Look whose ear straightened up!

Kampala's kids

Note the interesting ear

  Kampala had her kids in the middle of last night, and all went well. The littlest one is black and scrawny, and he has a flopped down ear which is possibly due to the fact that he was a little stuck coming out. Maybe it will straighten up in time? He is not very adept at nursing yet and makes the cutest attempts to get his mom's teat in his little mouth. And yes, kids do get milk mustaches!

I think I remember the milk being down this way

Kampala and her daughter

  This little runt has two larger sisters, and they have all explored the grass and napped on each other. The highlight of my day was transporting Kampala, her three kids, and another mature goat whose name I don't remember, from their fenced spot in Elizabeth's backyard to the farm, where they could be with all the others. They all rode in the back seat of Elizabeth's car, and I'm sure we were a sight to see driving down Dutton Farm Road. I had to keep feeding the ladies grain so they wouldn't jump in the front seat. But we got them to the large goat pen just fine, and everyone went out to graze for the day. We checked on the little ones periodically, to make sure they were doing ok in their new world.
  We planted onion starts today, and also spent some time working the soil in the high tunnel.  But that's not as exciting as kids!

The kids' first exciting day

I know I'm in New England when...

This shirt is upsetting because we won.

This shirt is not upsetting because we lost because of the missed kick and dropped pass.

Baby Goats

I went to pick up Terri at work. I drove up to the farm to see the progress she and Elizabeth were making. Terri comes home a mess and I thought to myself, "Do you leave any dirt at the farm?"
And of course I had to go see the new baby goats.

Baby boy about a week old

Baby girl

I don't know if you can tell but mom had enough of the kids and stepped over them to get a break. They looked around like what happened?

A new crop of peas

Kale keeping warm

Dog-N-Boots

It was the end of a long hard productive week for Terri. She is cleaning and oiling up her work boots. We keep the sliding glass door open because Grady decided he wanted to bust through the screen. Later that day we went to find a hike. I have to go to Terris phone to show you those pix. So please don't think this is a lame posting. Tell you the truth I have no idea how to pull her pix from her phone when I am logged in. She does, but she isn't here right now.

Putney Mountain

  I don't think I know how to figure out the weather here in New England.  I swear I leave my house and I can see. I get up to these hiking trails and I'm in the clouds. Really.

I drove around two mud holes,
2 1/2 ft. below the car door,
on the way to the top.

       
                   

 

Vinnie says, "This is my good side."

Mom? Where are you?

Building up the Woodpile

That's a lot of wood!

Men doing manly things

 














          On Saturday, we drove west to visit Aunt Jean, Uncle Jeff, my cousins and their partners/husbands. We were there to help Uncle Jeff build up his woodpile, since he recently had and unfortunate encounter with the wood splitter and is now unable to use his left hand (not that he didn't try to sneak some help in with his one good arm). There was some debate over who was qualified to stack wood, and also some critique of the pile of various stackers. I stayed out of it. Sharon and I had the "we're from the city" excuse to not stack, and focused on filling up the bed of the pickup truck and unloading it, assembly-line-style.
  We thought Sharon's phone ate some very good pictures of how impressive the woodpile was, and is. But here they are!

The assembly line

  Vinnie was the center of attention for two very big, lovable dogs, Max and MacTavish. We think that he must have looked like a squirming play toy for them. So a good time was had by humans and dogs alike.

Love these kids!

  First day of work was exciting. One of the momma goats recently had two babies and I got to hold both of them. They don't have names yet, but they do have an unbelievable amount of cuteness for such small creatures. I could barely stand it. However, I was not able to hang out and  hold them all day, because I was supposed to be working!

My new boss with a new goat

  A naughty goat tried to eat my work glove out of my back pocket at the end of the day. Perhaps goats enjoy smelly old gloves?
  In between loving goats, I did a little greenhouse transplanting and then we went out to the field. We put up the deer fence and baited it with peanut butter and apples wrapped in foil. Clearly, deer have excellent taste in snacks.
  Then we took all the straw mulch off the strawberries so they could benefit from the April sun. Looking forward to tomorrow...

