IS A BOY GOOSE 

This we didn't know for almost sixteen years. 

Gina 

partial repost

Happy Valentine's Day

 

It's Valentine's Day

There will be a long walk with friends and dogs and there will be a fire in the fireplace and Biscotti vin Santo.

Fresh out of the oven.

Dear friends, I wish you a very special Valentine's Day. 

Gina

An extra Bed

 Visitors are coming, we desperately need another bed. 

Let's clean out the garage!

Hurriedly paint the bare walls and stamp a garland over the bed space. 

(stamps  cut from old computer mouse pads). 

That takes care of the headboard.

Now look for anything that hasn't been used in many years, anything you can find.  Cover rickety tables with pretty fabrics, add a few schatzkies, fresh flowers and a couple of old lamps and scatter a few rugs on the bare cement floor. 

Ignore anything utilitarian.

Everyone loved it, were fighting over who was going to sleep in the garage and who was going to sleep in the guest quarters. 

Wishing you a happy and safe week, 

Gina 

partial repost from 2010