From Sun to Snow on a Sunday

West Dummerston, 11 am, 45 degrees

Green Mountain National Forest, 12 noon, 32 degrees
It was snowing as we walked.

Laundry, hiking and snowing

Black Mountain Woods

  We found the nicest laundromat. I say nice because I have not had a washer/dryer since 2006. So I feel that the Lutherville Sudsville rocks. Here they are nice and clean WITH an attendant. I think the water cleans our clothes better here too. My point is, the real estate person who tried to help us find a place when we were here in March said there was a laundromat in a sketchy area of Brattleboro.
  I've lived in and around Baltimore my whole life. I KNOW sketchy.
  I want  you to imagine this...Fells Point meets Parkville. That's their idea of sketchy. Go ahead and laugh because I looked at Terri and said, "This is sketchy? Let's go find someplace worse."

  Thursday was our idea of a quick hike. Don't forget we live in between mountains in the south east end of Vermont. Anywhere we go is uphill. BOTH WAYS! It was beautiful, quiet and steep. Today is Saturday and my shins are still sore.

Friday it sleeted and snowed a bit. There are these frogs up here called peepers. They come out to look for a mate and the sound they make sounds like a short "peep","peep", "peep". It didn't get above 32 degrees yesterday. Peepers come out when Spring is here. 32 degrees is close to Spring up here. I heard it was in the hi 80's down there. We might see that in August.

Unexpected spring snow

Septic System

  Our landlady said to me: You haven't ever lived in the country, dear, have you?
  Well back home that would be Glen Burnie or Timonium. But no, Baltimore City born and raised.
  Well dear when I lived in Boston I used to say you could flush a dead body down your toilet and no one would notice.
  That sounds about right. Though in Baltimore it would go down easier if you chopped it up first.
  She agreed. (I just smiled.)
  She took me to the side of the house and showed me a large curved pipe coming out of the ground that was surrounded by concrete.
  That's the septic system dear, be careful what you flush. And if you miss your city concrete, you can play on top of that like my grandkids. You can take the person out of the city but you can't take the city out of the person. 
  I think I can get my concrete fix down in Brattleboro but thanx.

  I can cross well and septic off my bucket list. Never ever again will I have it.

  Today is laundry day in town. Who knows what I will learn there.

Tuesday is Trash Day

Sharon says: 

I asked our landlady when is trash day.

Tuesday dear.

Do you put your trash out at night?

No dear. Too many animals and the bear.

Bryson is the only bear Sharon wants to see

Bear?

Yes dear, we had a bear last year in the back yard down by the river.

Bear?

Yes dear.

So when do they come by and pick up the trash?

Noon, or 11 or so.

Ok. So I can put it out around 11.

Sure.

Recycling?

Over the mountain dear.

What?

You take it to the recycling place, over the mountain. East West Road to Middle Road, around the circle, 2^nd right.

Thanx, got it.

  Also I would like to take a moment to say goodbye to my long hot showers in Baltimore and hello to my short, temperamental showers here in the country. Goodbye Harford Road, hello my long dirt road with no lights and where I need a flashlight to walk Vinnie in the dark (close to where my new friend the bear might live).

  Love you all and miss you too.

Hello, Vermont

  Pheewww, we're finally here!

Sunset sunning himself

 Arrived Saturday night, after a near miss with debris on the George Washington Bridge and hours of howling cats. We are settling in nicely. My lovely aunties and manly uncles helped us unload the U-Haul on Sunday.
  Sunset Rodeo has claimed the perch by the glass doors with a view of the river, and Grady has finally stopped hissing at me. Vinnie is loving the woods.
  As for me and the wife, several things have stood out about our new home state:

• Vermonters are very nice. 
• The dollar store here is super clean and well-stocked.
• Sharon does not like well water and septic systems. She misses Baltimore city water.
• You can walk a pet goat in town and no one tries to stop you.

  

  Grady relaxing

Goodbye, Baltimore

A beautiful mound of French Breakfast radishes

The nursery

  My wife and I are moving from Baltimore city to a small town in rural Vermont for the coming growing season. I will miss all my seedlings in this hoop house (boys, you better take good care of my babies!). We are looking forward to the quiet lull of the West River at night and new adventures.